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odd one this - the right type of shoes....

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firg
Spanner Monkey



Joined: 18 Feb 2004
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PostPosted: 01:22 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: odd one this - the right type of shoes.... Reply with quote

Helloa,

I went to the motor show at the NEC a few days ago, and they have a few bikes there you can sit on. I noticed that when i sat on them, the trainers i was wearing (these are special hard wearing ones with thick soles on and hard toes) made it very difficult to move your foot around the gear lever. (I apologize if I've got this wrong, but do you have to shift your toes from above the lever to below and visa versa to move the lever up or down?)

I will be doing my CBT in a few weeks and wanted to make sure I wont make things harder for myself by wearing shoes that make it very difficult to change gear.

So, any suggestions, or did I only find it difficult cause I've never had any practice in gear changing on a bike?

btw, I sat on the fireblade (ballcrusher and shoulder cramper Thumbs Down ), the big varadero (very comfortable, but looks are a bit odd Confused ), the pan european (very very nice - i want one when I can finally afford a big bike! Very Happy ), and a big honda cruiser type thingy (the most comfortable, but just couldn't see myself on one).

cheers,

Teh Cabbage Man
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Frost
World Chat Champion



Joined: 26 May 2004
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PostPosted: 02:16 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Reply with quote

proper biking boots are of course perfect for the job, but to be honest, when doing your CBT trainers or shoes are probably fine, your not exactly going to be going at high speed Wink

i think its more likely how you put your foot on the peg than the type of shoes your wearing. make sure your foot is quite far back on the peg. aim to try to change gear with just your big toe, which means placing your foot quite far to the outside of the peg.
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Ade067
Scooby Slapper



Joined: 21 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 09:05 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a pair of proper biking boots but to be honest I don't find them very comfortable but thats probably just me!
What I prefer to wear is a pair of walking boots similar to Caterpiller type boots,they are made by Stone Creek and I got them from Brantano for £25 and I find them very comfortable and they seem quite sturdy too which of course is VERY important on a bike...in fact I wear them nearly all the time,something similar might be worth checking out if comfort is high on your list! Smile
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Bendy
Mrs Sensible



Joined: 10 Jun 2002
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PostPosted: 10:44 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really chunky shoes will be a pain, but equally it depends on the bike - the sportier it is the less room there seems to be to get your foot into.

Combat boots or Docs or something like that would be fine. You don't want to ride in trainers really, no ankle protection whatsoever.
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bikegirl
Nitrous Nuisance



Joined: 29 May 2004
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PostPosted: 14:17 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Re: odd one this - the right type of shoes.... Reply with quote

Dr Cabbage wrote:
(I apologize if I've got this wrong, but do you have to shift your toes from above the lever to below and visa versa to move the lever up or down?)


Yes you do have to manoeuvre your foot around the gears. You'll wear a groove in the front right of your boot from changing up.

I wouldn't really recommend wearing trainers without ankle support even for short journeys - don't statistics say that a large % of accidents are within 2 miles of home? Don't risk yourself if you can get hold of some proper boots: also I would think that you should wear correct kit for a test.
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Dazed
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 06 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 15:51 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wore my old army boots to my CBT, because they said I'd have to wear something with ankle protection. I did notice some fine cracks in the soles before going, after it I noticed that big chunks of rubber were falling off. I think it's started to perish, shame because the leather's fine. The missing pieces do seem to fit the size of the foot pegs and gear/break, respectively.

My foot did slip a couple of times on kicking it up a gear, but I think it's due to them being well polished previously. Changing gear also marked the leather a bit.

One thing the instructor said is that after an accident you sometimes find shoes, gloves, etc half way up the road, due to the body going limp, so boots that go around the ankle well help prevent this. As well as steel toe capped boots can chop your toes off, yet boots that have metal reinforcing the middle of the sole are good to prevent crushing injuries.

Personally I'd feel a right tit wearing something like Sidi Vertebrae's to Uni (as well as not wanting to fork out for them). Mostly due to having to wear them the rest of the day whilst walking about, yet my army boots just look like well polished shoes when my jeans cover the ankle part.


Last edited by Dazed on 00:08 - 31 May 2004; edited 1 time in total
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izzi81
Could Be A Chat Bot



Joined: 24 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 16:38 - 30 May 2004    Post subject: Reply with quote

One other reason why trainers aren't the best shoes to wear. Laces. The first time I went out on my bike after passing my CBT I was wearing trainers. Came to a stop, flicked the side stand down (without checking it was fully down), went to get off, and one of the shoelaces got hooked over the edge of the seat and over went the bike and me. Very very embarrassing, thankfully there was no one about to laugh at me but I did end up with a small crack in the fairing of the bike Embarassed Embarassed

I now *always* check the side stand is down fully, and never wear shoes with laces on my bike!
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