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Have you seen Bradley Wiggins’ new custom carbon fibre shoes?Sir Wiggo's new carbon shoes

Have you seen Bradley Wiggins’ new custom carbon fibre shoes?

Sir Wiggo gets himself some custom carbon shoes for the European Championships
by David Arthur @davearthur
Thu, Oct 15, 2015 19:20
10

Sir Bradley Wiggins is back in action at the European Championships, but it’s his shoes that have been getting nearly as much attention as his times on the boards. 

Wiggo has changed shoes over the years. Nothing really unusual about that, most professional cyclists change shoes throughout their careers, either due to sponsorship demands or fit issues. Bradley used to ride Bont's carbon mouldable shoes, then more recently switched to Giro’s Empire lace-up shoe - he wore a gold pair for his successful Hour Record attempt.

While the Bont and Giro shoes are off-the-shelf products, that you or I can buy from any decent bike shop, his current race shoes are anything but. We'll admit to not knowing the full story about the shoes, we just spotted them on this Instagram page today.

 

They remind us of Adam Hansen’s own carbon fibre shoes, which the Australian professional cyclist makes himself. These look similar, but the shoes we’ve seen Adam wearing have unique carbon cover flap and lace retention system with a rotary dial.

Wiggo's shoes instead have a simpler lace-up design, similar to the Giro Empire shoes he was using recently. So they could be a special pair of custom shoes created by Adam, with a few modifications, or they could be created by someone else.

There are a few small companies that specialise in custom carbon footwear, notably Simmons Racing, a US manufacturer of speed skating and cycling shoes. 

Adam Hansen will sell you a pair of his custom shoes through his website Hanseeno. They're not cheap at €2,000, but then they do take 42+ hours to make a pair with eight moulds required. They’re extremely light, a claimed weight of under 96g makes them considerably lighter than any other shoe currently on sale.

We'll try and find out more about these shoes.

Bradley Wiggins
shoes
David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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10 comments

Avatar
Fran The Man | 9 years ago
0 likes

Couldn't care less how much they cost. Wouldn't be seen dead – let alone on a bike – with a pair on! Bloke's clearly lost the plot, or his marbles.

Avatar
Jimbomitch | 9 years ago
1 like

Back in the 80s, I remember Shelleys and Melanddi in Carnaby Street  selling cycling shoes for young mods to wear, what are the chances of history repeating........

Avatar
Vwjoade | 9 years ago
2 likes

Definitely a contradiction of rule 27 http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/.

Avatar
Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
1 like

Road.CC has to get it's weekly quota of Wiggins news in somehow.

Avatar
Gkam84 | 9 years ago
1 like

Slightly confused, you should easliy be able to find out what they are, becasue all equipment as to be UCI legal and also avalible to buy by the public....even if someone made these and put a million pound price tag and a 10 year manufacturing time on them, then are then "avalible for public sale"

 

Also, the UCI say "All shoes that are given an aerodynamic shape by means of a non-essential addition, whether to the heel or the front of the shoe, will be prohibited." 

 

So while Bont Crono are still banned, you can wear these legally 

Avatar
HoldTheWheel replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
1 like
Gkam84 wrote:

Slightly confused, you should easliy be able to find out what they are, becasue all equipment as to be UCI legal and also avalible to buy by the public....even if someone made these and put a million pound price tag and a 10 year manufacturing time on them, then are then "avalible for public sale"

 

Also, the UCI say "All shoes that are given an aerodynamic shape by means of a non-essential addition, whether to the heel or the front of the shoe, will be prohibited." 

 

So while Bont Crono are still banned, you can wear these legally 

 

Where exactly is a 'non-essential addition' on the shoes though? They might be more aerodynamic than other shoes, but that would be down to their slim shape - they almost look like they are moulded around his feet.

Avatar
Gkam84 replied to HoldTheWheel | 9 years ago
0 likes
IanRCarter wrote:
Gkam84 wrote:

Slightly confused, you should easliy be able to find out what they are, becasue all equipment as to be UCI legal and also avalible to buy by the public....even if someone made these and put a million pound price tag and a 10 year manufacturing time on them, then are then "avalible for public sale"

 

Also, the UCI say "All shoes that are given an aerodynamic shape by means of a non-essential addition, whether to the heel or the front of the shoe, will be prohibited." 

 

So while Bont Crono are still banned, you can wear these legally 

Where exactly is a 'non-essential addition' on the shoes though? They might be more aerodynamic than other shoes, but that would be down to their slim shape - they almost look like they are moulded around his feet.

 

Yeah, I couldn't edit that, because the edit button has dissappeared from the site.

 

I meant to paste this.

 

Thus, it is not allowed to use equipment in competition that is not either available on the market or previously communicated by the manufacturer (with a nine months period for the marketing).

Prototypes and the use of equipment specially designed for a particular athlete, event or performance are prohibited.

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
1 like
Gkam84 wrote:

Slightly confused, you should easliy be able to find out what they are, becasue all equipment as to be UCI legal and also avalible to buy by the public.

The socks man, good grief the socks ! (or lack thereof) We're not triathletes...

Avatar
iUpham | 9 years ago
2 likes

My nan used to wear a pair of slippers that looked very similar.

Avatar
fukawitribe | 9 years ago
2 likes

No socks ? Is that even legal, UCI or otherwise ?

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