Dromarti -- Art For Your Feet

In mid 2009, I stumbled across Dromarti, a distributor out of the UK of finely-crafted cycling goodness. Around this time, I was retracting from the clipless pedal phenomenon, and going old school (for road cycling, as opposed to mountain cycling where I will ABSOLUTELY still use clipless). However, I struggled to find a suitable shoe--one that had style AND function. I could find each attribute separately, but for some reason the marriage of the two eluded me. This is where Dromarti came in.

The Dromarti

Although hand-crafted Italian leather cycling shoes aren't cheap, who cares? People spend more on Dr. Pepper or Starbucks in a year, yet complain about the price of such things as these shoes. Make sure to supersize your next drive-thru order.

So, I convinced myself to place an order. Unfortunately, I was a very early adopter, and suffered a 9-month stockout (May '09 - Feb '10). By the time I received confirmation that the shoe was ready, I was fed up or busy with life or something silly, so the order never materialized.

Around this past Holiday season, I again started my search for dual-attributed shoes. The closest to Dromarti that I found was QuocPham. There is a lot about this shoe that I respect. However, like a childhood sweetheart, my thoughts turned to the Dromarti Storica "Classic."

Quoc Pham Fixed, in Tan

Now that I moved halfway across the country and am immersed in a full-time MBA program, I figured it's the perfect time to invest in this footwear art. So I placed the order. No stockouts this time, folks. In fact, they arrived within a week. From the UK. Wow. I just so happened to be riding the next day. Fantastic.

I rode this:

40-ish mile figure 8 around the lakes.

My feet were so pleased. Here are some pics of the shoes and their fine craftsmanship (not properly showcased on Dromarti's website, IMHO).

You can see where my pedals contact the shoe. Perfectly designed. Notice the stitching and nails for the heel and other sole attachments.

The tongue is nicely padded, and the whole interior is lined with leather.

Dromarti doesn't quite show off the touch of heel enough. It's nailed on to the leather sole. 

They are more comfortable than they look.

So, eliminate Starbucks or Dr. Pepper from your daily life and invest in a pair of awesomeness. Your feet and psyche will thank you for it.