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quoc weekend sneakers - part two

quoc weekend sneakers

i'm not really much of a shoe person when it comes to daily footwear. cycling is an altogether different affair, but for the morning constitutional, over the course of around twenty years, i wore the same pair of sidi podium shoes until they had more holes than a boris johnson excuse. that they were replaced with a pair of waterproof hi-tec walking shoes was purely pragmatism, and very little to do with specific preferences. mrs washingmachinepost bought me a pair of tan brogues many years ago, which i proudly wore to work, day in day out, until they wore out the heels. and until recently, i was content with a couple of pair of vans shoes, until they were augmented by the above mentioned quoc weekend sneakers, worn in civilian mode.

quoc weekend sneakers

how they fared in that guise, was the result of a recent review within these very pixels. their intrinsic sense of style elicited several comments from innocent bystanders, and i cannot deny that i found them to be a particularly practical daily option for walking to and from work. but, of course, quoc pham doesn't design footwear simply for utilitarian purposes, though from previous experience, i think its an arena in which he would fare particularly well. in fact, take a quick peek at quoc's website, and it's plain to see that items of his footwear range lend themselves quite appropriately to the daily grind. i'm thinking here of the chelsea boot, a delightful item, but not quite to my aesthetic taste.

quoc weekend sneakers

however, the sand-coloured weekend sneaker is very much in line with my way of thinking; certainly for the purposes of weekend walking. but as pointed out in the first part of this review, the soles of the sneakers feature a bolted insert, removal of which offers a velocipedinist the opportunity to fit a pair of spd style cleats, all the better for riding a bicycle fitted with appropriately styled pedals. granted, it's perfectly possible to ride a pair of platform pedals, should your bicycle habits not stretch as far as pedalling specifics.

quoc weekend sneakers

i had hoped to borrow one of the dutch road bikes ensconced at ardbeg distillery (nope, me neither), but schedules failed to match up, so that didn't quite happen. however, though you'll think it entirely the wrong time of year, last thursday, i was invited over to port ellen primary school to watch their annual pantomime, long delayed due to covid. port ellen village is but 17 kilometres distant, and given that i would subsequently be expected to sit politely and watch what turned out to be a remarkably humorous and entertaining pantomime ('pirates of the curry bean'), i opted to do so in style, combining pragmatism with style, by adding the necessary cleats and heading south.

quoc weekend sneakers

i did point out to the head teacher that, should she wish to invite me to any subsequent school events, it might be prudent to check the wind strength and direction first. in my efforts to be a conscientious reviewer, i slogged into a galeforce headwind and at least a couple of rainshowers to arrive in time for curtain up. a tad breezy for november.

it seems to me that the soles on the weekend sneakers are purposely built for relatively short excursions such as that described above, headwind or not. a subsequent 65km ride evidenced some minor foot discomfort in the final kilometres. it seems highly likely that, were i intent on riding spds, quoc's grand tourer gravel shoes would have been a better option. that said, it's hard to deny that the sneakers were more than comfortable for the majority of the ride, and the cleat recess available on the soles, makes walking even on hard, polished floors, a very safe and quiet option. i own other offroad shoes on which the cleats tend to crunch occasionally over less than billiard-table surfaces.

quoc weekend sneakers

the weekend sneakers are particularly well thought out for both sides of their intended purposes. it wouldn't take much to remove the cleats and replace the inserts prior to monday morning, should i favour wearing the shoes once again for daily life. the only thing you'd need to do, is remember where you stored the inserts. they also feature an elastic tab atop the tongue to keep the laces away from thrashing chainrings. it would be a falsehood to contend that quoc is the only one to have presented a pair of shoes with these two specific options, but i'd venture that his are amongst the very best for the purpose, both stylishly and practically.

quoc weekend sneakers

monday 13 june 2022

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................