Dromarti cycling shoes

When I saw these Dromarti shoes, the first thing that came to mind was ‘The Lion King’, Mario Cippolini, who would regularly appear on the podium in Armani suits and is largely responsible for the advent of what is known as bike bling today. Let’s face it, cycling shoes are largely ugly and have been ever since Look introduced the first clipless pedal. Overnight black or tan leather disappeared, replaced by a variety of colours and fabrics which simply would not have worked with conventional toe-clips.

My first cycling shoes were a pair of black leather Sidi’s, a brand that I am still particularly fond of. They had leather soles that became useless in the wet and provided only minimal support when dry. They also had brass cleats nailed to the bottom to ‘lock’ onto my Campag quill pedals. The job was completed with a pair of Binda toe-clips with leather straps. Getting into them was a chore and falling almost always resulted in the bike coming with you. Despite all of this there is still something romantic about the whole process and it’s one that track sprinters still use today.

The other throw back to a bygone era is crocheted leather gloves. I must have had 20 pairs of these in my early years and loved the feel and ventilation they provided. Dromarti now also make these and I wonder how long it will be before they start producing wool shorts with genuine leather chamois to complete the look. You can already buy a replica Molteni wool jersey and if it wasn’t for helmet laws I could imagine myself cruising down the road with my cap peak flipped up on an all steel Colnago with Campag Super Record groupset.

Yes those were the ‘good old days’ and I sometimes wonder if the youngsters of today aren’t missing out?