Lake have been making shoes for years and isn’t immune to the increasing popularity of custom moulded shoes. The CX401 is their latest but unlike other custom shoes brings a refreshing air of simplicity to the market: these can be done at home.
At the London Cycle Show last week I was fortunate enough to be fitted for a pair of Lake’s new CX401 carbon custom shoes by UK importers Moore Large & Co. The process starts with finding the right size. That’s easy, as Moore Large carry the full range of sizes including half sizes.
Measured up, the shoes are popped inside an oven at 180 degrees for four to five minutes until the carbon layers around the mid-section and heel become pliable. With the foot inserted into the shoe and the Boa mechanism tightened just enough to hold them in place, the carbon is moulded to the shape of the foot by pressing it against the shape of your foot. Once that’s done and they’ve cool down, you’re ready to get on your bike.
And if you don’t get the fit quite perfect with the first attempt, you needn’t worry. They can be heated again and again until you’ve perfected the fit. So you can custom mould them, go for ride and heat them up again if they need a bit of tweaking. And you don’t even need to go back to the bike shop you bought them from to do so.
It’s a simple process which is highlighted by the fact that you get an instructional DVD taking you through the steps involved (or you can just watch it on YouTube). All you need is a temperature controlled oven and a spare pair of hands, and you’re all set to custom fit your high-end shoes.
The rest of the shoes are just as impressive as this technology. The Kangaroo leather upper is really supple. Something you can’t see inside a finished shoe is the clever thin sliver of carbon that sits between the carbon sole and the innersole, effectively acting as a sort of leaf spring and providing a little bit of cushion for comfort. Outside a BOA cinches the shoe into place and there’s two optional anchor points, at the toe box and at the opposite end, to tailor the fit.
All I need to do is attach some cleats and put some miles into them. Watch out for a full review soon.
