I am trying to locate a good pair of shoes for unicycling. I realize that a lot of unicyclist use skater shoes but I am very hesitant to wear them. Just never like the look. What else is there for options in shoes? I was considering some high top Chuck Taylors. Any imput would help.
SKATE SHOES!!! if you like your feet you will NOT wear chucks!
I learned this the hard way… I mean it really does depend on your riding. What kind of riding do you plan on doing?
i loved the look of the 05 661 dualys. but i was to cheep to buy um, even though i get them at cost. now the 06 ones look like crap so all i have is my worn out ks swis with literalty 2 millameters of tread left on them
you’re a fool. they’re great shoes. seriously. if you do any trials/muni or anything where you hit you ankles in falls, these shoes are great. maybe a little stiff for freestyle but they’re awesome. great grip, and the ankle cups have saved me a ton of pain.
I’ve got these ones http://www.sixsixone.com/catalog.aspx?id=ee5cf025-524d-4c64-ae80-ab874ff4501b&pl=BIKE
and they’re awesome for street riding but unfortunately I used them for indoor soccer once and thats pretty much killed them (all the stitches ripped out and the soles coming off on both feet).
Don’t let that put you off, they’re great if you don’t play indoor soccer in them… it’s not the running that damages them, just the running and changing direction.
Basically, you NEED skate shoes. I’ve got Australians at the moment, and they still have amazing amounts of grip, even though I’ve almost worn through the soles.
I usually wear Converse baseball boots (Chuck Taylor?) for freestyley stuff but they’re a bit soft really - I don’t do a lot of that type of riding so I just put up with it, but trying a kickup mount lots of times at a unimeet a few weeks ago bruised the side of my foot quite badly.
For muni I wear an old pair of leather boots. Quite thick leather, but not as heavy as walking boots, and with a smoothish sole. Good protection from ankle knocks as well. They work for me, but most people seem to wear skate-type shoes (which I think are stupidly overpriced, certainly in this country).
Rob
If you know your vans size, ie. once you’ve tried on a pair of vans, they’re all pretty much the same shape. Buy your first pair from a shoe shop, and then once they wear out just buy the same thing off the internet. If you’re not fussed about having last year’s colour, Vans only cost about £30 a pair. Apparently most other skate shoes are pretty similar shape / size to Vans too, but I don’t know if that’s true.
Like everyone says, Converse AllStars are just painful if you crash at all, no ankle support. Skate / BMX shoes are fantastic, they’re designed to take crashes just like you have on a unicycle and just work well, silly to avoid them just for vanity’s sake. I used to wear boots like Rob does and they were okay, but just not the same as flat soled skate shoes.
Joe
Last time I looked they were more like double that, but I can’t say I looked very hard (I started wearing these old boots and decided they do fine, so gave up looking for anything else). I’ve seen some people riding in walking boots, but I think the tread on the sole would make pedal positioning awkward. My boots have a fairly flat textured sole. One nice thing about leather boots is you don’t get wet feet if you UPD in a puddle 
http://www.edirectory.co.uk/ is where I got my vans tnts for £30. Generally for things like this, I just use kelkoo and froogle to find the cheapest place.
Waterproofness is definately an advantage to leather boots over skate shoes though. Skate shoes are designed to be well ventilated to let sweat out. Although to be honest I don’t really notice wet feet on most rides, and on the rides I do, it’s like the Peaks one, where it’s gone way beyond anything waterproof boots or socks would keep out (well over hub deep puddles plus hours of driving rain).
Joe
-Shoes:Followup
Ok so it sounds like it was a good thing that I asked about the chucks. Sounds like everyone is in agreement against them. I tried finding the 05 661 dualys that unicyclistben mentioned but was unabled to locate them on the web. Probably just put something in wrong. It sounds like I’ll probably just go to wearing skate shoes, but I want them in blue and it seems like they forgot to make skate shoes in blue. Although, the shoe store I work at just got a new Etnie in with a big blue E on the side. I’m not worried about my vanity though I just never got into that style of shoes. Maybe its time for something new. 
I use addidas spezial.
They are great. Many of my buddies use them too.
Yes, if it’s really wet waterproof boots do just turn into a bucket of muddy water strapped to your foot 
Etnies Roscoes. I have been saying it since I got mine. They are awesome shoes.
I usually wear skate shoes too because they’re relatively cheap and work reasonably well. However there are few things I don’t like about them.
- They tend to be pretty heavy.
- They do all tend to fit the same way. This is bad because I have weird shaped feet and usually settle for breaking them in to be comfortable.
- They are bulky. I’m always bumping them together when I WW.
- High tops aren’t very common. It’d be nice to have more ankle support.
I’ve actually considered wearing basketball shoes because I could probably find all of the features I’d want, except for the less bulk. Although, the basketball shoe styles have become so hideous nowadays. 
5 years ago everyone was wearing chuck taylors, what happened? I still like them. I tried the Simple Rubbatoes that I got at the Cal Muni Weekend, I wear them as my regualr shoes but with my pedals the pins get stuck in the tread in an odd way that makes it hard for me to get good foot placement. Call me crazy but I still like the chucks. They are terrible for walkign any sort of distance though because they have zero arch support.
Just got to chime in that I LOVE my Simple shoes from MUni Weekend. I prefer more of a tread for riding though, which is fine, because most of my riding gets the shoes dirty. I’ve worn those shoes most days since MUni Weekend for everyday stuff.
The guy who started this thread never mentioned what kind of riding he was doing, which of course is a factor. For Freestyle, and any kind of riding with non-pinned pedals, I like turf shoes. This is any type of shoe with a lot of small knobbies on the bottom. Not cleats. Some golf shoes work well. I used to wear these cheap MacGregor turf shoes from K-mart. My most recent pair is from Nike.
For MUni, or riding on pinned pedals, shoe tread is much less a factor. Ultimately I’d like a pair of mountain bike shoes with a soft rubber bottom, but that still has the ultra-stiff sole. I’m not aware of any such shoes. All the MTB shoes I see have hard soles, and the requisite hole in the middle where you attach your cleats. That’s right where we unicyclists need to grip the actual pedal! So my search continues. Currently I’m using a pair of brown (finally figured that part out) hiking shoes that have a fairly stiff sole, a decent amount of tread on the bottom, and thick uppers to protect my feet. Steel toes would be good for anyone who does lots of Trials or riding in rocks, like the Santa Barbara guys.
Re: -Footwear
joemarshall wrote:
> Waterproofness is definately an advantage to leather boots over skate
> shoes though. Skate shoes are designed to be well ventilated to let
> sweat out. Although to be honest I don’t really notice wet feet on most
> rides, and on the rides I do, it’s like the Peaks one, where it’s gone
> way beyond anything waterproof boots or socks would keep out (well over
> hub deep puddles plus hours of driving rain).
>
Hi,
I have just taken a look at your web site - I had no idea what was
possible on a unicycle - it looks great. I’m more of a two
wheel/walker down here in Devon and over the hundreds of miles I am yet
to see a unicyclist, but it would be great to give to give it a go.
Re the waterproof socks/boots, you might like to try specialist
FoxRiver socks. The snowboarding variety provides thermal insulation
and wicks moisture away - ideal this time of year. Also, the
thermalined shin, sole and toe areas for shock absorption and
insulation.
For February only we would like to offer you all a 20% discount on all
our products simply quote “unicycleFeb2006” at the order summary.
We would be particularly interested in any feedback on our socks, with
pictures/reviews. All suitable reviews will be published on our site
and the contributor will get a free pair of socks.
See you at www.venturewear.co.uk
Take care,
Rodney
If you’re worried about looks, why are you riding a unicycle?
I wear cheap $20 wal-mart skate shoes. For unicycling, and everything else.