I was wondering what type of shoes you guys ride muni and trials with. I have always used my converse sneakers but eventually they rip from hard falls, wear, ect.
A couple earlier threads: unicycle clothing what do you wear?? and Shoes?? .
I bought some leather Converse for $30 a month or so ago, they are different than the canvas Converse. The sole is better for my liking and they provide good ankle protection (from strikes, not twisting).
If I had known the '04 661 Dually’s were available at beyondbikes.com for $60 instead of the $80 retail I probably would have gotten them instead.
i use skateboarding shoes. they are made to take impact, and dont wear out too easily. i ride street… not trials or muni… street would be just as hard on fotwear though.
Kevin
Currently I’m using AirWalks. I really like them because they have a very flat bottom, and they grip the pedals very well. They were $20 at Sports Authority. I wanted to get a pair of Vans, but they were twice the price. When my Airwalks die, I might go for the Vans.
One thing I notice about the Airwalks is that they are very hot. I can’t even wear them at school because they are so hot. Are Vans any better?
Daniel
???
Were do you get leather converse for $30? I can’t find the canvas ones for that price. The thing that irritates me about the converse price is they are the same shoe technology as they wer 30+ years ago, and they are probably making them in China for less! Not to mention they don’t even spend money on advertising like some of the other shoe companies.
Note to self …Check into Converse stock…
I use Vans skatestyle shoes for trials but I hardly ride trials anyway.
For MUni I find the Salomon trailrunning shoes really good. I had the old Salomon Raidwind which lasted me longer than any shoe I’ve had and now I’m using the Raidrace. They’re great because they’re really light and tough and grippy but best off all they have a Kevlar fastening system that eliminates shoelaces 
. No problems with shoelaces tangling around your axle. You can buy the fastening system separate and put it on your regular shoes.
I used to be a big fan of the Duallys but the lacing just does not hold up. I was told by 661 that they were redesigning this shoe and to hold tight for the new model. Well, it looks like the new model still has the same lacing design flaws. Rhysling turned me on to a pair of leather Reeboks that were on sale for $28 at the regional (South) Just For Feet retail stores. These are “retro” basketball shoes that are working beautifully for me. The have a padded ankle and offer good support.
Tommy
The 661 Duallys seem to be favoured by a lot of unicyclists. However, the only pairs of Duallys I’ve ever seen in the flesh had stiffened soles. I woulda thought that a stiff soled cycling shoe would make it harder to ‘feel’ the pedals - rather like riding with thick hiking boots on, which is an unpleasant way to ride if you ask me. Maybe the '04 Duallys are different? Can anyone enlighten me?
Tony
No Sig
Are you sure you saw the Dually’s? The Dually’s have a soft sole. It’s actually too soft for my liking. I had to put in a different insole that had a plastic stiffener under the arch because the Dually sole was so soft that it hurt me feet when I landed drops. I put in a Dr. Scholl’s Advantage Sport Insole and that made the Dually’s much much better for me. The little plastic butterfly under the arch did the trick.
661/AXO does make some SPD compatible shoes that look a little bit like the Dually. The SPD compatible shoes do have a very stiff sole. Maybe you saw one of the SPD shoes. The Dually is not SPD compatible, it’s for flat platform pedals only.
John, the shoes I saw were in a ‘end of season 50% off’ sale. It is quite possible that they weren’t in fact Duallys - just some similar looking shoe chucked in a Dually labelled box. There were lots of shoes of different ages and some of their boxes might have been mixed up. The shoes I thought were Duallys were flat-soled and had no SPD tear-off whatsit.
Tony
No 'nature
I like to ride with leather tramping boots. They give good ankle support and can prevent crank nub vs ankle bashing damage. It is good how you can force the heel up against the back of the pedal, for extra stability on rough terrain and drops.
The soles of my boots are thin. I’ve had them about five years and they’ve had it. I can feel the pedals without any problems, but the boots are falling apart and have holes everywhere. The holes started when I broke axle. I left footed around everywhere, and patches got worn by the tire in my right boot - either side of the fork (footrest). Eventually the patches turned into holes and now I need new boots. I’ve worn shoes that are good for grip and are lightweight, but I think my ankles are too weak after wearing tramping boots for so long, and I find myself spraining and re-hurting my ankles more frequently with damn regular shoes. I look forward to getting some thick new boots and I don’t think it will be at all unpleasant to ride in them.
Hey, I use Adio skateboard trainers- they’re really tough and pretty grippy, though the tongue is quite fat and makes them quite wide other than that the’re very good! Hiking boots are good for muni, especially if you have to do any walking on mud or slopes or even muddy slopes! Like someone mentioned earlier the heels catch the pedal so you can apply pressure to the uni earlier than flat soled shoes and get more power up hills!
I used to wear airwalks but the shoe was too fat and kept bumping on the cranks so I now use pumas (yes, pumas them weird skinny shoes) and I find It much easier… the shoes are tight and give me a better feel for the pedals. And they don’t get stuck on the cranks anymore.
off topic I only wear green shoes while unicycling.
this week i will be mostly using adidais forums they are basket ball shoes they are low cut but have good ankle support.i am not sure how “grippy” they will be but i will just have to see.i do not know this as i have not had a good more than 20 min ride in them
I used to only ever wear Airwalks because those were the only skate shoes i liked. Now that i have gotten into unicycling, i see that skate shoes are actually wayyy comfortable. Pretty much any brand is good, but i favor DC Shoe Co. and Circa (not a big fan of Etnies).