Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Shoonoob]

They also used a lot of bicycle parts on the first plane - if you're ever in the Smithsonian take a look - there's also one hanging in the lobby of Hiller Aviation Museum near SFO. Looking up you can see bike sprockets pulling what look like bicycle chains from the engine to the propellers. From the Smithsonian website:
In designing their airplane, the Wrights drew upon a number of bicycle concepts:

•	The central importance of balance and control.
•	The need for strong but lightweight structures.
•	The chain-and-sprocket transmission system for propulsion.
•	Concerns regarding wind resistance and aerodynamic shape of the operator.

My bikes: Trek Madone Alberto Contador edition with 49/35 compact gears up front for climbing.
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Bought it while my Colnago 6AL/4V titanium Ovalmaster was in the shop getting welded. After 30,000 miles of carrying my 230lb. body weight around it had developed a tiny crack.
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The repair only cost $50! I bought this bike in Italy back in 2000 while on a training camp ritiro (spring training for cycling teams) with Tour of Italy winner Andy Hampsten in the Maremma region of Southern Tuscany
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Clydesdale Class! You're not supposed to climb you're supposed to run a 54 on the flats.

 

[Shoonoob]

Sitting at the kitchen table still in shoes I wore to work. These Florsheims are awesome.

 

[CWOyaji]

Clydesdale for sure. For those not familiar, it's a weight class in bike races for riders over 200 lbs. But I like climbing on my road bike and never sprint in races, so I don't need a 54 tooth chainring. A front ring with 49 teeth paired with a 28 tooth back inner ring is best for me. A favorite ride is to park in the San Francisco Presidio, ride over the Golden Gate Bridge then up Conzelman Road on the other side. There is a great view from up there. Then comes this steep descent (skip to 2:14) and a beautiful recovery ride in Gerbode Valley behind, before going back over the bridge.

 

[tocohillsguy]

Picked up some vintage summer shoes....

 

[mreams99]

Clydesdale for sure. For those not familiar, it's a weight class in bike races for riders over 200 lbs. But I like climbing on my road bike and never sprint in races, so I don't need a 54 tooth chainring. A front ring with 49 teeth paired with a 28 tooth back inner ring is best for me. A favorite ride is to park in the San Francisco Presidio, ride over the Golden Gate Bridge then up Conzelman Road on the other side. There is a great view from up there. Then comes this steep descent (skip to 2:14) and a beautiful recovery ride in Gerbode Valley behind, before going back over the bridge.
View attachment 1199413

I liked to run a 36-52 up front with a 12-25 in back when I was racing duathlons. I usually kept my cadence in the low to mid 90s.
I was OK on the hills. As a bigger rider my strength was in the flats.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Clydesdale for sure. For those not familiar, it's a weight class in bike races for riders over 200 lbs. But I like climbing on my road bike and never sprint in races, so I don't need a 54 tooth chainring. A front ring with 49 teeth paired with a 28 tooth back inner ring is best for me. A favorite ride is to park in the San Francisco Presidio, ride over the Golden Gate Bridge then up Conzelman Road on the other side. There is a great view from up there. Then comes this steep descent (skip to 2:14) and a beautiful recovery ride in Gerbode Valley behind, before going back over the bridge.
View attachment 1199413

I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I liked the part about chains and stuff, as it likely had something to do with gearing ratios, which sounds like technically impressive levels of subject matter expertise in biking. Therefore thumbs up.

Also, nice picture.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Picked up some vintage summer shoes....

Outstanding find.

 

[CWOyaji]

I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I liked the part about chains and stuff, as it likely had something to do with gearing ratios, which sounds like technically impressive levels of subject matter expertise in biking. Therefore thumbs up.

Also, nice picture.

Thanks! Pic taken by me a few years ago. Will be back up there this weekend. I hope the weather is this nice.

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

This project was to take vintage ladies golf shoes and to turn them into quality daily shoes for my wife.
I bought these shoes off of ebay for 5 dollars. They were white and had golf cleats on the soles.

Then I sent them over to Steve at Bedos Leatherworks to remove the spikes and dye the uppers, welt and edges black. And to remove the spikes and add a vibram rubber sole and heal guard.

Here are the results. Wife likes them as they are very unique and they seem to be able to handle the abuse of daily wear.
Either way Steve did a great job!

 

[Nader393]

Older pair of Church's loafers (but made in Italy). Can anyone identify with this material might be? It's a bit stiff and plasticky. At first I thought shark, but now I wonder if it's seal.

 

[friendlygoz]

Older pair of Church's loafers (but made in Italy). Can anyone identify with this material might be? It's a bit stiff and plasticky. At first I thought shark, but now I wonder if it's seal.

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Looks like seal to me.

 

[smfdoc]

Looks like seal to me.

+1. Seal to me as well.

 

[stook1]

Very cool! I have been thinking about doing the same thing for either myself or my wife with a pair of golf shoes. It looks like the cleats unscrew and there is some kind of socket for them. Did those have to be extracted and/or was there a resole done? Or did Steve just put on a sole protector?

This project was to take vintage ladies golf shoes and to turn them into quality daily shoes for my wife.
I bought these shoes off of ebay for 5 dollars. They were white and had golf cleats on the soles.
View attachment 1199435 View attachment 1199436

Then I sent them over to Steve at Bedos Leatherworks to remove the spikes and dye the uppers, welt and edges black. And to remove the spikes and add a vibram rubber sole and heal guard.

Here are the results. Wife likes them as they are very unique and they seem to be able to handle the abuse of daily wear.
Either way Steve did a great job!
View attachment 1199438

 

[suitforcourt]

Older pair of Church's loafers (but made in Italy). Can anyone identify with this material might be? It's a bit stiff and plasticky. At first I thought shark, but now I wonder if it's seal.

View attachment 1199465 View attachment 1199466

I vote seal.

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

Very cool! I have been thinking about doing the same thing for either myself or my wife with a pair of golf shoes. It looks like the cleats unscrew and there is some kind of socket for them. Did those have to be extracted and/or was there a resole done? Or did Steve just put on a sole protector?

The cleats come out by unscrewing them out of the socket embedded in the sole. We addressed the socket in 2 ways ( had 2 types of golf shoes, 1 that I didn't post pics of), the first is to put a vibram rubber protector over the sockets. This seems to work well and my wife doesn't seem to notice them. This was much cheaper. The second shoe (not pictured) we had Steve to remove the entire sole and sockets to replace with vibram, this was much more expensive. Both seem to work well so far, but will see the long term durability of each approach.
Either way my wife is happy since she got quality vintage Goodyear welted shoes for women at a great price, while also being able to choose the color and quirky styles...