Tuesday, November 4, 2008

my connection to the shoe game

Blinded by the jumpman is the truth - that guy Teek can tell you anything you want to know about Jordans or Nike in general. He probably knows something about every type of shoe or shoe technology there is. Here's where I come in to play.

I'm huge into cars, and follow motorsports heavily. A driver is geared with flame-retardant suits and protective clothing, but the one thing that is absolutely designed towards success are: their shoes. Racing shoes are purposely designed with breatheable material, with appropriate flexibility to allow the driver precise movement and input at clutch, brake and throttle pedals. One of my favorite "street" shoe is the Adidas Goodyear racing shoe.

Besides the fact that it has subtle hints of carbon fiber throughout the shoe, the shoe is purposely designed to be skinny towards the center to give you the most ability to "heel-toe" shift. Heel-Toe lets you press your brake with the ball of your foot while rolling your heel towards the gas pedal. You'll do this while diving into a corner that requires you to slow down, while preparing your car for a lower gear to properly exit the corner. It's extremely difficult to do if you've never done it. Having the right shoes makes all the difference. I can barely heel-toe with my Adidas Metrum 3.5's because they are so wide and it's difficult to properly adjust how much brake energy i'd like to allow versus gas energy. Here's an example of it on video in a Subaru WRX being driven on a race course by a professional:


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