Saddleback 2016 – SIDI

Barney took a trip down to Yate this week to chat to the good people of Saddleback. They’ve just started to do SIDI, and here are some of the things that caught his eye:

Drako Carbon

Quite the shoe, this is SIDI’s new top flight shoe, it’s stuffed with all the features that a mach4 racing whippet could want/need. It’s all shiny and patent leather, there’s a reinforced nose cone at the front to prevent scuffings, The ratchets are new special numbers which make it easy to tighten, loosen and minutely adjust them.
At the back there’s a clever heel retention system – you can screw in a couple of little screws at the sides of the shoe and it pinches the shoe in to prevent heel lift.

Here they are, see?Replaceable soles, natch. And naturally, it’s also available in white. And black. And WC colours. Are YOU fast enough?There’s a womens’ version, too, in a very cool fluoro pink and white, with a narrower last. I actually wish they made this colour in the blokes one, but I suspect I’d not be fast enough to do it justice. It’s very cool indeed, regardless. Yours for a cool £300.Here’s the dragon. Ratchet with slightly fewer clever bit, a bit more matte, and a bit more velcro. Still looks nifty though.It’s also got replaceable sole segments. It’s £230.
The Eagle is £150, more velcro, different ratchets, but still cleaving to the Yellow motif. Looks pretty.

Breeze Rain

Water resistant membrane, but not touted as waterproof because the ratchet punctures the membrane, Neoprene collar and thermal lining. It’s £150.

Diablo

This is the posh one – more velcro, so no puncture holes and lots of full waterproofing-ness for when the weather gets properly grotty. £220.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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