I was going to call this ‘Socks of Sea Otter’, but then I thought ‘shiny boots of leather’ and thought that socks made of Sea Otter would be distressing. Probably waterproof, but all kinds of wrong.
Anyway. Yes, my sock drawer needed a refresh. But also, I went on a hand luggage only plane ticket which makes bringing samples of products difficult – and who wants to come away from a trade show empty handed?! Plus, there’s a whole forum thread about buying socks, so perhaps this is in fact the content you need.
Qeja
Made in Italy, partially staffed by a Singletrack reader, and these ones are made with 50% organic cotton. It’s all sounding pretty good, right? With more support around the arch, they do feel very comfortable on first modelling try-on. They had lots of different designs in colour terms, but keep it pretty simple in structural variations – the idea is that these are versatile. The quiver killer of socks, if you will.
Sock Guy
My favourite socks ever, ‘I Love Haters’ socks, were by Sock Guy and I’m still searching for the perfect replacement. I’ve been furnished with a selection here. The Fun Guy ones are fun, but short enough to need summer to arrive I think. WAnchor ones are probably right up the street of a few here, but it’s the bright bolts of lightning that have been most coveted in the office. The very odd vampire-ish socks have some sort of Interbike IYKYK type connection and I am in the Don’t Know camp, so IYK, feel free to fill us in down in the comments.
Fast House
With no UK distribution at the moment – the choice here is limited to sale stock – you might need to go to the likes of Morzine to pick these up. And really, these are in here not for their great sock qualities (though, they do seem robust enough that I think they’ll make a good autumn/winter option). Instead, they’re here because for the long of leg women out there, I think you’ll be interested to know that the Fast House women’s mountain bike trousers are some of the longest I’ve found – I reckon a good 31, maybe even 32 inch leg. Well worth seeking out and trying on if you’re sick of having half mast pants all the time.
Turner Bikes
David Turner makes bicycles and gives opinions, but he also gave me some socks that mark 30 years of Turner Bikes. I didn’t get chance to get the usual full-flow opinion of the world from him this year, which is a shame. But, he’s still making bicycles and bringing out new developments all the time. Check out this story for a peek at his latest. Good thick socks, too.
De Feet
There are surely few British mountain bikers of a certain age who haven’t had the classic Woolie Boolie from De Feet, but they do a whole gamut of different socks. Socks with extra arch support, socks with padded underneaths, aero socks… and custom socks – these are the official Sea Otter socks. Cute.
Silca
I couldn’t not have a pair of ‘the fastest socks in the world’. The pattern on these socks is not just decorative – they are ‘turbulators’ designed to make the air around your ankles flow faster. These are right on the 19.5cm UCI limit for sock height. Yes, there is an actual rule about sock height. Us MTB riders with our knee socks – total rule breakers! These socks have been wind tunnel tested and found to offer ‘4-8 watts drag reduction when compared to standard socks and equal to ribbed lycra socks of similar height’. Maybe they’ll make the Pennine winds feel less severe?
Moon Dust
No, that’s not a funny shaped sock, it is indeed a T-Shirt. And while this is a nice T-Shirt designed and printed by Megan from Moon Dust, it is not a pair of socks. But there weren’t any socks left – and with their colourful designs it’s no wonder. Some of their designs employ colourful language too, and there’s a good streak of social justice throughout. Plus cats. Megan had a cat in her back pack, and it goes bike packing with her – if that’s your jam, check out the website for more cat content.
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