I’m a man of particularities. I have my favorites and my loyalties. Once and a while though, something new comes across my threshold and my interest gets piqued. When I first saw the DVS Milan CTC Cadence sneakers, I thought they looked ok. I’m a bigger fan of black sneakers but the details the shoes sported made sense and I liked the silhouette. When Dustin from Cadence contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in trying a pair out, I said sure. When the box came yesterday and inside was a pair of the black models, I was hella stoked.

Less than 24 hours later and I think I found my new Summer sneaker. Check out some more photos and my initial reaction to the shoes below.

At a glance, these shoes look like any other skate shoe. Then you pick them up, flex the sole, squeeze the toe and feel the heel. That’s what I did anyway. Usually it’s all I need to do to see if a sneaker is going to be legit enough to ride in.

The problem everyone has with pedals, especially track pedals are that they kill your feet. Throughout history, cycling shoes were traditionally wooden or leather soled. This solved the issue of quil pedals hurting your feet. Later, cleats came out for quil pedals, toe clips and straps and eventually clipless pedals came around. So now everyone’s riding quill pedals with thin-soled shoes and yeah, it just doesn’t cut it. The way I got around this problem was switching to a BMX platform on my fixed and just grin and bearing it on my track bike.

The DVS Milan CTC Cadence shoes feel great on both setups and aside from getting used to the lack of ankle support (I usually wear Mid Nike SB’s), I’m totally digging them.

There’s even a reinforced heal pad under the insole.

With reflective accents all over, leather and mesh paneling and a reinforced toebox, they’re perfect for cycling. There’s even a flap that you can run the laces underneath on the tongue to keep them from getting caught in your chain. I ran my laces traditionally though.

Another concern people have with sneakers and toe clips / straps is the width. As you can see, these size 12’s are pretty slender without looking goofy. I spent a good amount of time in them yesterday and so far so good. I’m pretty stoked on these shoes and can’t see what else will come from this project.

I want to thank Dustin from Cadence once again and while you’re at it, check out the new Cadence Collection entitled Nonrepresentational Representations!