When DZR and I first began discussing the Prolly Viking DZR sneakers, I wanted to start from scratch and design a shoe that fit how I rode. Which, for me, that meant fixed freestyle, traditional toe clips and straps and a lot of hopping on and off the bike shooting photos. This past weekend, I did just that. Once the more current sample showed up on Friday afternoon, I spent all day Saturday and Sunday wearing them around riding, shooting photos and everything in between.
Check out more below.
The shoe on the right is the first sample. We then took the one on the left and added a few details to it. Although it’s tough to see the difference, we changed the eyelets from the original sample and began to carve the toe box rubber liner a bit. The color of the tongue tag, stitching and outsole striping is still off, as is the inner lining but the silhouette of the shoe is basically as it will be in the production, minus some extra padding on the opening.
Here’s a better shot of the more current sample. I was standing out at the Texas Toast Jam all weekend, hence all the dust and dirt (just look at how dirty my legs are). One of the nice things about the ballistic nylon is that you can wash it with water and a paper towel to clean them up. We’re also going with a waxed canvas lace so they don’t come untied and a velcro lace bike on the tongue tag. Both shoes will also have the 3M-printed “P” on the heel as well.
Here’s a detail of the purple eyelet. The entire shoe will be black and grey. This is the only accent of color and I really like how it turned out. Once my changes have been processed, we’ll get another sample and then a production run of around 100 pairs will go through. We should see these around the end of summer if all goes as planned!
I’m super stoked on having a sneaker with a solid sole for all kinds of riding and the options to go SPD if need be. Once I throw some MTB pedals on my road bike, I’ll letcha know how they perform. I’m even considering doing a 2-week tour from PDX to SF on them but we’ll see!
Check back for more updates as events warrant!
