Pearson, officially the world’s oldest bike shop, and shoe brand Lake have collaborated to launch a new cycling shoe and pedal system featuring proprietary Velcro RUG technology that they say is designed for life on and off the bike.
RUG stands for ‘road, urban and gravel’ because, says the British brand, the Pearson + Lake Tearaway is the only cycling shoe you’ll ever need.
(Image credit: Pearson)
According to Pearson the secret of the Tearaway shoe lies in the sole (as with life, Will Pearson punned), which features a Vibram base for exceptional stiffness and durability. This has been overlaid with its ground-breaking slip-free Velcro, to offer class-leading shoe-pedal adherence.
The shoe is supplied with compatible Velcro-enabled pedals, called Born Unslippy, which, again, boast technology developed exclusively by Pearson and Lake.
The shoes have the half of the Velcro with the tiny hooks, while the pedal surfaces - which are of course double sided - get the furry bit.
(Image credit: Pearson)
Pearson says the Born Unslippy pedals are designed to work only with the Tearaway shoe and it’s not possible to ‘hack’ a Tearaway shoe by simply glueing a piece of Velcro to the sole: the pedal knows when to release the shoe, as with memory foam in premium mattresses, in order for the rider never to be caught out at traffic lights.
Pearson doesn’t supply any data regarding the durability of the system: people who have used cycling shoes with Velcro straps remember that after a while the Velcro becomes less efficient and the straps can start to curl up at the edges like an old sandwich.
However, according Pearson, the Pearson + Lake Tearaways have been rigorously tested in a wide range of riding conditions. Will Pearson said: “With a release so effortless, they had us singing their praises to Pearson customers in-store, many of whom are dedicated ‘cleat-heads’. You might even say the Tearaways put the ‘verse’ into versatile.”
Simon Smythe is a hugely experienced cycling tech writer, who has been writing for Cycling Weekly since 2003. Until recently he was our senior tech writer. In his cycling career Simon has mostly focused on time trialling with a national medal, a few open wins and his club's 30-mile record in his palmares. These days he spends most of his time testing road bikes, or on a tandem doing the school run with his younger son.
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