More thoughts on saddle accessories…

If the shoe fits

I’m very fond of my Shimano ‘off-road’ MTB shoes – they’re comfortable on and off the bike. Despite wearing them almost every time I go out, whether walking or riding or both, they’ve hardly worn. Road shoes just aren’t good for walking – ask Chris Froome or my road shoes which wore badly before I got the MTB shoes.

The only drawback I’ve felt is that they can be a bit warm, so I’d thought of buying some Shimano SPD sandals. However, according to Amazon, the best ones contain animal by-products, so I won’t be buying them. Other sources say that Specialized shoes are vegan, but they don’t make sandals. So, does anyone know of any vegan cycling sandals that can take SPD cleats? For when my current road shoes and MTB shoes wear out, can anyone recommend guaranteed vegan equivalents?

Audibly

I wear a bluetooth headset linked to my iPhone. Until recently I’ve used Jaybird headphones – they are comfortable, reproduce sound very well and, most importantly, have a microphone so they can be used to make phone-calls. But my current pair just died, and replacing them would cost over £100.

I’m now using a much cheaper alternative from TaoTronics. The sound quality isn’t as good as Jaybird’s – it emphasises hi-hats and cymbals over vocals somewhat – but is acceptable for kit 20% of the Jaybird price. The Taotronics kit transmits phonecall voices just fine, and that’s important because my iPhone is in a waterproof case that muffles its built-in microphone. Let’s see how they last on the road!