Rocket7 Shoes

With these bespoke handmade shoes, the only pinch you’ll feel is in your pocket

- Sam Challis

It’s logical that if you spend a lot of time wearing something, fit has to be top priority. This is particularly true for your feet. Cowboys get tailored boots, ballerinas get custom-made pointes, yet, according to KC Boutiette, Olympic speed skater and owner of American custom shoe company Rocket7, all too often cyclists make do with less-than-perfect stock shoes, despite spending huge amounts of time riding their bikes.

‘There is so much focus on what cyclists are on that sometimes less attention is paid to what they are in, but what they wear can have almost as big an impact on their performance as what they ride,’ says Boutiette.

This is where Rocket7 comes in. The Colorado-based cordwainer was founded in 1997 by Brian King, another speed skater who switched to making cycling shoes from skates after recognising a wider, untapped market in the cycling industry.