It’s not often everyone at Spoke HQ agrees on something, well, anything. Just putting on the stereo in the morning can result in half an hour of ‘discussion’ over the merits of Death Cab For Cutie’s last album (majority verdict: it sucked). But one thing we’ve all agreed on in the last few months is that Teva’s Pivot shoe is pretty darn good.
Vikki, Leif, Caleb and myself have all been wearing the Pivots, some exclusively, and some with an Imelda Marcos-esque shoe collection (Caleb) mixing it up with other brands. I was never a fan of the more casual-styled shoes on the market, always believing them to be too heavy, not stiff enough, and a bit too skatey looking for my needs. The Pivot though, instantly appealed to me; maybe the velcro strap over the laces was a bit hard to get used to at first (looks, not function) but I liked the overall appearance—not too chunky, not too racey, not too skatey. But what’s good on the outside may not translate to anything of substance (eg Death Cab For Cutie), but the Pivots were instantly comfortable, pretty light and plenty stiff. My Sidis have been sitting forlornly in the wardrobe for months now.
The Pivots have stood up to plenty of abuse, hitting rocks in Colorado, resisting bulldust and wildlife in Queensland, and getting submerged in way too much mud in Wellington. The sole is hardly marked, although the metal plate under the cleats is showing signs of wear from the pedal spring. The upside down cleat mounting seems redundant to me, for a start it doesn’t work with my Time cleats, but mounting SPD cleats was still a convoluted exercise and I think the bolt heads would probably get mangled enough to make removing the bolts difficult (maybe Vikki has had more luck). Leif has been rocking the white/grey versions and they look pretty good when they get a bit of dirt on them…
At $280 they’re not cheap, but compared with similar shoes and even more racey kicks, they stack up pretty well considering how versatile and well-performing they are. And that’s something we all agree on. My turn for the stereo…
Is the metal plate at the bottom of the shoe replaceable. Fellow Time user.
The silver metal is part of the sole, so no. You could put a shim under the cleat to prevent excessive wear, but I don’t think it’s getting any worse on my shoes now. The plate that the cleat bolts screw into is replaceable like any system.
Where can you buy them from in NZ ?
Vertigo Bikes in Queenstown (0800 837 8446) has them, and most good bike shops should be able to get some in if they haven’t already…
R&R sport…
Looks like you better stock up on these – Teva discontinuing mountain bike line