I dunno. I quite disagree with this. I live in the northeast and ride 12 months out of the year and greatly prefer laces in every season. Boa dials and ratchets simply do not conform and bend with your feet as comfortably and can create weird flex points on the shoe. And they are much Much more susceptible to breaking, rendering the shoe useless mid ride until fixed. I've seen about 10 broken Boa's between myself and my friends. And they can be popped open multiple times mid ride just from bumping against little things along the trail or snagging a branch while hike-a-biking. I guess I'm just not a fan. Laces tend not to spontaneously break during a ride. They also have a greater range of useable adjustment across the whole length of the tongue, meaning socks of different weights can be worn depending on the season. I have yet to see a really well designed lace cover be incorporated into a shoe, and I think something like that would go a long ways to even further improve the functionality of laces as well as better sealing the shoe and keeping them dry and secure.
Aug. 26, 2019, 11:16 a.m. - Metacomet
I dunno. I quite disagree with this. I live in the northeast and ride 12 months out of the year and greatly prefer laces in every season. Boa dials and ratchets simply do not conform and bend with your feet as comfortably and can create weird flex points on the shoe. And they are much Much more susceptible to breaking, rendering the shoe useless mid ride until fixed. I've seen about 10 broken Boa's between myself and my friends. And they can be popped open multiple times mid ride just from bumping against little things along the trail or snagging a branch while hike-a-biking. I guess I'm just not a fan. Laces tend not to spontaneously break during a ride. They also have a greater range of useable adjustment across the whole length of the tongue, meaning socks of different weights can be worn depending on the season. I have yet to see a really well designed lace cover be incorporated into a shoe, and I think something like that would go a long ways to even further improve the functionality of laces as well as better sealing the shoe and keeping them dry and secure.