Although I spend most of my time on my bike, the other day I found myself tinkering with my moped while waiting in vain for spring to show up. It got me thinking about a sneaker built for some serious moped riding. I spoke with a friend of mine who rides with the Latebirds, a rad gang of moped tinkerers in Los Angeles, about rendering up a shoe concept for the group. They log some serious miles tearing ass across Silverlake or remote stretches of desert road in California, so Dan was more than willing to give me a few suggestions.

After spending some time in my sketchbook, I ended up with two concepts; One clean leather high top built for rally riding and a low top chukka designed for joyriding. My focus when I started exploring was to avoid sacrificing aesthetics for function. Nobody wants to be riding around on a 30 year old moped in armored Sidi motorcycle boots, so I had to find something that hit the sweet spot between boot and sneaker. 

For the Rally concept, I started with a boot style quarter panel & eyestay contruction. The collar and ankle were inspired by performance basketball shoes, with a partial heel bootie inside for a snug fit and increased ankle stability. I also included a thin plastic heel clip that terminates right before the flex area of the forefoot. This would provide supplemental stability and help prevent a fracture if you need to make a sudden foot assisted stop. The primary material is intended to be a distressed full grain leather with a heel underlay of enamel leather for contrast.

The chukka was designed to be a stylish companion to the Rally version without the functional overkill. Since this was intended for more casual riding I wanted something simple that would make for a great everyday sneaker. I started with a basic chukka construction with a textile binding that wraps around the entire edge of the quarter panel and heel. I included metal eyelets so the quarter overlay could be made of canvas as well as leather. This design maintains the same enamel leather heel underlay for continuity. The clean slim toe is blocked in suede or nubuck to hold up the rigors of other urban transport as well as pair with just about any pant or short combo.

I’m pretty satisfied with each of these concepts and how they sit together. Both share a number of small embellishments such as the color popped eyelets, plastic heel clip woven tongue labels featuring the Latebirds crest and similar executions of the quarter stripe stitching.

I’ve included a video below of the Latebirds in their element… riding, playing with tools and drinking beer. (thanks Babelgum)