Well, that was a nice hiatus. This will be the first of many regularly updated designs in addition to some new supplemental content for your free viewing pleasure. 

This most recent design is a named after the bad-ass 12 mile bike path that runs from Cambirdge out to the stix. I started this design a while ago and couldn’t figure out how to finish it. I wanted something that was technical looking without looking like something that came out of the Nike Innovative Kitchen. There is a tendency in the footwear industry to get bored with what is simple and beautiful. This usually leads to hideous, overbuilt toys for your feet.

I started with a clean slim suede forefoot for smooth pedal clip interaction. The bottom portion of the eyestay and mudguard wraps under the midsole, so long term wear on the stitching won’t completely ruin the front end of this sneaker over time. This would have the added bonus of making this concept durable for skateboarding. The rear quarter underlay is created from ballistic nylon or canvas with a folded edge. My intention here was to supply stability while maintaining a soft and comfortable collar. 

The sole design came from some experimentation with adding contours and textural transitions in what is otherwise a simple straight forward cupsole. It would be nice to sample this sole in a foam/rubber hybrid compound to lessen the weight substantially, but I suspect that it would disintegrate when it hit some toothy pedals. 

I was so pleased with my previous marker sketch that I couldn’t wait to get it into Illustrator. While I had to finesse a few lines and I changed the logo to a tonal deboss, there wasn’t really a whole lot else I felt compelled to change. 

I slimmed out the outsole slightly and increased the radius of the soleplate edge to provide smoother action when worn with bike clips. One of my biggest complaints about vulcanized rubber shoes is how the 90 degree edge of the sole base is always creating friction when you go to slide your foot into the clip. Those few seconds of fumbling are a giant pain in the ass when you’re trying to take a left at a busy intersection. The slim vamp and minimal toe will allow flawless clip function while the top half of the shoe can have the tongue popped for stylish city riding.

The name is a nod to the pot hole riddled avenue of death which I ride the most.

Labor day is fast approaching and that means one thing… Back to school season is officially here. With that in mind, I wanted to design a clean, functional bike sneaker that would accommodate some preppy textiles. After sketching for a while with little success, I finally worked up a concept that would provide a bold integrated graphic while maintaining a clean to for optimal functionality. 

The upper is designed to be three separate panels of suede over a preppy casual textile in the collar and eyestay. The quarter panel overlays are detailed with laser cut microperforations and the collar overlay is fastened to a molded TPU lacing component that floats over the textile eyestay. The placement of the TPU lacing part allows for increased lacing support while maintaining the continuity of the lateral color blocking. 

The chosen plaid is a placeholder to represent a more considered textile choice. I wish I had time to do more textile inspiration for this design but time constraints limited what I could accomplish. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy with the overall design and the balance between the bold pattern blocking and the simple functional vamp.