Not much to report from the Seattle bike swap; I got there late and didn't meet many CR members. Did get to meet David Cowie though, and I thought in light of the recent thread on toeclippable shoes, I should tell you all about David's impressive inventory.
I bought a pair of Vittorias, box says both "Super Prestige" and "Professional" so maybe one of those is the model name? Perforated (alternating large and small holes) black leather, completely classic looking, but with a thicker-than-normal leather sole with a substantial curve to it, not so flat as older shoes. The cleats bolt down with two bolts each, but also have nail holes, and the instructions tell you to use the bolts for riding until you've settled on a cleat position, then take 'em to a cobbler to have 'em nailed. Actually the bolts look sufficient to me, but I'll let you know later after I've ridden them. Note these two bolts are not in a Look or SPD pattern; these are toe-clip-only shoes. He didn't have every size but did have a few. $40
He also had lots of older-style Italian leather shoes for nail-on cleats, look to me to be very high quality, no name brand anywhere on the shoes or the boxes, small perforations only. He had lots of sizes of these; ask for the ones in the red boxes. $20.
He also has miscellaneous Rivat, Detto Pietro and others. Those with small feet (38-41 maybe), ask about the shearling-lined winter shoes (I don't know if it's real wool or synthetic). The Rivat winter shoes are nylon fabric, not so classic looking, but excellent shoes. The Cool-Gear winter shoes are Italian made, black leather (no perforations), lace up, totally classic looking. Woulda bought 'em if they were my size!
David also has Sergal shorts and tights, crochet-back gloves with snaps (no velcro), Cool-Gear and ProTogs wool jerseys, Benotto tape and lots more. Pletscher racks for your bike-boom UO-8! Those are just the things that stick in my head.
I'm pretty sure David's e-mail address is recycle@wmni.net
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, Wa
USA