A few weeks back, I received a care package from Almond. They had sent over a pair of Ben Hucke’s new signature Belmont model shoe to check out and spend some time riding in. When I opened the box up, I found not just one, but two pairs of the shoes. They said I could keep them to myself, or I could give the extra pair away to a lucky fan of The Union, who happens to wear a size 10.5. So, I have been wearing the shoes for a few weeks now and figured I’d give you some insight on what the shoe is all about, how well they held up and my personal opinion on the shoe. Then you can find out how to win the extra pair. Check it!
All right, so fresh out of the box this is what the shoes look like. The Belmont from Almond was one shoe that took a little while to develop since Ben Hucke really wanted to take time to put together a rad shoe that would hold up. They decided they wanted to go with a durable upper that’s made from suede and a nubuk leather with the vulc style cupsole on the inside and a sticky gum rubber outsole with Almond’s pattern.
You can find a thinly padded tongue and collar to keep the shoe from looking bulky. I really liked this feature since I can’t stand that floppy, poofy look. On the inside and tongue, you can find the bed cushion that features Ben Hucke’s daggers logo. The cushion matched with the molded polyurethane insole and shock absorbing internal elastomer suspension helps keep the shoe extra comfortable and absorb impacts, which decreased the chance of heel bruising.
Almond got creative with the tread pattern on the sole. They used a grippy rubber that helps keep the feet on the pedals. If you look close, you can see the pattern changes and offset a bit where your feet generally sit on the pedals with more grooves which help grip the pins on the pedals a little better. Initially, I was a little worried since the surface looks pretty smooth that my feet would be blowing off the pedals all the time, but they stuck to my metal Animal Hamilton pedals amazing and I can’t recall blowing off the pedals at all in the time I’ve been riding in them.
Overall, I really like the look of the shoe. This mid-style shoe has a clean look without the extra “fluff” that some shoes out there come with. The shoes had a sturdy feel to them, and there were a couple sessions where I just tucked the laces in since I didn’t even need to tie them. After I broke them in a bit they were still holding pretty sturdy. Obviously, they got looser so I have been tying them lately. They have also been holding up to my lazy habit of just slipping the shoes on and bending the back which is pretty cool.
After 11 years I recently decided it was probably due time I actually try to learn whips so there’s been a lot of unsuccessful fly outs where I’d land pretty hard on my feet. The shoe definitely absorbs the impacts well and there hasn’t been any bruising due to me stomping my feet in rage from how unsuccessful the probably thousands of attempts have been.
If you look at the photos above, you can see the stitching, sides, heel, sole and everything have been holding up well. Then again, Minnesota has been frozen so I haven’t been going super hard on the shoes since street and riding out doors in general isn’t really an option. But I have faith that these shoes would hold up just fine.
The Belmont’s are available everywhere Almond is sold and come in three color options. The black with gum above, an olive green and yellow (below / giveaway!) and a black leather and orange with sizes of 6,7,7.5,8,8.5,9,9.5,10.0,10.5,11.0,11.5,12,13,14. You can pick them up on Dan’s Comp for $74.99. You can also order them from your other favorite shops and most mail-orders.
All right, so now the giveaway!
Two ways to win these shoes (They are size 10.5 and that’s all I’ve got).
1.) Head over to The Union’s FACEBOOK PAGE and “Share” the photo of the shoes. Feel free to like and comment on the shoes as well since that won’t hurt.
2.) Don’t have Facebook? Head over to the Almond website and find Ben’s team page. What’s the name of the shirt he has on in the 2nd photo? Leave your answer in the comments. Please make sure you use a valid email address for me to email you if I choose from there.
I’ll pick a winner on January 31st, 2012!
