The Eagle Has Landed
Hi Friends – Strong Feet Athletics creator Tyler Benner here. I meant to publish this blog and email now several days ago, and then Dr Mark Hyman featured Strong Feet Athletics in his weekly newsletter and instead I spent the next several days responding to questions and messages from inquiring minds and shipping orders. And then Russ Roca debuted our first video review on his informative and inspiring YouTube channel, The Path Less Pedaled. It is a joy talking with all of you and reading your many comments and congratulations, I only wish I had either more hands to type faster or more hours in the day.
If you have previously messaged us and either did not get a response or our conversation is incomplete, please reply again on the same email chain or send us another message! We want to talk to all of you. We are going back through the many hundreds of messages so everyone gets replied to, but the volume is high and we don’t want to accidentally miss you.
Many thanks, Dr. Hyman, I’m so thrilled finally the shoes are here and we can share them with the world! Your support and encouragement is hugely helpful and appreciated.
The long and short of it is, I can finally now message all of you that 2000 pairs of production shoes have arrived, been unloaded, all open orders have been shipped to customers, and any future orders will ship within 24-48 hours. I’ve been waiting almost 10 years to write that message. The Eagle has landed! America went to the Moon in less than 10 years and finally now we have foot-shaped cycling shoes just under the decade barrier. To say this is one of the journeys of my lifetime is an understatement. I’m already moved by the literally hundreds of messages from people writing that the shoes are “Super comfy!” (Thanks Melisa!) or the willingness of others to share a personal story about an injury or ailment so we could better understand how to help. Journalists, professors, doctors, lawyers, pilots, engineers, life-long athletes, bike fitters, shop owners, visitors from 99 countries (and growing), foot nerds, business leaders, and of course everyday people who are sick of cramming their toes in narrow toed cycling shoes – THANK YOU. The response to the Leviathan has been the stuff of dreams and now finally that dream is reality. We’re just getting started.
A special thank you goes out to my nephew Cohen and his friend Eli for helping unload 190 boxes weighing ~6600 pounds from the container during their Spring Break, my niece Rosalee for helping package all current orders, and my loving and supportive parents who were there for the momentous day as well.
One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Soon we’ll publish a blog or two on the history and development of the Leviathan because it is a fascinating story spanning 9 years and 13 attempted factory partners and spans the globe in collaboration partners and dead ends. We could have released a shoe long ago, but I didn’t want to sell a shoe for $600 dollars. I wanted to make athletic shoes for everyday people, not only someone who wears a Rolex and rides a $15k jewelry bike. So stick around and make sure you’re on the newsletter to receive updates when we publish them, I have some incredible photos and the story is interesting.
Also, we’ve received a lot of messages from people inquiring about the fit of our first batch of shoes, sizes 38 - 48. Please do make sure you measure your feet via the sizing guide and do NOT just purchase whatever number size you think you might be. The reality is there are zero standards in footwear and every brand just makes up their own sizing. Literally the size numbers, 38, 39, 40, etc, they don’t mean anything in a real measurement perspective. It is purely coincidental if one brand’s sizing is the same as another. This is why we are asking everyone to take a real foot length measurement with a ruler. Last we checked millimeters and inches were the same everywhere around the world, but shoe sizes most certainly are not. And when we suggest a size for you, we’re also automatically accounting for the correct spacing in front of your toes as well. Curious to nerd out on these things? Send us a message, we’d be happy to share more. Lastly, if your foot is either too short or too long for our current sizing, please send us an email with your measurements and contact information so we can contact you directly when we produced additional sizes on future batches of shoes. We had to pick a range for our first batch and 38 - 48 is what we picked knowing we would likely not have the correct size yet for the shortest and tallest amongst you. We aim to make footwear in adult sizes for as many people as possible, so if we don’t make your size yet, please tell us so we can contact you in the future when we do!
“I’ll be discarding the ‘extra wide’ [redacted brand] torture devices soon. Cheers! ”
“I just want to say thank you from the sides of my toes for these amazing cycling shoes. Just used them for the first time on the Peloton and I am floored at the difference. The Leviathans are so roomy in the toe box for my wide foot and sizable bunion, but cinch to a nice snug fit and have excellent bounce. My toes didn’t go numb for the first time ever, giving me hope that I can get back on my road bike for extended rides.
Thank you for making these!”
“Really impressed with the shoes. Amazed at how stable and comfortable my feet and body feels. It feels like my nervous system can finally relax in the bike since my feet aren’t trapped and have the ability to be stable in the shoe. Maybe it’s placebo but I also notice I’m defaulting to a higher cadence.
The thing that I’m really surprised by is the power transfer. These actually feel stiffer and more responsive than most shoes I’ve tried. I wasn’t expecting that.
I raced these at our Monday night series and had a lot of people asking about them. I think my coworker / teammate just ordered a pair.”
“Super comfy!”
“Shoes were great on the bike!!!! I got a basic fitting at my local shop, had Ixx help me put the cleats on. He was amazed by the shoes. Sent them to his buddy who does proper fittings. lxx said you are going to shake up the market! He even took the business card from my box.”
“THANK YOU!! I’ve been praying for somebody to make a barefoot shaped cycling shoe. I almost gave up on cycling because of the pain that regular cycling shoes cause me. Your shoes fit perfect! | can’t believe how comfortable they are. I’m excited to compete in some gravel races with these and have happy feet again.”
“I got the shoes, I took them for the first 50 mile ride yesterday. They were super comfy, felt like my toes had great freedom, and the fit was just right. I suffered way less foot and toe numbness than my other shoes, to the point where sometimes lots of time went by without me thinking about my feet :-). Love the shoes. At first I was concerned it felt a little loose at the ankle, but that was fixed when I tightened in the right order, the dials closer to the ankle first, and left the front ones on the looser side.”
Russ Roca is someone who really knows bicycles and he even made a video several years ago asking the cycling industry to make foot shaped shoes!! It was only natural we found that video and got in touch. While racing and going fast can be fun, Russ is personally all about that Party Pace and using bicycles for sight seeing, adventure, running errands, and everyday transportation. It was someone like Russ we had in mind when we tried hard to make the shoes walk as well as they do: feeling like you’re on the verge of falling on slippery grocery store floors needs to get retired along with the overly narrow toe boxes and curved soles that inhibit the foot’s function of creating both arches and splaying your toes. Give a watch of Russ’s review below, zip ahead to ~5:30 to get straight to the shoe review. Thanks for the review, Russ! We’re excited to see what parties you ride to in your new kicks.
Please share your pictures and videos with us!
We need your help to show the world how amazing these shoes are. Please tag us on social media, or send in pictures and video to hello@strongfeetathletics.com.
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Podcast Features
SFA Creator Tyler Benner has been on several podcasts recently to talk about the Leviathan cycling shoes. Have a listen at the links below:
Thank you for the ride of a lifetime
