Gear Gallery……Bata Biker at TFC world headquarters
Bata Bikers are to classic, steel-framed, bike-loving cyclotourists:
+ what the Cape Buffalo is to Hemingway;
+ what the Grail is to the Arthurian knights;
+ what his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal (and the Taj Mahal) is to Emperor Shah Jahan.
That is: Part obsession. Part devotion. Part unrequited longing.
Well…the elusive Bata Biker has finally arrived at The Friday Cyclotouriste world headquarters.
According to the analytics of this site, my posts on bicycling shoes are all in the top 10 of the most searched and the most viewed. In my first of these posts I mentioned the fabled Bata Biker shoe.
My most recent cycling shoe discovery was the ASICS Keirin, which I wrote about here.
Still, the classic Batas seemed like a perfect low-profile, lightweight, canvas bike touring shoe with semi-rigid soles for either flat pedals or pedals with toe-clips.
Yet they are impossible to find — anywhere. Bata ceased production sometime in the early 80s, I think.
Given this, when I recently saw a pair of unworn Bata Biker factory seconds in my size on eBay, I scooped them up.
I used these for several years back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, until clipless pedals with significant float were developed. My right knee could not handle the fixed position afforded by the old nail on cleats/toe clips.
David P.
30 May 14 at 2:14 pm
I had a pair of these shoes during my first year as a junior racer, in 1988. I was 12 years old. I hated these shoes because all the cool kids had the new Look pedals. I had a pair of these and Suntour Sprint pedals & toe clips. I thought I was a nerd back then, but now…what I wouldn’t give for that set-up…especially the pedals!! And the shoes, they were comfortable!
Jeff Struck
9 Sep 14 at 7:27 pm
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