IMG_0164 by mark tilley, on FlickrOk, I am not only a great finder of things, but also a great tinnkerer and fettler. I love my Birkenstock sandals to bits. ..literaly. These I bought many years ago s/h of e-bay for about £8, hardly worn, but apparently worn in the sea ::-). Any way I've glued them so many times now,but their time has come. They are my , kick around the garden shoes, but I keep tripping up in them.
I also love my Shimano SPD sandals. This is a s/h replacement pair, for the originals, that perished so much, lumps used to fall off the sole each ride. These are a later model, but not as comfy, and when out on Friday, without socks of course, I found that the soles of my feet were burning. So sitting in the garden today..bin day!! I thought, I just can't throw them away yet. So, ...................I wonder? .....what if?......
IMG_0171 by mark tilley, on FlickrI peeled off the sole and side straps, ( not difficult ) and was left with the rubberised cork insole. ( incidentally, I won't be throwing the straps away, as I will clean them up, attach some elastic to them, and used them as a pair of leather gauntlet arm straps, for wearing with my SteamPunk Morris dancing kit. ::-) anyway.........
IMG_0165 by mark tilley, on FlickrI had to chamfer the sides at the rear of the shoe,so the fit a bit snugger? with the straps, then turned them up side down and sprayed the bottom with carpet glue, fitted them to the shoes, and wore them quickly to aid adhesion.
IMG_0167 by mark tilley, on Flickr
IMG_0166 by mark tilley, on FlickrEt voila, a unique pair of BirkenSPDs. A you would expect, they are supreemly comfortable, and do lift the height a tad, compared to the bare spd sandal, but on a par with the height of std spd mtb type shoes. so wont feel so strange when autumn comes. An outstanding result I do feel.
