Meet the Team: Lake Australia and New Zealand

Wrapping the feet of the cycling world

As a global brand, Lake tries to reach all areas and as many riders as possible. This means ensuring that we support cyclists as far afield as Australia and New Zealand; two nations that have a rich heritage in cycling, on the track, the tarmac and the trails. One name that always springs to mind, is the legendary Aussie rider, Cadel Evans: a four times Mountain Bike World Cup winner in 1998 and 1999, before taking to the road cycling World Tour, where he went on to win the road cycling World Championship in 2009, before winning the Tour de France in 2011.

Yes, Australia is a cycling-rich nation, and it's why Lake has recently opened a new brand office in the region, led by Jon Birch, a PhD graduate in sports physiology.

Jon is originally from Stoke on Trent in the U.K., a place with its own cycling heritage, and a regular venue for the Tour of Britain race. Whilst not a serious cyclist, regarding himself more as a social rider, taking to the bike as a break between university studies, this PhD scientist found his two-wheeled adventures on the mountain bike trails of Exmoor, in the south-west of the U.K… Moving then to Australia, as part of his PhD studies, Jon took to the roads, finding as he says a sense of unrivaled freedom, with so many places to explore by bike. The bug had bitten him, and cycling was becoming a part of his life.

The appliance of science & neuro mechanics

His doctorate research was in neuro mechanics, and more specifically the mechanics of the foot; how it copes with different properties of surface dynamics. Jon looked closely at the development of sports shoes to give all-important percentages. Like us here at Lake cycling shoes, he was fascinated with modelling the foot. Talking with Jon, he still has this enthusiasm, telling me about the development of sports shoes. Pre-2010, the industry had modeled the foot as non-deformable model. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good way to approach such a critical part of the human body. After all, off the bike it’s what helps to move us forward, and on the bike, it creates the power to propel us. It’s a flexible entity that moves in a variety of ways.

Neuro-mechanical adaptations of the foot look specifically at how foot's mechanical function can adapt and change in relation to various stimuli, such as surfaces. Jon’s own thesis was centered around an understanding of why humans are so efficient in adapting to surfaces. As you’d imagine, there’s an obvious link here to footwear design – something that we at Lake have been leading the cycling industry with, for over 42 years.

Joining the Lake cycling shoe family

Following his PhD thesis, Jon worked as a bike fitting expert for some time, fitting cycling shoes and being able to see how numerous rider’s feet were adversely affected by ill-fitting cycling shoes.

As a premium cycling shoe brand and favorite for bike fitters across the world, Lake quickly came to the attention of this cycling scientist, being able to answer a variety of foot problems that the wide tapestry of cyclists examined by Jon, were clearly suffering from. He tells me that in Australia, there was an obvious gap in how cycling shoes were predominantly being sold at the time. Online retail was popular and the active and detailed measurement of cyclist’s feet hadn’t yet taken root.

Too frequently, he came across cyclists using shoes that were inferior, and which were causing obvious issues for the wearer. With his science-based background, Jon simply felt that Lake could fill this void and give cyclists across Australia a premium cycling shoe that was designed to fit a variety of foot shapes. With over 42 years of innovation and excellence, no other cycling shoe brand comes close to providing such a range and variety of cycling shoes to help cyclists to find their own perfect fit.

Stylish cycling shoes that add comfort & performance

Since launching our new Lake office in Australia, Jon and the team and have found that cyclists in the region clearly want a high-performance and stylish cycling shoe that fits them properly. There’s a thirst for finding the right fit, and the southern hemisphere cycling community is already enjoying the benefits of our most popular shoes, such as the CX333 road cycling shoe – the ultimate in performance and style. The new Lake CX239 has also made an immediate impact and as Jon says, it has all the necessary attributes and innovation to add to rider comfort, with its next-generation approach to cycling shoe design. It delivers unrivalled comfort and performance in equal measure.

Overcoming the obvious issues with incorrect footwear

In Jon’s mind, education on shoe fitting and bike fitting is key to giving cyclists a shoe that is perfect for their own needs. Too frequently, people look towards their own favorite pro rider and try to wear the same cycling shoes. However, the result is often a shoe that’s too narrow and which causes numb toes and hot feet. It’s critical for a cycling shoe to have the correct width for each individual rider, alongside good arch support.

Think about it; if you’re squeezing a foot and a bunch of nerves into a shoe and then tightening it with BOAs – it’s never going to end well. Form over function will win 9 out of 10 times, until we educate people more about the benefits of a professional bike and shoe fitting session. Only then will more cyclists get the shoes that theyneed.

Find your fit – in all corners of the cycling world

We’re really excited to have Jon leading the way with Lake in Australia and New Zealand; using his expertise and knowledge to educate even more cyclists about the benefits of wrapping their feet in Lake cycling shoes. Our goal is simple: we want all cyclists to ride in style, and with comfort and performance in perfect harmony. Cycling is a global sport, and with our new Lake office in Australia, we can bring our legendary innovation and unrivalled cycling shoe innovation to another corner of the global cycling community.