David Millar’s Girona-based cycling clothing and lifestyle brand CHPT3 has just added shoes to their line-up, with the new Transit. Described as a performance urban cycling shoe for riding clipped in or on flat pedals, CHPT3 says their new Transit sneakers are actually the “world’s first cycling shoe you can wear all day”. Plus, if you act fast and buy one of the first pairs, you can gain early access to pre-order an upcoming limited edition Brompton x CHPT3 V4 folding bike.
CHPT3 Transit city riding shoes
These new claim to blend classic sneaker style with “technology from professional cycling” to create a casual cycling shoe that truly works well on- and off-the-bike. CHPT3 hypes the unique ‘first-ever’ nature of this combo, although we’ve ridden a number of casual commuter shoes like those from Chrome, Five Ten & Quoc for years.
So what does CHPT3 do that’s unique?
Tech details
Designed by James Carnes and his footwear brand Priority Athletic, the CHPT3 Transit shoes do look to pack in some cool tech, maybe most importantly based around the concept of comfortable & silent walking off-the-bike.
That relies on a flexible sneaker sole with a large recess pocket that makes sure your SPD cleats don’t click on the ground as you walk. That deep pocket seems to avoid interference with pedals by pairing an open & flexible tread around the cleat opening – that should be able to deform against your pedal – with a more solid rubber tread across the rest of the shoe for walking support & durability. Another part of the why this deep sole seems to work is a taller-than-most running shoe-inspired midsole with a generous 10mm of drop, back to front.
For pedaling support, there’s a reinforced central (red on the white shoes, blue on the black ones) O.W.N. microplate that is stiff at the cleat, but distributes forces in two directions so the rest of the sole can flex normally when walking. The same OWN microplate reinforces the flat pedal shoes, just without the cutout.
Transit shoes – Pricing, options & availability
Officially a collaboration for Brompton in this first limited run of 500 numbered pairs of shoes, the new CHPT3 Transits come in two color combos – white/light gray or dark gray/black.
The shoes are entirely made in Germany, and are available in either a 205€ version for flat pedals or the clipless-ready 225€ version with recessed SPD cleat attachment. The new Transits come in whole EU sizes from 38-45, and are officially for sale today as a pre-order. Shoe delivery is slated for next month, in March 2023.
Limited edition Brompton x CHPT3 V4 folding bike
We actually know next to nothing about the upcoming Brompton x CHPT3 collaboration for a limited edition V4 bike, other than what we can guess from their teaser images. It looks like a P Line Urban build with a special 3-color red/gray/black CHPT3 paint scheme.
What we do know is that the first 500 buyers of the shoes will get a special invite for early access to buy the limited edition Brommie a day before it goes on sale to the public. There is a hitch that the pre-order access is only available in 8 countries (which does happen to include much of Bikerumor’s international audience).
