To say Keen’s Coronado Cruisers are just for casual bicycle riding would be to greatly understate how I’ve used them.
Keen offers their regular Coronado casual shoe, which looks the same. The Coronado Cruisers fall under their Pedal lineup and add a 3/4 length shank in the sole for better power transfer and a sticky rubber patch in the forefoot of the tread for better grip on the pedal. They make a great riding shoe.
But that’s just the beginning…
KEEN CORONADO CRUISER DETAILS
The Coronado’s have a canvas outer side and Nubuck leather on the inner side and forefoot.
Like most Keens, they have a large, wide toe box that keeps your feet and toes in their natural position. Heel lift feels minimal. I don’t know the exact height difference from toe to heel, it feels flat compared to running or dress shoes.
Each pair comes with two sets of laces.
The insole and non-marking outsole are made of eco-friendly vulcanized rubber.
They’re also available in women’s colors and sizes. Depending on the color chosen, the rubber toe and outsole edges are either black or white.
USE AND REVIEW
I’m on my second pair of Coronado Cruisers in two years. I’d still be on my first except that my first pair mysteriously disappeared when a Goodwill box left the house. I’m told that if they were in there, it was surely an accident.
Either way, that original pair (the tan ones you see at the top of this post) were still in excellent shape after more than a year of four or five days per week use. That included walking Sea Otter, Interbike, NAHBS and other shows carrying a 25-35lb backpack all day long for days in a row. Compared to sneakers and other high end walking shoes I’ve worn to these events in the past, my feet were far more comfortable and less fatigued by the end of each day when I wore the Coronado Cruisers. These are hands down my favorite pair of shoes. I wear them constantly. I’m still bummed I lost the tan pair.
Sweetie, for her part, agrees they’re comfortable, but thinks the large, wide toe box makes her feet look too big. I think they look cute. She’s worn them on the 41 mile Five Boros Bike Tour with no complaints and on shorter rides around town.
During the course of testing, there were two construction issues and one thing that could be added. The first issue was the inner half of one eyelet broke free and would occasionally poke the top of my foot if the tongue slid to the side, which it tends to do slightly. If it weren’t for the eyelet, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the tongue sliding as that in itself doesn’t cause any discomfort.
The second issue is that my second pair almost immediately developed cracks in the canvas. These appeared within the first couple of wearings and have remained virtually unchanged since (it’s been four or five months at least). So, they’re not getting worse, but there they are.
The last item is a simple improvement that would make them a bit more bicycle friendly. Keen should put an elastic loop in the middle of the tongue to slide the laces through. This would keep them out of the chainrings. Chrome’s shoes have this and it’s a simple, likely cheap fix that works wonderfully.
Despite these issues, I’d buy another pair in a heartbeat. For $80, you get a really, really comfortable pair of shoes that holds up well to all-day walking, standing and squatting with a giant, heavy backpack. It performs well on the bike, looks good (my opinion) on and off the bike and cleans up easily with a damp rag. Other than the Keen Springwater SPD show I reviewed a while back, these were my first introduction to Keen. Since then, I’ve acquired something like five or six other pair, all good, as have my wife and kids, but I keep coming back to the Coronado Cruisers for my daily kicks. Love. Them.
