Jason Darden's new shoes...

I have found the perfect new pair of cycling shoes for one Jason Darden. See attached picture to the left... 

These are the Sidi special edition Bettini shoes. I know Jason is going to run out, lay down his 500+ dollars for a pair of these bad boys and I mean really who wouldn't? Well, probably me, mostly because I'm not Italian and can't pull of "style" such as seen here in there them shoes. Come to think of it, Jason isn't Italian either. The person most likely to purchase this pair of shoes would be one Curtis S. Staples. I'm sure that he's actually pining away for such a thing as we speak. I do take these shoes to be another silly example of how much money some folks will actually pay for cycling gear. Meaning, I think the retail on these bad boys is going to be about $550, which, come on seriously? Over $500 for a pair of cycling shoes? It's dare I say, crazy, or ridiculous, pick your adjective, they will all apply. But then again, this is the world where people will pay $600 for a ceramic bottom bracket that overall, ain't gonna make you faster, but dang, it says that it will. Also, the same group of people who will pay $400 for a pair of bib shorts. Don't get me wrong, I like me some nice cycling gear, and will pay some money to get some nice cycling gear, but I'm not absolutely insane, and absolutely know where to draw the line. Bear in mind, for this particular pair of shoes, I once owned a pair of the top of the line Sidi road cycling shoes. The SRS Energy 2 I think it was. This was way back in 2001. At the time, they were expensive, retail was about $200. Can someone honestly tell me what they've done over the course of 6 or 7 years that would make these new shoes over double what my shoes were? Nothing. Oh sure, they might have added some carbon fiber to the sole and all, but that's about it. Incredibly ridiculous. No thanks for me. I'll stick with my $15 specials a friend of mine got for me, and the only reason they were $15 is because I felt like I needed to give him something for the shoes. He was going to give them to me for free.