Originally Posted by 79pmooney

See my post about tying proper bow knots and doubling. Done right with good non-slippery laces (available at any department store and many other places; plain old cotton laces work really well and they don't untie. That said, I like the synthetic laces that get a little fuzzy because you can cut them to length and melt the cut end with a lighter. I do this with nearly all of my cycling shoes so the doubled bows have nothing that can extend far enough to to more than just brush the crank. (Getting a lace caught in a fix gear chainring always turns out badly.)

Tying proper knots is becoming a lost art. But the right knots for the job is something you can trust your life to. Sailors, mountain climbers, loggers, fisherman, construction workers, cowboys, etc,. have been using knots where they matter forever, (In many of these activities, having knots that can be untied as surely as they will stay tied can also be life and death.

There's a hilarious video out there of a cowboy who rides to a Walmart (Utah maybe?) As he's walking out, a woman screams "he stole my bike" and points to a young man riding off on her steed, Cowboy jumps on his horse, catches up, lassos and ties the culprit to a tree just using his basic cowboy skills with a steer, I'm a sailor. But we could sit down and have a fun discussion of the knots we use, (Very different knots, but of equal importance.)

Some of my bikes have sported knots, sometimes for years. I had leather wrap on the Mooney's handlebars for about 15 years, I ripped it a couple of times (a crash and another incident). I loved the leather. Loved the feel. So to "save" it, I wrapped it with waxed polyester twine with a standard sailor;s whip used to keep rope from unraveling. Those whips went 10 years and were still perfect when I replaced the bars.

Good knots are good knots. There are good knots for tying shoes. And they allow the sweetest adjustment to shoe fit out there. Happy feet (and no need to adjust mid-ride). Now the part that bugs me - we often have to pay more for laces. What! It costs $20 to grommet your first pair. $10 of that was the tool. After that it is about $8 a pair, most of which is the laces. And if you had a machine, it would take two minutes a pair to grommet and another two to lace.. No stitching,

Ben