Every male on the planet is happy to have a whinge about the amount of time that the fairer sex manages to spend in shoe shops but the truth is, they’re not the only ones. I for one find myself spending large amounts of time looking in shoe shops, not because I’m fashionable, I’m about as fashionable as those hyper-colour tee shirts your Mum says are cool, but simply because finding any decent skate shoes in larger sizes and not paying ridiculous prices seems to be getting more difficult. So, when the chance arose to pick up a set of quality, flat pedal specific shoes and have them sent straight to work, I jumped.

Enter the Orchid Duval. Orchid shoes are the brain child of Derek Adams, the man behind the Little Devil clothing brand. The Duval shoe is part of an ever expanding line up and is available in three colour combinations, including leather and suede models. This particular pair are the suede “brown/sand” model, and come with two sets of laces in white and sand, with an asking price of around $180.

The first thing I noticed upon opening the lid of the green box was the colour, or rather the lack of. In real life, the shoes are nowhere near as bright or as red as they appear in the catalogue; this is fine by me as I prefer more subtly coloured shoes anyway, but if you want shoes that are going to go with your new Gucci jeans, I suggest you check them out in person, the catalogue is very pretty but apparently not terribly accurate.

After copping the usual “are those shoes or boats?” from my esteemed colleagues, it was time to see just how these things fit. Although the catalogue states that the shoes are available in sizes up to 14 US the largest size that Australian distributors, Triple Six Distributions, have are the US 13s, so that’s what we have here. First impressions were interesting; there’s certainly ample padding, especially in the huge tongue, but the sole of the shoe felt a little strange at first. Coming out of a set of Airwalks, the arch support in the Orchids is very obvious, and maybe a little further back than other shoes I’ve worn. Whilst if felt strange at first though, I quickly became accustomed to it and was thankful for the extra support.

I’m a simple man, and simple men don’t like choices, so I have one pair of shoes. Riding, work, uni, pubs whatever, the one shoe has to do it all, so that’s how these were tested. They were worn day in day out on a variety of different surfaces and conditions and haven’t always been treated terribly well. Comfort is always a primary concern when you’re in shoes for long periods, and the Orchids do a pretty good job. The sole gives plenty of cushioning and there’s nothing inside the shoe to rub on your foot. After a few days in them though I came to realise just how narrow a shoe they were, considerably smaller than my size thirteen Airwalks. Of course, this is purely a personal problem and one size bigger would have been perfect, but bear it in mind if you have broad feet. Otherwise though, the Duvals are a perfectly comfortable shoe for everyday use.

Really though, you lot don’t care about comfort or colour, you want to know if they stick to pedals like gum. The short answer: yes. I always thought that my old shoes had adequate grip, but the funky zigzag pattern on these things really is brilliant. They’ve had considerable time on both the Odyssey twisted platforms on my DMR and the big Wellgo cages on the trials bike and have been exceptional, even in the wet, something which really surprised me. After a fair amount of use there is no noticeable wear on the sole, other than faint black marks from the paint on the Wellgos.

Whilst the sole is brilliant when on pedals, unfortunately other surfaces are another matter. If it’s dry, you’re fine, but as soon as things get a little bit damp you had better watch your step, or you’ll be going down quicker than Divine Brown. Wandering around uni, I found myself slipping and sliding on everything from pavers, to metal grates, to plastic steps. Maybe it is due to a complete lack of coordination on my part, but wet weather performance is definitely down in comparison to other shoes.

Overall, I’m happy with the Duvals, and I think that most riders would be. They’re comfortable, stylish, durable, and best of all are brilliant on the bike. Ideally I’d like them to be a little wider, but just try them on before you buy and you should be sweet. The grip in the wet is only a minor problem in my mind, just keep it in mind if you plan on running around in the rain. It’s always good to support a rider owned company, and I’ll happily recommend Orchid shoes to any riders out there; they’re a great alternative to all the other big brand skate shoes around.

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