Lake

Lake Cycling was founded in 1982 by Lee Katz in Evanston, Illinois — on the wind-swept shores of Lake Michigan, which gave the brand its name. Katz was a distributor of European cycling shoes at the time and knew the market well. When he asked his supplier to incorporate more comfort into their designs, the request was dismissed. So he built his own brand instead.

All cycling shoes in the early 1980s came from Europe — stiff, sleek and stylish, but with comfort treated as an afterthought. Katz’s first innovation was straightforward but game-changing: an EVA foam insole designed specifically for the nylon-soled cycling shoe, the first of its kind. From there, Lake accumulated a remarkable series of industry firsts — the first American cycling shoe brand to establish a factory outside Europe (in Busan, South Korea, 1982), the first mountain bike-specific shoe in 1983, the first triathlon-specific cycling shoe in 1985 worn by triathlon legend Mark Allen, and in 1987 the first all-white cycling shoe — designed not for fashion but to reflect heat and prevent foot swelling, a colour that has since become the industry standard. The brand has remained singularly focused on one thing across more than four decades: making the best-fitting cycling shoe on the market. Lake now offers one of the most extensive size, width, volume and last-shape ranges in the industry — because not all feet are the same, and Lake has spent over 40 years studying the difference.