Autoblog

California-based Piloti Inc. has earned a solid reputation among enthusiasts for their driving shoes, combining a comfortable fit with fashionable styling, everyday wearablity and optimal heel-and-toe shifting. Now the company is ambitiously expanding into the motorcycle market with its new Moto 800 boot.

The latest addition to the Piloti range promises to offer the same comfort as their driving shoes in a package designed to meet the needs of the two-wheel riders. The Piloti Moto 800 will sell for $150 a pair when it goes on sale in January, but it's already won the Editors' Choice Award from Popular Mechanics. Not a bad start to a new venture.

[Source: Piloti and Popular Mechanics]

After making tires for more than 110 years, we guess the folks over at Michelin got bored one day and started looking at what else was made of rubber. We can imagine what products might have been considered, but as fun as Michelin-branded, tire-tread imitating prophylactics might have been, more sensible heads prevailed, and Bibendum will be touting his own line of shoes soon.

This summer we were invited to Michelin's introduction of its new MXV4 tires at Barber Motorsports, where they also had a display of MXV4-inspired footwear. We've finally been able to get a pair of the Belair model into the Autoblog Closet and put a few miles on them.

First, we have to say these shoes are by far the slowest mode of transportation ever tested by the Autoblog crew. Despite features like a sole that resembles Michelin's touring tire, sleek lines, lightweight construction, and wind-cheating aerodynamics, we never were able to get above about 5 mph.

Continued after the jump.