Over the rainbow: Pearl Izumi P.R.O Leader v4 shoes

You know the children’s nursery rhyme, Sing a Rainbow is wrong, don’t you? Those colours aren’t right, but changing the chorus to “red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet” for accuracy would throw out the song’s lilt. Artistic license…

Sunlight contains all the colours of the rainbow. It’s the same for oil spills on a wet road. Something we see all too commonly this time of year. Usually best avoided then, but it appears to be inspiring kit designers at the moment. 

This effect started cropping up on cycling stuff last year. Giro launched a colourway of the Synthe helmet with a “Firechrome” panel (sounds better than oil spillage). Now, Pearl Izumi has used a similar style for the sole of its P.R.O Leader v4 shoe.

It’s Pearl Izumi’s latest – and fourth – version of its top of the line road shoe. The Leader v4 has a seamless upper, which houses two Boa dials placed asymmetrically to avoid pressure points on the top of the foot. Electroplating the carbon sole really sets it apart. And quite rightly, Pearl Izumi is proud of its efforts. 

Pearl Izumi has had a fractured relationship with the pro peloton. It was the kit sponsor for US Postal, Garmin-Slipstream, Argos-Shimano, but it left the bunch when BMC switched to Assos at the beginning of last season. We hope to see them back.

Read: Blue fade shoes – Movistar’s Fi’zi:k Infinito R1

Read: Riding the new Colnago C64 in Lanzarote

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