Chrome

I don’t rarely write reviews, but I am so happy with theses shoes that I felt like I had to! I bought them to use as commuter bike shoes, they have a great stiff sole that makes pedaling far more efficient. BUT most importantly (to me) they don’t bother my feet AT ALL. I have very wide, bony feet and I usually have a really hard time finding shoes that don’t give me blisters (Vans, Converse, Keds..) these have been AWESOME! I’ve ridden about 50 miles since I got them and zero issues or discomfort ???? They feel like a good quality, sturdy shoe that I’m sure will hold up should I skid out. Very happy with my purchase! Also, they are a nice looking casual shoe ?? OH, and I was super happy to find them in my size. It was surprisingly hard to find the style of shoe I was looking for in a size that would fit a woman’s 7 (order men’s 5.5)

These were my favorite biking shoes until I got “clipless” pedals (you know, the kind you clip in with...). They’re still great walking-round shoes. Love the elastic strap for tucking in the shoelaces, as well as the heavy metal ends on the laces. I replace the insole with a stiff orthotic. When I need to buy a second pair of clipless pedal shoes, I’ll try the version of this shoe that has that feature.

I have wider feet, but the toe box is so small I don't see how anyone could where these. Plus, the opening is so wide it was impossible to tighten the shoes enough to keep my heel from popping out. I wish they made a style where only the forefoot was stiff, instead of the entire sole. This would make them much more walkable.

these shoes look awesome and i’m rating them pretty highly despite them being extraordinarily painful for me to wear lol. these are not for even mildly wide feet. my dad has EEE feet. i’m maybe E and have gotten away with wearing plenty of Ds over the course of my life. but these shoes are built like tanks... wayyyy stronger than anything by Vans, and so they don’t stretch much. I’ve even tried steaming them before wearing. Just be aware that if your feet are wider than a medium, you’re gonna have some sore lateral feet and pinky toes. i can only wear them for short periods of time.

Wanted to love but found the seatbelt too heavy for such a small pack. Plus the constant metal against metal sound was annoying. Looks cool though. Probably better for a larger frame.

A little smaller space wise inside than I had anticipated. Even though I studied the photos of the interior on the Chrome Industries website, apparently I didn't study them close enough. It is very difficult to fit my Nikon DSLR into the bag with the standard 50mm lens on it. The camera body shown in the interior photos must not have a lens on it at all. Additionally, cramming my 70-250mm zoom lens into the bag along with the camera body with the 50mm attached is like a really frustrating game of Tetris. Why you'd want a bag designed for quick access like this one to only accomodate a body without the standard lens already on it is beyond me. Sure, swing it around, unbuckle it, unzip it and then instead of grabbing your camera, popping off the lens cap, and shooting, you've then got to take the camera body lens attachment cap off, pull out your 50mm lens, pop both caps off of that, attach it to your camera body, and THEN shoot. I'm going to keep the bag because it's comfortable and weatherproof, and I'm going to try to figure out a way to make this work... and also because I took the tags off already. I may end up using the straps on the side to attach an external padded case for my zoom lens instead of using it for my carbon fiber travel tripod like I wanted to.

Cute but I found another which fit better.

AFTER ONE MONTH THEY ARE COMING UNGLUED.

I bought this bag to replace a Topo Designs Daypack, which was too slim to allow tupperwares to sit flat on the bottom. The Rostov has a big enough footprint to allow me to stack multiple tupperwares without any tipping over, which is the main reason I bought it. Admittedly, that's a pretty fringe use case, but on the off chance anyone else is looking for a laptop backpack that's good for transporting food containers, this is it. Unfortunately, the Rostov is let down by what I can only call a deranged design decision—the laptop sleeve billows outward like three inches. I've owned a lot of bags, and until this one I had always assumed laptop sleeves were a solved problem. Sew in a padded foam slot. Give it a velcro flap (or don't). This is the first laptop sleeve I've seen that appears to have been designed to transport a 17" gaming laptop and a full-size keyboard, mouse, and portable hard drive. If that's what you need to haul around in your laptop sleeve, then look no further. If it isn't and you have a normal 13-15" laptop, prepare for frustration. While walking with the bag on, my laptop slaps against my back 2 times per second. Adjusting the shoulder straps gives the laptop back-slaps more or less impact, but has no effect on their frequency. The only way to stop the slapping is to modify the laptop sleeve yourself. I ordered a bunch of heavy-duty binder clips and used 6 of them to pinch aside the excess material. The clips fall off almost every day. It sucks, and if daily laptop transportation is what you're after, this bag sucks too. If you don't ever need to use the laptop sleeve for a laptop (the sleeve could probably hold a towel for a weekend trip), then this is a four-star bag—it's comfortable, understated, and durable. I'd give it five stars if they fixed the laptop sleeve, used better zippers, and gave it better weatherproofing.

Love my two much older pair of these shoes, but this pair fell apart in a couple years of rotating equally through all 3 pair.

Great shoes. Clean design and really well made. Make sure you order a size smaller than what you normally wear. Chrome recommends going a full size down for proper fit, and that is good advice. I got a size down from what I wear in Nike and they are perfect.

For what it is it's great. For what I wanted it's kind of a disappointment. If you want a minimal bag to carry a few things this is pretty great. The welterweight size really does feel much lighter compared to the regular. For me a few things would have made it so much better. The first is the size. I wish it was slightly bigger. If I could have my glasses case, water bottle, and lunch all fit I could use this daily. But they don't all fit so I only use it on days I go out for lunch since it can just fit my water bottle and glasses case and a few other small nick nacks. Next are the compression scraps. Why aren't the bottom ones longer? If they were I could have strapped my water bottle to the bottom which would have sort of solved my dilemma. Finally I would have preferred some sort of zippered compartment on the back instead of, or maybe next to, the U lock slot. This way I can put my phone and/or wallet there and feel a little more secure than the front/main compartment. I'm always afraid someone can just open it when I can't see and take it out.

I had another (different) pair of Chrome’s recessed cleats bike shoes for two and a half years, with frequent use, and I loved them. They have a lot of cosmetic damage now and the bottoms are worn down a bit, exposing the cleat more than usual, but they have otherwise held up great. The soles on these new pair feel a little stiffer than my old pair, which is good, but it may also just be that my old pair are, you know, old. The longer laces also allow for a better fit to my foot by adjusting the tightness as I please. Both of these mean better transfer of power to the bike, which is great. I’ve already ridden to work in these shoes and back (about 4.5 miles each way), and they feel good. I do keep an extra pair of slip-on Vans at my desk at work, because I wouldn’t want to wear such a stiff shoe as this all day just walking around the office and whatever, but they’re still really great for running errands and for the walk from my bike to my desk. I have a feeling I’ll love this pair to death too.

The Hondo has been a solid bag. I needed a basic weatherproof backpack, and Chrome has far exceeded my expectations. It's comfortable, accommodates everything I need to pack on a daily basis, and withstands the rigors of the city. Great price point for the quality, too.

I liked the style but it was too narrow. I’m a size 12 with a wider foot and it didn’t work on my foot. Nice style, though.

Received this shoe but the center flap was just black without the red patch logo. Very disappointed. A few reviews said to order half to full size down. Mine was true to size so I should have ordered my husband’s regular size 11 instead of 10.5. Returning

I"m looking for commuter style bike shoes, but unfortunately this style does not fit my feet. I tried three sizes (one larger and one smaller than my usual bike shoes.) The main problem is the shoes are too tight around the toe box and, at the same time, the heels slip. The smaller size does not slip very much but it's TOO tight around my forefoot. It's going back. If Chrome offers wide options that may be great!

It would be nice if it came in size 8.5-9.5 in men.

i've had these shoes for over three years now. they have entered the pantheon of my favorite pairs of shoes ever -- and probably only five or so pairs of footwear from my entire life occupy that position. and i have lived for many decades. here's the deal: i bought these strictly for cycling because i was getting sore feet from the regular sneakers i was wearing. the soles on these were wonderfully stiff and protected my feet while cycling -- no more soreness. but yes, they were murder to wear just for walking. but then one day something magical happened: my old sneakers had become too ratty to wear, so i put these on. lo and behold, they had been broken in by all the cycling and were now super-comfortable. they look pretty cool too (all black with red soles). so now i see they're on sale and i contemplated buying a second pair -- even though the ones i have are still holding up, nothing lasts forever. alas, they don't have my size -- which by they way, is 10.5 for these and everything else. i'll check back again in a year or so, if i'm still alive.

Perfect lightweight pack for long, urban trip. A great "man purse". On a recent trip to Europe, I needed a light pack just to carry tickets, packable rain jacket, and the like. This thing worked great! No pain, no odd rubbing. Typically forgot it was even there. I am glad I took the isolation strap because after the initial wear, I needed it to better isolate it on my back. Out of the box, the strap was a bit uncomfortable and so I *almost* didn't bring it along. Glad I did! The strap was broken in and comfortable with one use.