About

Puma Speedcat

The Puma Speedcat is usually reduced to the word motorsport, and that’s it. A pity, because almost every part of this shoe can be explained by one question: how do you operate three pedals in a space where your feet barely fit.

The sole is barely there

Place it next to any other model and the difference in height is immediately obvious. There is virtually no build-up under the foot, because a driver needs to feel how much pressure he applies to the brake pedal. Every millimetre of foam between foot and pedal dulls that sensation. What here looks like a fashionable flat profile is therefore a functional requirement that happens to be well received.

The rubber rises where you pivot

Look at the heel and the toe: in both places the sole climbs up over the side instead of stopping at the edge. At the back that’s because you keep your heel on the floor and pivot your foot from brake to gas. At the front it’s because you work with the side of your foot in a space where there’s no room to move your entire foot. Those two areas wear through on a normal shoe, which is why there is extra material here.

Narrow, and that’s deliberate

The toe is pointed and the last is narrow, because the pedals are close together and a wide shoe would hit two at once. The collar is kept low so the ankle can move freely, and there are few eyelets because the lacing is short and set far forward. The Formstrip runs low across the flank, closer to the sole than on the Suede.

What that means on the street

You get a shoe that is light and flexible and in which you feel everything. You also get no cushioning: on long days on hard floors you notice that. If you want the narrow line with more shoe underneath, look at the Basket; if you want the opposite, at the Mayze. Many versions wear the colours of a race team, but the shoe underneath is always the same.

On this page you can see which versions of the Puma Speedcat are currently the hottest according to the Hypescore, from what price they can be found, and in how many shops they are in stock.