I remember when I was kid and Velcro trainers were all the rage, they were just so much easier and quicker to fasten than those pesky laces, well laces are having their revenge by means of Speed Laces, designed for super fit triathletes or lazy people who can’t be bothered to untie their sneakers.

I think the idea behind speed laces has been around for a while on army boots and specialist sport sneakers, but with these kits you can attach speed laces to any pair of your favourite sneakers (or trainers to some) letting you have quick and easy footwear removal or fastening.

The way the speed lace system works is by replacing the friction causing lace eyelets with 6 mini rollers that the laces feed through (each supplied roller screws into one of the old eyelets). This then promises to keep lace tension equal throughout the sneaker meaning added comfort especially when under duress like jogging (or some other painful and boring exercise).

The laces also tie off by pulling them through a non slip clasp, making bows and those father son bonding sessions a thing of the past.

I did like the sale spiel on the official site are:

• Ordinary laces work poorly because they are jammed up in a frictional matrix
• Now your lacing can flow freely and amazing things start to happen to your feet.
• Speed Laces® has moved lacing to the surface of the shoe and eliminated unwanted friction

Their a bit pricey at 9 bucks a pop but remember “amazing things start to happen to your feet“.

[Speed Laces found via Digg before it disappeared into obscurity]