Nike auto-lacing shoe

Nike has been attempting to bring another BttF product to real-life market, the auto-lacing Nike Mags, targeting an early 2015 release. The Mags are more or less replicas of the sneakers from the movie, which means that, while super rad, they’re also pretty ugly — the ankle strap alone would make you wish your skinny jeans fit over the top of the shoes. If you wanted a more fashionable auto-lacing option, though, The Powerteam brings you the Powerlace auto-lacing system, designed for less garish kicks.

Whereas the straps and laces on the Mags quickly snap into place, the Powerlace system slowly and automatically clamps the laces down in a less jarring manner when a foot is inserted into the shoe. Perhaps best of all, the auto-lacing relies solely on a lever, cables, and the weight of your own foot — no batteries, motors, gears, or springs. Furthermore, the lever and cables virtually don’t add extra weight to the shoe.

Thanks to the addition of a small lever on the back end of the shoe, you can adjust the tension of the laces to find the sweet spot of foot snugness, as well as to loosen the laces in order to take off the shoe. The system should last much longer than the average life of a shoe, as the designers made sure it could last for over 200,000 lacings.

Of course, like all awesome futuristic products, the Powerlace system is currently a Kickstarter project. An early bird pledge of $175 will net you a pair of the sneakers, which is a $20 discount of the normal price. If you know a bunch of people that want to get in on the auto-action, or are part of some shoe-worshipping cult and regularly run out of idols, you can grab 10 pairs for a pledge of $1,750.

Head on over to the Kickstarter campaign page to make a pledge, or to read up on exactly how the lever systems works.