They do keep your shoes from eating your socks.
Beth
Somewhat OT story:
When I was on the Jr. High track team, another girl on our team won a sprint against the rival team's lead sprinter. Her middle-aged pudgy coach was furious and started screaming about anything he could. The judge calmly told him that she had actually done one thing against the rules -that socks with poms were not allowed (don't ask me why!)
Anyway, the triumphant coach yelled - YES! Girls are not allowed to have balls!!!!
He thought about it for about 3 seconds as all of us 13 year old girls started to giggle, he turned beat red, mumbled something about not protesting the race results anymore, and shuffled away as fast as he could.
My photoblog
http://dragons-fly-peacefully.blogspot.com/
Bacchetta Giro (recumbent commuter)
Bacchetta Corsa (recumbent "fast" bike)
Greespeed X3 (recumbent "just for fun" trike)
Strada Velomobile
I will never buy another bike!