Many, though not all, Ironman races forbid athletes to pre-attach shoes to the bike and do flying mounts. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
I put up a little teaser video HERE that is a very quick window into the engineering of the shoe, as well as on the instagram and facebook page.
In the next couple of weeks we'll start releasing a series of videos that will go through the whole, story, from the generation of the idea, to launching the product. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
We've gone through a few iterations but our shoe last design is now complete. Here's a quick video showing it. We should have the first wind-tunnel and road-worthy prototype done in about a month to 5 weeks.
But I am still puzzled by one thing, I am not one to ever walk much in cycling shoes, but given various IM transition rules, etc., with the under-heel shape being quite rounded (as far as I can tell), how will riders walk in these when they absolutely have to? Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA. DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook --
I'm likely to add a shape under the heel that will stabilize it when walking. I have not decided yet exactly how. I want to do it without an aero impact. It depends partially on the Shore A hardness of the TPU material we will be molding that part out of. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
Well, given that I am pretty much an Olympic distance racer, and since I nearly always leave my shoes in my pedals during races, it won't affect me. I would prefer a shoe as aero as possible, so I care little for walking practicality. But, with there being a lots of IM racers, given their various transition rules, I guess walkability might be an important factor for them. Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA. DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook --
I agree that being to be able to walk safely in them will be important! ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
My ambitious plan is by the fall. But I readily admit it is a stretch. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
The sole is not a bathtub type, though it will come up around the sides of the forefoot a tiny bit - like a few mm.
The part that wraps under the rear part of the sole and up the sides will not be rigid like carbon fiber. It will be a TPU with some flex to it. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
I had the chance to be on the Dig Deep Podcast with Hugo Mendez of Chaskis that came out today. We talk about the aero shoes of course, but also racing, engineering and other cool stuff. It's available on tons of podcast platforms and also a video on YouTube
Here's a quick update - I just got back from the factory in Italy and we have gone through a few different prototype ideas - slight adjustments to the original that I think are great improvements. Here's the latest prototype. When we were lasting it, we had to heat and re-heat the upper many times before getting it right, which caused the PU to delaminate from the mesh in some parts... so just pretend it looks perfect, please :) This won't happen in production!
You can see there is some elastic mesh between the "tongue" and the rest of the shoe. For the most part, I like the elastic, but it can wrinkle a bit when you cinch the shoe onto your foot so I am thinking about leaving that just totally open. What you you think?
The reason for the 3 different plastic connections is to test different ways and locations of attaching the wire. It will be a single attachment in the end, and may not look at all like any of these. All that extra wire and ugly screw attachment are also just for prototype and testing puroposes... please ignore!
The vents in the shoe are just a temporary design. I have a pretty cool idea for the final design :)
You can see the plastic heel-wrap and heel bracket were a little to small to fit onto the upper - there's a gap in the back. This will be fixed in the next iteration.
Here's a video of a test I did to see how easy it is to get the shoe on and off on the bike. I have to say - it is by far the easiest and fastest shoe I have ever tried.
I'm going to actually go for a ride in it tomorrow.
How does the show hand from the pedal (ie. venter of gravity-wise)? Does the heel scrape the road if left dangling?
I ask because it’s not uncommon for me to jump on my seat land my foot properly on one shoe and miss the other. With my current shoe it can scrape and I cross my fingers that I don’t lose the shoe, which would mean dismounting back tracking and ruining the entire point of my attempt at a flying mount.
All shoes can scrape the ground when dangling from the pedal and the crank is pointing down... I have not figured out how to solve that problem. I have thought about it.... ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
Hi - Yeah. I've been trying to make relevant updates on our facebook and instagram pages. I made some design changes from the last prototype. The biggest changes were:
1) Adding a gap between the foot and the plastic piece wrapped around the foot that will alleviate pressure and allow the foot to expand and also reduce weight. 2) Improve the channel that the wire goes through to eliminate the possibilities of it "jumping the track" 3) Move the wire exit hole further back to improve the angle at which it holds the foot.
The new prototype is almost complete. Here's some video and photos of the prototype assembly process.
This is part of the lasting process that heats the upper, stretches it over the last and glues it to the lasting board (which is a part of the sole, the part just under the footbed).
The new prototypes. The strap across the top is a temporary peice used in manufacturing to make sure the elastic does not stretch when the upper is being stretched over the last. It will be removed before the shoe is completed.
This is the upper on the last before being stretched and glued around it.
The heel of the upper being strobel stitched to the lasting board.
again - that strap will be removed. just for manufacturing.
Checking the fit of the sole and plastic pieces. These are 3D printed. In the production shoe the sole will be carbon fiber and the wrap under the heel will be molded TPU.
Hi - Yeah. I've been trying to make relevant updates on our facebook and instagram pages. I made some design changes from the last prototype. The biggest changes were:
1) Adding a gap between the foot and the plastic piece wrapped around the foot that will alleviate pressure and allow the foot to expand and also reduce weight. 2) Improve the channel that the wire goes through to eliminate the possibilities of it "jumping the track" 3) Move the wire exit hole further back to improve the angle at which it holds the foot.
The new prototype is almost complete. Here's some video and photos of the prototype assembly process.
This is part of the lasting process that heats the upper, stretches it over the last and glues it to the lasting board (which is a part of the sole, the part just under the footbed).
The new prototypes. The strap across the top is a temporary peice used in manufacturing to make sure the elastic does not stretch when the upper is being stretched over the last. It will be removed before the shoe is completed.
This is the upper on the last before being stretched and glued around it.
The heel of the upper being strobel stitched to the lasting board.
again - that strap will be removed. just for manufacturing.
Checking the fit of the sole and plastic pieces. These are 3D printed. In the production shoe the sole will be carbon fiber and the wrap under the heel will be molded TPU.
3D printed parts.
The upper before being attached to anything.
Very cool pics.
Making shoes looks super easy, I think I’ll have a go at it!
.....I really like the stealth black, combined with a black carbon sole would be very cool.
Thanks! There's a very good chance we will have a black on black option. This upper is not the final version. I'm thinking the vent pattern may end up being in the shape of our falcon logo instead of these chevrons. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
I'm hoping to price them in line with most other high-end off-the-shelf shoes. I cannot really be more specific than that yet. ------------- Ed O'Malley www.VeloVetta.com Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes Instagram • Facebook
