@t_gerlach -> after our little chat about the LA84, i ordered them and was pleasantly surprised that the tongue is stitched on with about 5 stitches that were short work with a xacto knife. That combined with lock laces, gives them such a clean look.

With all due respect, a small knot has about 1,000x less frontal area than a locklace with ends sticking up. Just my 2¢.

On a separate note, I cut out the 1" of tongue I had left and wish I hadn't there's an air gap between the shoe and the top of my foot now.

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Yeah that bothered me too a little Tim. Looking around a bit more - found this startup out of poland that had a indiegogo campaign 3 years ago. - zippedshoes.com




This looks promising -- lace up the outside, and have a zipper through the middle

I put the knot of the elastic laces at the front instead of at the top, to have a cleaner look at the top:




As you see on the left shoe, I can put tape on it to make it more aero.

They weigh 130g per piece less than my old SIDIs, which is quite a lot!

My SIDIs and some Shimanos I have have size 44; my new Giro SLX have 44,5 which is fine.

You got a winner, congrats! I am going for exactly the same solution for my next pair, even the same color scheme.

Also, my idea is to keep an eye for a good price until fall, buy and use them out of the box for winter training and then hack them for the first spring tris. If they work as expected I'd go for a second pair to replace the first one in training.

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Sr. Salitre

Curious about how to avoid having to drill the heel of the shoe to use elastic bands forr T1...

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Sr. Salitre

Going to wear these for the first time tomorrow. I'm planning on drilling a small hole in the heel area to put a loop through for 'rubber-banding' in T1. I cut the tongue off part way up and sewed it in - seems to work well.

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I had my guy sew a loop on each heel to use to get the shoe on and to loop laces through. Makes it way easier to get on.

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Twitter - Instagram

That is a pretty good idea there with the tape to. If I were to do it again I would leave part of the tongue in as well. Maybe 1/3 of it and have it stitched.

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It is indeed cumbersome to enter the shoes with the tongue, but since I do not do "flying mounts" I left it in for the time being. I try it out in training and decide than if I leave it in for races.
The idea with the 1/3 part of it stitched is pretty good.

Nice sewing job there! I don't think I have those kinda skills! This is best I have seen yet!

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Thanks Brendan! I think I have to throw a shout out to Mrs. Dooley, my 7th grade home ec teacher for that one. I learned to sew then, and it often comes in handy - I had to stitch up a wetsuit several years back and used dental floss that worked surprisingly well!

This pic shows a bit better where I did the sewing at the top of where I cut off the tongue. Took about an hour to do, as it was a little tricky getting the hands inside the shoes and getting the needle through the leather.

Hopefully the tension on the laces will be ok - I can always adjust a bit with new tape.

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That looks great Nate. I need to do that to mine. At the top I've just got two rubber laces criss crossed which lay completely flat and work well. You get a whole bunch of different sizes so easy to get the correct tension.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186Z5QAO/

I had my first race last weekend. I used those same elastic laces. When I tried getting my feet in the shoes, I stretched too hard and one of them popped out! I rode the entire Int'l with the lace flapping in the wind. :(

I think I'll use those laces for the lower part of the shoe, and have a longer one on the top. One that won't pop out!

Dang that sucks! I think I'd have just ripped it out completely.

I've never had that happen, mine aren't that tight though, mainly just holding the two sides of the shoe against my foot. I don't pull up on the pedals in tri so not worried about how tight they are.

Did you get in and out of them several times before the race? Also I always grease up my the openings of my shoes including those laces with tri slide before a race.

I had looser (longer) ones at the top originally, but then went to medium length laces when I felt they were too loose. I didn't grease them up, but had practiced a few times. It was just one of those, "I have to get into my shoes quick" moments that caused the top of my foot to stretch them a little too much. I don't think it affected me too much, but it was a pain to watch it waving in the wind. haha.

I'll lube it up for the next race.I'm sure that will help.

I'm thinking of doing something similar, but without the sewing part. Do you think that if I use the tongue holes to pass the laces, like in the picture, it will hold when I put the feet?

I tried doing that with my Louis Garneau LA84s and it helps, but the tongue still tends to slide down and bunch when putting my foot in. Most of the time I have to adjust the tongue afterwards. Fine in training but this would suck in a race. I think I will end up cutting and sewing the tongue.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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it's a red herring... for triathlon applications you don't need lower laces at all

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Probably what I will do with my experimental pair as well.

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I am using these Elastic laces as well, so far so good, the key is to use the right sizes in the right hole locations to adjust to the tightness that you want.

What is that over the shoe

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Sweet spot soccer lace guards suggested by somebody on here

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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Did you get the adult size? They seem too long. The ones I have come in a variety of lengths and the short ones look okay but most look too long. .

*edit* I laced these up and I am sending this option back as they are no where near tight enough.