i figure someone here must be able to help me with a little search. a friend of mine got his cycling shoes “aero soled.” it’s a process of adding material to the sole of your cycling shoe to cover your speedplay cleat and creating a uniform surface from the front but also as you pedal down. can anyone put me into contact with the person who provides this service?
thanks
ceitsab
why don’t you ask your friend?
?..ok…i did. he had a third party get the shoes “aero soled” for him and can’t get in contact with that person anymore. if it was that easy i probably wouldn’t need to post this. any body out there have any ideas.
cetisab
If the sole is carbon fibre, this pocess would be relatively easy to do. But my question is why? You would actually add an area to the shoe to ruin while walking, then add unnecessary weight to your shoe.
the shoe’s sole is plastic. it does prevent you from walking in the shoe but for time trials and triathlons that’s not a problem. it obviously does weigh more but as we all know weight isn’t the end all be all.
ceitsab
so it’s for an aerodynamic advantage.??? how much more aero would adding a little plastic thing underneath your foot make ??? NOT MUCH!..no wait…NONE. this seemes like a silly idea…like bunnyman said “WHY?”
luke
so it’s for an aerodynamic advantage.??? luke
the title is “aero soles”. i think i’ll start calling you fast luke
In Reply To how much more aero would adding a little plastic thing underneath your foot make ?????? NOT MUCH!.......no wait.......NONE. this seemes like a silly idea........like bunnyman said "WHY?"
luke
**ok, not looking for opinions, just leads. **
**fast luke, let’s try not to be so judgemental and critical. in the big picture does it matter to you what i do with my stuff? i would hope you have enough things going on in your life that you don’t need to worry about every decision i make. if you don’t i feel kind of sorry for you. **
cetisab
yes i figured aero soles meant more aero. 
i posted cause it is one of the silliest things i’ve heard of in a long time.
you must be new to slowtwitch? everyone always gives eachother a hard time about stuff, especially quirky aero stuff that will make 000000.1% difference…nothing personal, just kidding, no offense whatsoever!
if you want to put more plastic on the bottom of your shoes, more power to you! but be ready for people to question you and you “aero” soles…and you better be the “fast” one, not me…because you have the fancy aero soles even lance doesn’t have. seriously?
“fast” luke
Luke:
Know your classics. Aero soles make a huge difference, see David Gordon Wilson’s experiments with the 1984 US Olympic cycling project. Problem was, they were outlawed. The shoes provided an aero advantage comparable to riding with disk wheels vs. standard 32-spoked wheels. Insignificant? I think not.
The shoes provided an aero advantage comparable to riding with disk wheels vs. standard 32-spoked wheels.
Whoa- really?! Have they been banned by USAT as well? If not, I foresee a new project for HRM Bunnyman in the works.
and you better be the “fast” one, not me…because you have the fancy aero soles even lance doesn’t have. seriously?
“fast” luke
Don’t worry about ceitsab, he’s plenty fast, a lot faster than I was at IMC. And I was using aero soles while he was not (and no, this does not prove aero soles do not work).
Rocket 7 will make custom TT specific shoes. Their website is www.rocket7.com I dont know how aero their shoes are, but they look really cool and that is what counts.
KR
i stand corrected…so they are banned by UCI, but not USAT? why don’t any pro’s use them? or do they?
luke
I don’t know about USAT in this regard, just UCI. Especially since this is based on jurisprudence not on any actual rule in the book, it’s tough to say. The other question is, who is going to notice aerosoles.
I am not 100% against the idea, and I certainly don’t think any less of you for wanting to eek out every millisecond of time. Those milliseconds CAN count.
I only ask why because of the practical aspects. If you flat in a race, it could be awfully uncomfortable trying to get the damned tyre changed’ let alone the damaged by stepping on the aero sole. But I do have a “DNF if it’s a short distance race after a flat” credo (even though I have DNF’d once ever in multisport, and whined about it last year).
I can see how the bottom of the sole could be a factor in aerodynamics. My practical side (which is not evident in Project One) would say it would be disaster in a tri longer than Oly distance, but that’s me. In a longer event, the possibility of flatting is a LOT higher (as you’re covering a longer distance). In a TT with shoe covers (as the effect would be negated with an uncovered shoe), I could see it being a very good thing.
Here is what i was able to get my friend bruce (www.orthlab.com) to put together. 70g additional weight per shoe which isn’t bad at all.
cetisab
Gerard, I remember reading about your shoes being aero’d at IMC (can’t remember where I saw it). Where did you get yours done and what did it entail?
Mine are a more crudely made version of what Chris is showing here. When Chris and I talked about this, the thing we wanted to change from mine to his was to envelope the entire Speedplay pedal, not just the cleat and half the pedal the way it is on my shoes. And his solution is a bit lighter, mine are pure foam without any carbon.
somebody else asked about standing on them, this is actually not a problem. I don’t recommend doing it as it scrapes them up a bit, but there is enough structure on mine to do is since you’d be standing on the cleats. With Chris’ soles it is a bit different, but it can be done as well if the sole is made properly.
Anyway, the bottomline is his are very well made, the only thing that could still be improved a bit is the actual shape of them but these are pretty good already.
Gerard