This is a pair of Louis Garneau Milan shoes I picked up on sale at Performance Bike for $75. I normally wear a 44 wide but sized up to 45 which fit surprisingly well. I just used a nice pair of very sharp scissors to cut out the tongue and the back and then I used Xpand Laces to finish them off. They slip on/off very easily but are also very secure while riding. They also “look” aero as they are considerably lower profile than my tri shoes. The fact that there’s not a lot to “pull” against reinforces what I believe (and there’s decent research to suggest) to be proper pedaling mechanics.
Look fast to enter and exit … perhaps you could leave them permanently attached to the pedals.
Also looks like we should reconsider how we enter our footware … instead of top down … maybe a heel opening and closure with kick entry is the way to go.
Man, new legit niche product line just in wait to have hordes of triathletes drop $$$$ on, and with pro Thomas Gerlach set up to promote it!
I’m not even joking - I would seriously consider a heel-entry type shoe for sprint and oly (possibly longer?!) triathlons - I’m not bad at getting in my shoes on the bike right now, but every second counts in a sprint, and I’d bet I save more time in a sprint from a fast transition than using aero wheels. (I’m not horrendous at bike transitions too - I’m usually top 5% if I go sockless, but it does take some time to crawl into the shoes once I’m on the bike course.)
Thomas Gerlach - you’ve found that product line that can jump start your next career in tri-business!
I really love these shoes and wear them for all of my races, but to be more effective, I think the BOA needs to be reworked. I hate spending ~5sec coiling up the extra wire to tighten the shoes. Instead, I would rather a BOA where you pull the wire and a spring inside coils up the extra after it’s tight. As it is now, I feel like tri shoes with one big velcro strap are much faster to secure.
with the lack of a heel, did you notice a power drop? I think I use the shoe’s fit around the lower foot to generate power (especially when my foot is moving up) and not having the back of the shoe would, IMO, cause power loss. no? i’m thinking during a climb.
Most of my races are pretty flat. I’m 99.9% sure I haven’t experienced a drop in power with these shoes. Would I use them for a race like Boulder Peak? Probably not.
On the turbo I actually pedal in shoes with no top, like sandals, so there is no pull up at all.
As you say, that’s how it’s supposed to be!
Have you just cut out the front “toe enclosure” of the show, but still keep the straps (toes free, arch held in place), or did you just get ride of everything and just have a foot on top of a sole with some “sides” remaining to keep your feet from sliding off?
The second one.,
It wasn’t supposed to be like that, but it was a stop gap solution and I was still able to put out full power.
Essentially it was the bottom carbon bath tub section of a bont shoe.
Why not keep the straps with the bathtub and keep the toe box open. I am looking into something like this as I have some nerve issues and seeing if something like that could be positive
Love seeing what people have come up with as far as lace-ups. The LG LA84 is another lace up shoe that some people have been hacking up for their own implementation of the elastic lace-ups - it is running $65 - $95 on Amazon.
Lots of pros are riding the SLX now including Cody Beals who has own unique take on the shoes. Lots of age-groupers as well, some of which who have emailed, PMed me pics. Love the innovation and ideas people are coming up with.
As for the Supersonic, I would love to see some real life recycling of bike tires. There has to be a business in there.
Pretty cool implementation. IMHO, pulling up is overrated unless doing a serious climb, even then it’s limited, for this AG’er any. It’s more of an unloading then actual contributor to power.
I’ll try to get some photos with them on my feet tomorrow. I’m a natural masher so I can’t really say. This Sunday will be my first race with them (relatively flat).
Nice work I like the innovation. Do you leave the laces on these set and just slide the foot in from behind? Or do they require tinkering at the bfront once in?
Thanks
