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TECH NEWS
Walkable cleat design (Hugo Suy)"Why do millions of cyclists have to walk like ducks?": Could this "walkable cleat" revolutionise cycling shoe design?
Ever waddled across a slippery cafe floor amid a mid-ride coffee stop and questioned why road cycling shoes can be so impractical when doing any distance of walking? Well, one road.cc reader thinks he's come up with the solution — no, not switching to mountain bike pedals and cleats — instead, a new third shoe and cleat design to offer riders the same old road shoes and pedals we've been using for years, but with the added practicality of mountain bike cleats. Introducing the "walkable cleat"...
Designed with one very specific activity in mind, road cycling cleats and the shoe sole design they work with, aren't very practical before and after your pedalling. Step off the bike as you head back inside your house, or worse up steep stairs to your flat, or across that shop's smooth, slippery flooring and suddenly you'll begin that hobbling/waddle you've probably all perfected and don't even think about any more. It's that same clip-clopping shuffle that your office colleagues, family, friends and complete strangers can be so interested in too.
Or maybe you don't have that problem at all because you use mountain bike pedals and can walk untroubled by a cleat making your progress continually treacherous, loud and impractical? But, not wanting to have to use mountain bike cleats, as he has on his road bike for the past 30 years, road.cc reader Hugo Suy got in touch with a new "third design" of cycling shoe that he thinks could potentially bridge the gap and offer road cyclists the option of continuing to use the same pedals we've used up until now, just without all the "walking like ducks".
Hugo's been trying to get the cycling industry to take notice for 10 years now and tells us being "as stubborn as a mule" means he just can't give the idea up. Now recently retired, he's got the time for his "project" and formalised his description of, as he sees it, the problem and solution, including the homemade "silly tests" you'll see throughout this article.
[Credit: Hugo Suy]
Having bought and ridden Sidi shoes for 25 years, he has long since wondered why road cycling soles and cleats are designed the way they are and if, rather than simply switching to mountain bike shoes and pedals, cycling brands could offer us roadies a third type of sole?
As he puts it: "Why do millions and millions of cyclists have to walk like ducks when shoes are made for only a few thousands of competition cyclists?"
"For several years I've tried to explain why we need a third type of sole for cycling shoes so we can continue with the race pedals we've used until now," Hugo tells us. "Shoe manufacturers (only) have to make a third type of injection mould and it's done!"
"So, if you can convince a cycling shoe manufacturer to make the third type of sole, I'll be very glad and I'll buy immediately, even if it isn't Sidi..."
We thought we'd brainstorm what cycling shoe brands would probably say about this design.
We imagine there would be comments about extra weight from the added material, an often non-negotiable area when designing cycling kit. Then, we'd assume, any brand would also point out their range of mountain bike shoes that essentially do the same thing as what Hugo suggests, something like Sidi's MTB Eagle 10 for example.
However, during his decade-long pursuit of the design, Hugo has put it to figures in the cycling industry, a former Ritchey employee apparently telling him he liked the design, while another suggested it sounded like "the perfect gravel shoe". Hugo also contacted two French brands Véloland and Culture Vélo to see if they'd make him a few pairs, but to no avail.
Back in 2016, Speedplay released its Zero Aero Walkable cleats which we reviewed as a "much-improved cleat that makes walking easier and reduces clogging problems", however of course the Speedplay pedal design, while having the same issues when trying to walk in a shoe featuring its cleat, is different to the three-bolt Shimano SPD-SL-style cleat we're talking about here.
Likewise, brands like CHPT3 and Adidas have brought walkable cycling shoes to the market through the Transit 2.0 and Velosamba, although both of those are aimed at more casual riding or commuting, and both call upon SPD compatibility.
Ultimately, Hugo just wants to keep using his road shoes, with road pedals and cleats, but would quite like to be able to walk when off the bike.
We contacted Sidi to ask if we could put this to a designer to see what they think, but were told the brand didn't want to get involved with this one. So, it seems, Hugo's walkable cleat-less cycling life will continue... unless any brands fancy hooking him up with a few pairs of his own designs?
What do you reckon? Is there any need for the "third design"? Would you buy it? Or is it a solution that already exists in the form of mountain bike pedals and shoes? As ever, let us know what you think in the comments...
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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37 comments
It seems the original poster is stuck on using a 3 bolt cleat. Yet there are so many 2 bolt SPD cleat solutions available with shoes designed for SPD cleats. For example, the Shimano SM-SH41 Cleat Adaptor converts any 3-hole SPD-SL road shoe to mount a MTB SPD cleat. A few road style SPD pedals have also been made although they have been single sided unlike most MTB SPD pedals. I have seen a few adapters, which engaged the road cleat, which sort of made walking easier although the duck walking was probably more exaggerated. One adapter slipped over the shoes and cleats like a pair of galoshes. Over the years there has been magnetic cleats/pedals although I don't remember if they were recessed for better walking. I remember a triathlon pedal adapter with toe clips where a user could transition from running to cycling quite easy, but I can't imagine it was lightweight. I also encountered one chap who was so worried about walking around that he wore a backpack with some lightweight sandals. Another idea would be carrying some of those socks which have plastic traction dots on them for wearing by themselves or over the shoes. Another possibility is making an adapter using a 3D printer. Maybe forget cleats and use flat pedals.
I started walking like a duck in 1972, when my local dealer nailed steel cleats into the soles of my $39 black no-name French cycling shoes, so my feet would be properly supported on my Lyotard #23 pedals. I never thought much about it. It came with the territory.
If not for walking like a duck in the coffee shop, why else would the ladies check me out? It couldn't be for my fancy lycra shorts or too tight BRIGHT team jersey or my obnoxious tan lines (Brits dont apply) or mmy poorly shaved legs or the twenty other ducks walking in with me.
I don't understand the mania for "road" shoes.
I have mostly ridden road bikes with SPD pedals, and never had an issue. I switched to Garmin Vector power meter pedals with the Look cleats, but am now back on SPDs with the very good Favero Assioma PRO MX.
Did 4 stages of Le Loop this year. Had planned to wear my Giro Empire's, but, brilliantly, left them at home, so rode the 200km + stages wearing chunky commute shoes that I had taken as a back up. No issues whatsoever. Comments varied from, "why are you wearing trainers" to, much more commonly, "gosh, they look comfy".
A much simpler solution would be a an overshoe with rubber grips underneath. Something like this but without the metal spikes.
But why? Walking with cycling shoes isn't exactly a massive problem.
I switched to SPD pedals and Lake MX242 shoes on my road bike about two years ago and never looked back. I do wish the shoes had less aggressive soles and weighed less, but the whole "walking like a duck" has annoyed me for decades. With carbon soled shoes, I don't see what advantage the traditional LOOK cleat and pedal has over an SPD cleat and pedal.
I did the same albeit with Shimano MTB shoes and Shimanos brilliant PD A600 Pedals. I am not missing anything and the cleats take ages to wear out. My new Shimano gravel shoes are barely recognisable as not being road shoes.
IMHO this is just as clumsy and unnessesary as those aerobackpacks...
Gathering dust at the back of my cupboard under the stairs there should be a worn-out pair of Mavic 'touring' SPD shoes. The soles are flat and look slightly thicker than a road shoe but with a recess for the SPD cleat - none of the aggressive looks of most MTB shoes on the market these days.
Disadvantages were that the soles could be stiffer, and pedal snobs looked down on a SuperSix fitted with SPDs.
The second 'disadvantage' doesn't concern me in the slightest; the first could be resolved if someone made something similar with carbon soles and Boa dials.
Any suggestions?
Boas are overrated in my opinion and a bit fragile for long/rough rides - if Pogacar can win the Tour with laceups that's good enough for me. If you can live with laces Specialized's Recon ADV might suit, stiff carbon sole and fairly understated looks.
I like the simplicity, cheapness, and ease of fixing with laces - but can't stand them if I just want to adjust fit on the fly, or use them in the mud, or cold.. or wet.. or combinations. Give me a nice set of Boas or dual-adjust rachets any day for those cases (which describes quite a chunk of mixed terrain, or generally UK, conditions). Each to their own and all that mind.
I'm not soled on these.
You shoed be.
Replacement lugs for MTB shoes are already widely available (e.g. pictured below S-Works kit), why not just glue those (with suitable shims if more depth is required) to your SPD-SL shoes and job's a gooden.
No.
If hot-gluing pencil erasers to the bottoms of his shoes makes it easier for him to walk in cafe stops, then all power to him. But I'm not sure there is a commercial product here.
I hope he turns his attention to diving flippers next and finds a way to make them less cumbersome to walk in
Shimano XC (SPD) shoes work fine for me on my road bike.
Tried SL pedals with different shoes, obviously - cleats just too awkward for walking for me and wear really quick so went back to SPD.
Exactly my experience, have two pairs of Shimano XCs, some Specialized MTB shoes and some SIDI winter boots, all SPD which means they can all be used with all three bikes. SPD-SL in London, where one's continually having to put one's foot down, is too slippery and costs a fortune in cleats (I have yet to wear out an SPD cleat, some of mine are over ten years old and have moved from shoe to shoe). The convenience of being able to walk normally when shopping or going into pubs and cafes far outweighs the supposed efficiency benefits and being double sided means I clip in first time, every time, something which even pros sometimes seem unable to do with SLs.
This is solution looking for a problem. These do nothing that you can't get from a MTB SPD shoe. If you are worried about pedal surface area then you include a more platform style MTB pedal.
I use Hope Union Trail pedals across all my bikes Road or Offroad as they have a small-med sized platform. It also means my waterproof SPD boots double as Winter road shoes with no messing about with overshoes.
If after 10 years of 'inventing' all he's got are these morbid photos of bodged bits of foam and rubber glued to old soles then it's no wonder he's found no traction. If you're walking so much in your SPD-SLs, get yourself some SPDs, case closed.
The thing is if it's a case of pitching something to shoe brands he doesn't even need to do that. Shoe designers already know how to put lugs on the bottom of their shoes, they do it every day on MTB shoes. It's not like they don't already realise they could do it on road shoes as well if they wanted to. The only thing stopping them is the absolute lack of any appreciable target market.
I thought that was a big part of what he said he had solved.
Exactly, I've ridden best part of 20,000 miles in SPDs in that same 10 years, walk on them all the time no problem, they're still fine if a little more battered looking thesedays.
SPD-SL (and similar cleats from other brands) exist because SPD MTB doesn't do everything they do equally well. And if you want SPD-SL pedals for those reasons (possibly with race shoes), and also want to use the same bike with walkable shoes sometimes, but not to have to swap pedals, this is an answer.
Whether there's enough of a market to make it worthwhile is another question.
SPD-SL is inferior in every way way to SPD except for Road racing and fashion.
99.9% of recreational riders would actually be better off with SPDs
Well I disagree, I run both in different circumstances - if I'm riding long distances the larger platform of the SLs is just more comfortable. I don't get hot spots like I do with SPDs. I don't race. SPDs are great if I'm bike packing or commuting, but for long road slogs SLs definitely have their place and definitely aren't inferior
Nope that's just the wrong SPD's pedal - get a platform pedal SPD. I agree typical XC style SPD's can give you hot foot - me too. Switched to Hope Union Trails (med size platform) and the problem went away.
A best of both worlds SPD pedal like the Shimano PD-ES600 Explorer can eliminate those problems, you lose out on the double-sided capacity but you get the wider platform whilst still being able to use walkable shoes.
That's what I've got on my road bike
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