Interbike Tech: Shoe gurus CycleSoles, Sidi tackle troublesome feet

Bill Peterson was a guru when it came to feet (note the legacy banner to him across the top of the booth). His ideas and footbed-making systems spread like wildfire through the ski industry decades ago, and when he turned his attention to cycling, many riders, myself among them, found improved performance as well as relief from foot pain due to his work. His son, Scott Peterson (left), has taken up his heavy mantle in Bend, Oregon. Scott’s CycleSoles company makes it possible for bike shops to create superlight, stiff, long-lasting orthotics that provide great fit, performance and comfort. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Scott Peterson is molding warm orthotic material to my foot, which is supported on CycleSoles’ soft platform. My left knee is held fixed in proper alignment above my foot by the white, V-shaped prongs that slide up and down on the black steel rod visible in front of my left hand. Notice how the rod (and hence my knee) is aligned with the vertical red line of laser light established by the laser on the tripod in the foreground. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Peterson can geek out on the mechanics of the foot, and I’m trying my darndest to follow along. He does a two-day training in Bend for each bike fitter wanting to be certified with the CycleSoles system so they have a chance to remember all of this stuff about foot mechanics and can geek out like this, too. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

My new CycleSoles orthotics, top view, after trimming to fit my shoes. The bumps behind the second toe felt great for grabbing and releasing on the one ride I’ve done on them so far. It felt like a toe exercise that really kept my circulation going in my forefoot. As those of you that have read my last few Tech FAQs know, I have foot problems that I’m constantly managing in order to be able to keep riding, and these seem so far to do the best job of any of the dozens of custom orthotics I’ve had made over the years. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

My freshly molded CycleSoles orthotics before being trimmed to fit my shoes and before having white reinforcing material molded and bonded to the bottom of them in areas that are lifted, to keep them from collapsing. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

The top of one and the bottom of the other of my completed CycleSoles orthotics. The black top material and the white support material are both superlight and quite stiff; the white material supports the areas that are lifted. Retail price at certified bike shops and fit studios for a pair of these is $200. Check cyclesoles.com for one near you. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

If you have as little padding on your feet as this guy does, you really need orthotics! This is a better view of the CycleSoles soft on-bike foot-molding platform and the laser. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Peterson explains the details of my freshly-molded raw orthotic. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

The other foot guru in cycling, as far as I’m concerned, is Dino Signori, founder and owner of Sidi, whose shoes I have been riding and racing on since 1979. In the ski boots he made in the 1960s, he was the first to do a twist closure that pulls cords to draw the shoe or boot around the foot. This is the ratchet mechanism inside his latest twist closure, the Tecno 3. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

With two Tecno 3 twist closures, the Drako Carbon SRS competition mountain bike shoe loses 100 grams/pair off of the weight of the Dragon carbon-soled model that was the top of the line until now. And that is without losing so many features others omit in order to make superlight shoes, like an adjustable heel cup that snugs up with a screwdriver to fit perfectly around the Achilles tendon, built-in toe protectors, replaceable sole lugs, and replaceable cleat plates to protect against damage from the pedal wire loops or clips. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

The Drako’s Tecno 3 twist closures can be micro-adjusted when tightened too tightly by alternately pressing the little tabs on each side to step the tension on the draw cords back one click of the dial at a time. The braided synthetic cord that it pulls is more supple than the monofilament line of earlier Sidi twist closures. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Close up of the Drako’s cleat plate. Carbon shoe soles can crack due to the pressure from the wire loops on Crank Brothers, Time, and now the new Look mountain bike pedals, and Sidi’s new tough, replaceable cleat plate protects a rider’s substantial investment in carbon-sole shoes. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

The Drako’s carbon sole is superlight and stiff, and a Phillips-head screwdriver allows replacement of the sole lugs and cleat plate. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Like the Drako on the mountain bike side, the Wire road shoe has two of the new two-way ratcheting microadjustable Tecno 3 closures that uniformly draw the shoe tight with supple braided cords. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

The Women’s Wire offers women the top-of-the-line Sidi road shoe, built specifically for women. It has all of the features of Sidi’s top shoe model, the Wire, plus one more: it’s built onto a women’s last to fit her foot better. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

At 76 years old, Dino Signori continually comes up with new innovations like this sliding toe bumper on the new Wire shoe. Slide it forward and air can flow in the mesh-covered vent (Sidi was also the first cycling shoe I know of to even have sole vents). Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com

Slide the Wire's toe bumper back, and the sole vent is covered for a wet or cold ride. Photo: Lennard Zinn | VeloNews.com