advice sought – clipless solution allowing midfoot cleat position

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  • #27459
    HurdyGurdy

    Background : due to muscle wasting condition, no longer have fully functioning foot and calf muscles. This effectively means that even with SPD-SL cleats as far back as possible, I am no longer able to stand up on the pedals as there is no ability to support feet when all pressure comes from front ( imagine standing on a ledge with front part of foot and not be able to hold foot level, i.e. heels drop down).

    So that out of the way – is anyone aware of any clipless solution that allows the locking mechanism to be midfoot ? I tried using flats (DMR Vault) but due to their width they scrape the floor in corners and really didn’t feel nice not being clipped in.

    Given all shoe manufacturers assume you want the cleat near front, not found any shoes that have long enough tracks to move cleat far enough back.

    This might be mission impossible, but just trying my luck in this community 

    Thanks 

    Hurdy

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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  • #899113
    0
    HurdyGurdy

    Thanks for the suggestions

    Thanks for the suggestions again

    going to go DIY route first ( spare shoes gathering dust so may as well give it a go ). Looks like it will have to be SPD rather than SL given given most road shoes are too narrow to support two back SL bolts when moving them mover to the back.

    Might give the Speedplay’s a go as well 

     

     

    #899111
    0
    Paul__M

    Sounds like Luck shoes could

    Sounds like Luck shoes could be worth contacting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ-ssX4QjSchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ-ssX4QjSc

    #899109
    0
    Drinfinity

    Apologies, I was meaning MTB

    Apologies, I was meaning MTB spuds too. 

    #899107
    0
    beigemaster

    I had a similar issue, but

    I had a similar issue, but more simply because I felt much more comfortable and controlled with my foot further forward on the pedal than any SPD-SL would allow.

    I found simply moving to mountain bike style SPDs helped me get into the best position. Not sure if it’s either due to the nature of mountain biking (where a good trail position means you dip your heels and push more on the arch of your foot) or simply because the cleats are smaller and therefore there’s more room to move them back but I can get the cleats much further back than on my road shoes. 

    Double sided clipping in is also a welcome bonus. 

     

    #899105
    0
    Drinfinity

    I’d go for SPDs, and drill

    I’d go for SPDs, and drill your own holes. Cut the shoe insole for the cleat, and the orthopaedic  insole goes over the top. 

    #899103
    0
    HurdyGurdy

    Thanks all for the various

    Thanks all for the various suggestions –  lots of ideas to explore now!

    #899101
    0
    barongreenback

    Speedplay with the fore/aft

    Speedplay with the fore/aft extender plates might be a good shout. I use them as my middle toe is longer than my big toe so my shoes are a bit too big for normal cleat placement iyswim.   If they don’t go quite far back enough I reckon you could probably get some custom made as the engineering looks pretty simple. 

    #899099
    0
    nniff

    You might get some help from

    You might get some help from British Cycling – they have regional hubs for para cycling which may be a good source of advoce for you:

    https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/disabilityhubs?c=EN

    #899097
    0
    davel

    I’ve been interested in this

    I’ve been interested in this for a while, but because of the Joe Friel/triathlon link. I’ve found the argument for sparing your calves the effort of rotating the ball of your foot, particularly prior to a run, fairly convincing, and have come across triathletes who use mid-foot cleats over the years – though IIRC they had custom/modified shoes and don’t know of any off-the-shelf midfoot shoes (doesn’t mean they don’t exist).

    It’s something I’ve intended to try out but have never got round to…

    Have a look at what Joe Friel and Steve Hogg have to say… I think you can probably swing there via the page that Smeds has linked to, but here are links:

    http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2007/01/cleat-position.html

    midfoot cleat position

    I remember the topic being discussed pretty extensively, dicussing shoe modification etc, on one of the tri forums, a few years back. I think it was slowtwitch, but a search for ‘midfoot/midfoot cleat’ on there just got drowned out by results related to running (midfoot striking). A determined googling should turn something up.

     

    #899095
    0
    ClubSmed

    You may find this old thread

    You may find this old thread on the subject useful:

    http://road.cc/content/forum/114009-mid-foot-cleat-position

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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