Little tweaks
- Thread starter DavidCH
- Start date
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Well the evenings are pulling in... and as I don't like riding at night, watching tv or twiddling my thumbs I get involved with little projects. There is a company that sells a product called retrofitz Http://www.retrofitz.com/ and they give you a kit to make any shoe into a cycling shoe. I decided to try it on some very very light indoor soccer shoes. Seems criminal ripping a gaping hole in them. There was a lot of fiddling about but I am happy with the end result. I have thrown out my old mountain boots that were three times heavier. I am probably going to buy a pair of zubits Http://www.zubits.com/ and have a back to the future pair of cycling shoes with auto tyups. Perfect for those lazy recovery days.
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
A couple of things. I have a great miracle healing ostiopath called Loren. Totally amazing. However the therapy hurts and it's deep into the shoulder tendons. I had the last treatment yesterday. I realized during the week I had Gorilla arms. If you loosely hang your arms straight down your thumbs are by the sides of your legs. After all the manipulation and stretching of the pectorials and others my thumbs are more forward. Chasing KOMs really puts the body under pressure. The older you are the more stretching required.
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
The converted soccer shoes are brilliant. I thought that the retrofitz was too expensive. They use to be $50 but then they upped the price to $85 as demand got higher. You have to be brave to do it too. Make sure the shoes you select have a bottom thickness of less than 12mm. They aren't performance but they are well cool on a tapa run. As they are lighter than my other shoes it's a dream to spin. The only issue is the fitting is only for Shimano spd cleats.
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Ok... been riding for a bit. The shoes are a little tight so I filled an inner tube with water and pushed it into the shoe and put it into the freezer. Brilliant idea ... works a treat. Ok... so what do I like about these? They might not be the lightest but they do have quite a solid sole. I could have chosen the puma evospeed sl which is 109g but I don't think that would last a very long time and the shoe is pretty pricy to stick a hole in it.
The ride characteristics are brilliant as the shoe fits my feet very snugly I can feel all the forces on the shoe. I know instantly I am mashing and I know instantly when I have similar power in each foot. I could never get the same feedback with my other cycle shoes.
The ride characteristics are brilliant as the shoe fits my feet very snugly I can feel all the forces on the shoe. I know instantly I am mashing and I know instantly when I have similar power in each foot. I could never get the same feedback with my other cycle shoes.
super slim
Zen MBB Master
I LOVE using the freezer + water in a tube to expand the shoe!!!
bazzawill
Guru
Can you please explain this to me. Not sure if I want to do this on my Sidi's not even sure if this is my problem or it's more something the solestar will fix. I get hot feet after about 40 mins. I do have wide feet (should have bought the Ergo 4 wide, but instead bought carbon wire vernice on impulse)
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
The inner tube filled with water is a twist on the usual way of stretching shoes. The usual way is a plastic zip bag you will up with water whilst in your shoe. You then secure the bag and put in the freezer. It should stretch any shoe. If you have carbon shoes they probably be expensive... I know my Shimano shoes I bought were large. Size 46 and the usual shoe size I have is 44. For cycling I prefer light and snug. But that usually costs a lot of money. Would i do that to the Shimano shoes.... Probably not. But if my feet were complaining... I would do anything. The feet are most important.
bazzawill
Guru
How do you orient and fill the tube do you cut it and tie a knot?
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Oddly enough I got the idea from the global cycling network. If you ever want o get the better of someone then you can fill his inner tube with water and close the valve.
(That was quite an interesting episode to watch). There were other interesting techniques to.
Basically fill your pump up with water and fill the inner tube.
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
The soccer shoe idea... good if you are out with the Mrs. You lose a hell of a lot of power... nothing quite replaces a solid no flex bottom. Looks good but you won't be in any KOM contention. Nothing ventured ... nothing gained. Guess I could enhance them and just encrust the bottom of the sole with 5 layers of carbon and epoxy.... other than that I could sell them
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Ok... revelation time
Old on the left... new on the right.
Right is considerably lighter, more aero and better fit (and cheaper).
If you are in Decathlon... try a pair. They are the Btwin 900 Chaussures velo 900 noir.
It should be interesting how many watts saved with one shoe size.
When I bought the Shimano R260 shoes my feet were bigger but with all the cycling since joining the cruzbike tribe my feet are very comfortable in a 45 shoe.
Old on the left... new on the right.
Right is considerably lighter, more aero and better fit (and cheaper).
If you are in Decathlon... try a pair. They are the Btwin 900 Chaussures velo 900 noir.
It should be interesting how many watts saved with one shoe size.
When I bought the Shimano R260 shoes my feet were bigger but with all the cycling since joining the cruzbike tribe my feet are very comfortable in a 45 shoe.
Frito Bandito
Zen MBB Master
Oh Yeah! It reminds me of some of the forged carbon fiber parts I saw being made on Youtube. Gorgeous!
DavidCH
In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
In the last few months I have been caught up with cassette compatibility issues. The local bike shop , good as they are, can't quite build up wheels as well as the manufacturer. I bought a cheap 12 speed ryet cassette which sort of worked with the xshifter and flat top sram force chain . Unfortunately though I had an issue with the lower gears; whenever pushing power from 14t to 11t the chain would slip which was not good for the experience going approx 40kph. So I decided to throw out the dead wood. Hind sight tells me that if I just changed the chain then the problem would go but I thought the flat top sram chain had less drag and much stronger so I replaced the front wheel with a yoeleo custom drive wheel with centre disk brake and quick release for a 135mm hub. Spot on. Absolutely perfect, now I just need to increase the pedal ability above 40kph which I seem to be a bit gingerish. 
