Shimano patents wireless, electric cycling shoes that adjust automatically 

As cyclists adjust their position on the bike according to elevation and terrain, Shimano’s patent suggests that changes in cleat position would provide the rider certain advantages on the road. However, cycling enthusiasts and experts can’t seem to find any scientific evidence to back up that claim. So what’s the future for the high-tech cycling shoes? Maybe the competitive circuit.

The “smart” cycling shoe that adjusts the cleat automatically

Shimano, a renowned manufacturer of cycling gear, published designs of the “smart” cycling shoe with a wireless electronic system that would enable the cleat to adjust its position automatically according to the rider’s needs.

The pedal holds the main battery that powers the wireless system that encompasses the shoe, cleat, and adjuster, as per New Atlas. The sensor-driven technology, as described by Gear Patrol, not only responds to the bike but also the heart rate, body temperature, and even blood oxygen concentration and blood lactate level, as Velo reported. The shoe can adjust itself at any given moment, pushing the cleats forward, for example, when riding uphill. According to Gear Patrol, after carefully studying the diagram, the pedal suggests that the shoe is geared for mountain biking rather than the road.

According to cycling enthusiasts, cleat positioning can be a little “time-consuming” if not annoying, so upon first glance, a design that would auto-adjust sounds good, except, is it more akin to “a five-year-old’s flashing LED sneakers,” according to New Atlas? Is it worth $400 as Velo wonders? Is there a groundbreaking benefit for the general consumer…but is that who Shimano intends to target? Well, cycling aficionados seem to agree that they do potentially see this type of technology hitting the competitive circuit as these tiny adjustments might mean winning even by seconds as they count out there.

Will the shoe hit the competitive circuit?

The patent lays out how a flexible cleat on cycling shoes would improve different riding scenarios, however in reviewing some scientific studies on the subject, Velo hasn’t been able to find evidence as of yet that these claims are true. Most notably, a 2009 study said, “there was no substantial physiological or performance advantage in this group using an arch-cleat shoe position in comparison with a cyclist’s normal preferred condition.” But Shimano seems to disagree, and the field of science knows already that it can be proven wrong.

Controversy on the road. That being said, everyone seems to be a little excited to see the shoe in action on the competitive mountain biking circuit, perhaps, if it indeed makes it — where we can all watch the seconds get shaved off or not.