High-heel, clipless bike shoes

I was inspired to make these shoes on my ride home one evening when I witnessed a beautiful woman riding in high-heels along Market Street in San Francisco. True to form, I will acknowledge that I noticed the sexy handmade bike before the woman, and what was (perhaps, unfortunately) most noteworthy to me was how awkward the connection was between the pedals and the shoes.

Having recently built up a bike for my beloved, I was immediately taken with idea of making high-heels with a clipless cleat. I had been keen to build a pair shoes for a while and the curves of a high-heel shoe seemed like an inviting challenge.

Indeed, it was a challenge. The project spanned about 18 months, and sadly, outlived my relationship. However, don’t let this dissuade you – if I had worked straight though on the project, it would have only taken a few months, and if you can make these shoes, you are probably capable of not loosing the relationship with a wonderful girl.
 

Step 1 Find a benchmark

I surreptitiously looked through her collection of heels until I found a pair that looked most suitable for riding – if any are – and well worn. I then photographed these shoes and used photoshop to extract the base curves. I then pulled these curves into Solidworks and began lofting the sole

Comments

[mstavola]

these can cause some major injury due to foot angle and muscle use...

[Caleb93]

Not exactly. Some people use their toes or heel of their foot for applying pressure to the pedals. I use the instep of my foot, but that does not mean I can not use my toes or the heel of my foot. Your concerns are duly noted though.

[totally_screwed]

The correct part of the foot for efficient control of a bicycle is the ball of the foot.
This is the same part of the foot that has evolved in humans for providing the thrust for walking, sprinting and running. It is no coincidence that the cleats for cycling shoes are located beneath the ball of the foot.
Note that a properly sized bicycle will not fit properly if the incorrect part of the foot is used.

[sbrams-miller]

I'm a woman, I'm a cyclist, and I can confidently say that riding around on these would not be an issue with the ankle or any other muscles in the leg. No woman would be wearing these for any extended period on the bike. Women who commute typically do not ride very hard to get from point a to point b. (Mainly because we don't want to show up soaked in sweat). I certainly wouldn't wear these if I were commuting 10-20 miles every day. But riding around a city . . . I definitely want.

[IHateToast]

You said what I was thinking. Too many comments on this thread are treating these like tri or long ride shoes. I commute and for short rides, it's not worth carrying around extra shoes.
Nice to see a sensible comment.

[totally_screwed]

See http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/

[finnrambo]

awesome instructable I am a guy so they wouldnt be that useful for me or my downhill bike but this is the most creative thing I've seen in months!

[Zoegirl36]

Umm, so I am assuming that you gave her the shoes, right? Because, if not, I am a cyclist and my name is Zoe...just sayin'. :-) They are beautiful and the first thing that caught my eye was the embroidered Z. Very nice.

[corwin]

It is an auspicious name.... Well, if you can climb Old La Honda in less than 16 mins, dance Double Points (performed by Emio Greco), surf Ocean Beach in double over-head or kite the same - I'm just sayin' that I have a second block of zebra wood.

you may also like:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Powder-Coat-a-Bike-Frame-with-Logos/

[spammy mcspam spam]

Yeah that's true that these kind of high heels may cause injury but no doubt that it is wonderful collection of heels and people get motivated for design these kind of high heels and shoe buckle is just because of the increasing demand of high heels shoes.

[Laura D]

Nice work on the shoes, Corwin!
I also made a pair of my pumps into cleated pumps several years ago, but mine were much simpler. Sacrificing a pair of existing pumps I had, my husband helped me drill through the bottom of the shoe, then we re-enforced the soles at the ball of the foot with Specialized footbed shims, and screwed the cleats into the inside of a Shimano shoe plate.
I tried Time, Shimano SPD, and Crank Brothers cleats and pedals, and I find the Crank Brothers pontoon cleats work best for both walking stability and ease of clip-in/clip-out.
I've put over 60 miles on these pumps, all in the name of silliness.
-Laura :)

[aweiss]

By far one of the MOST romantic gestures I have ever seen

[chakra]

i don't know about the girl putting this to practical use, but its bloody beautiful and romantic!!
being a guy, i couldn't help but awe at the shiny wooden sole u made.. curvy, smooth, detailed, and beautiful!!
Keep up the good work man!!

[fin saunders]

Two comments:

I tell my kids "be nice to him/her. others are watching". So still giving her what you made for her is very admirable in my book. Obviously, others concur.

Maybe attach a high speed spindle to your mill to turn a router bit for wood. Standard routers turn at 25000 rpm so if your mill's spindle doesn't crank up that fast, adding a temporary spindle of some sort may help.

Exotics are hard to work so it may make little difference. Being an Instructable contributor leads me to believe you'll keep experimenting. Please post results.

Cheers,

Fin

[vegalyre]

These are amazing! You should patent them :D (If indeed, that is what one does in these situations.) I know I would totally buy a shoe as attractive as that-- the only heeled bike shoes I've seen have been UUUUGLY. http://publicbikes.com/p/Camper-Mar-BCN-Peep-Toe-Yellow-Pump-Womens

[stretch mark]

Too cool!!!!

[Madrigorne]

They are beautiful, though I might ask that you also epoxy a strip of traction around the contact edge of the toe and heel to keep her from slipping on smooth surfaces, like wet tile/ice/super shiny hardwood. I love these shoes.
LOVE them.

[wiccanbear]

these are amazing. the only thing i would suggest adding to these is a little rubber grip to the heal and the foot ball part. having worn a pair of wood shoes before, they are quite slippery! lol. great work sir!

[tgriffin5]

I'm terrible at working with my hands, so this project seems way out of my leauge, but do you think it would be possible to attach cleats to an already made pair of high heels?

[thegreat58]

Adding a little romance to a project never hurts my friend, ask any great Chef. You did a great job on the shoes incidentally.

[Mojoloverly]

As a lover of both clipless road biking and wearing High Heels everyday...I think you just created the most amazing gift EVER. My husband does not thank you because I will now be showing him these plans and hinting at Christmas :)=

[turbosinaboy]

Those are great cleat shoes man. If you excuse me, I would say that I'm pretty sure these 18 months have been a good time for you. But it's time for another project.

[turbosinaboy]

Go on, and share awesomeness

[TechGnostic]

As a reversal on the idea - and possibly a marketable suggestion - is to do your photoshop process with a whole bunch of shoes, of varying heights, and try to come up with a custom-contoured pedal that will fit the curves of the majority - ideally still working for flat shoes as well - then make and market the pedal as an accessory for the shoe-loving-bike-loving wearer of pumps and mules.

[DIYbabe]

Cool concept and great work....but they sort of remind me of old lady type shoes (just the tops, not the heels). I still might wear 'em though but now might be more likely to attempt it on my own shoes. My 79 yo mother likes them alot and thinks they're very cute. Nice piece of work!

[ThunderCourage]

I don't know what to say sir.. Any woman would be a fool to have left you.. Especially any woman who rode bicycles...Well done and totally inspiring.

[Benstar]

Those are gorgeous. I'd like to see more nice shoes made for men and women with bike-cleat options.

[hfrederiksen]

Lovely shoes, it would be fun to see the bike as well :)

[ltrainismyname]

I've totally made these! Never wrote an instructible, though. I can't buy enough cleats for my whole shoe collection :P

Ladies - for the designer shoes with no platform to convert to spd's, remember to keep it under the ball of your foot! A bit awkward sometimes but with practice, possible.

[ltrainismyname]

To be clear, I've converted preexisting shoes, not fab'd from scratch. Those are HOT, though. (not my size) :)

[pastanaut]

These are lovely! Are you still going to give them to her, even though you've broken up?

[corwin]

Thank you - yes, she likes them.

...otherwise, I would have to find the same name with the same shoe size - which might have been an interesting challenge - Cinderella?

[hhamilton2]

How this did not win her back, I just don't know!

[beepea]

I hope you find her :)

[onrust]

Your a good man. She probably doesn't deserve you or the time and diligence it took to make these smooth shoes (no offense). Now go find the one that gave you the idea!

[corwin]

Clarification based on a number of comments: I hesitated to mention anything about the relationship but relented because I thought it humorous. BUT to be clear, I did [most] of the breaking in this case, so it is my [stupid] fault and the woman in question deserves no criticism. Apologies for putting that step in...

[KaptinScarlet]

I don't know what issues you might have had, but I would say that she is going to have to walk (or cycle) in those shoes a long way before she meets someone who thinks about her as much as you clearly do. But hey, sometimes that either isn't enough or just not what a woman wants. Lovely shoes... and nice bike frame, BTW.

[canida]

Wow, these are incredible.
I'd ask where you found the free time, but... 18 months. Still a beautiful piece of work.

[archipeep]

You sir, should be awarded the key to the city!