Cycling-specific flip flops and high heels

Flip flops and high heels represent polar extremes of footwear and at first appearance neither seems well suited to time spent on a bike, but two new designs from America aim to make life in the saddle more comfortable for road cyclists and more stylish for women.

Cycling sandals

FOOTbrake folding sandals are designed for cyclists who wear cleats and promise to ease tired feet and put an end to hobbling around on cycling road shoes.

Bike cleats are efficient for riding, but work rather less well when off the bike. Despite a range of cleat heights, treads and shims to make walking in them easier, it can be a noisy, uncomfortable and inelegant business. FOOTbrake flip flops are designed to fold so they can fit in a rider’s jersey pocket. They promise to save cleats from wear and tear and allow a cyclist to rest their feet by walking more comfortably.

The sandals are the brainchild of Jill Becket-Hill and Marjie Hancock, two keen cyclists who found their stops for meals and wine tastings while on a ride through the Napa valley marred by the discomfort of walking in cleats.

Their solution was a durable and lightweight fold-up shoe small enough to fit in a jersey pocket.

Cycle insurance from the ETA protects against theft, accidental damage and vandalism (including at race events) and includes £5m third party insurance, a breakdown recovery service for cyclists and worldwide cover.

High heels for cycling

Footbrake sandals might be the sensible alternative to SPDs when taking a break from the bike, but cycling footwear can be glamorous; a part-time inventor who wanted to make cycling in heels a more practical proposition for his girlfriend has published free plans on how to make your own high-heels with a clip-less cleat.

Contributor to the DIY website Instructables.com, Corwin, spent 18 months designing and making the shoes, a length of time he describes as having outlasted the relationship.

He is keen, however, that this detail not dissuade potential shoe makers: “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 losing the relationship with a wonderful girl.”