If you are into running, barefoot shoes won’t be new. Whether you use them or not, they’re hard to ignore in the running world. The concept hinges on letting your feet behave as they would naturally outside of a shoe. Although they split opinions, barefoot shoes are welcomed by many as an antidote to the highly cushioned, vaguely foot-shaped shoes that we wear daily.
Even so, the movement has gained traction, with multiple brands offering barefoot shoes. One thing the barefoot movement is responsible for is increasing awareness about the need for anatomically correct footwear and highlighting how poorly regular shoes facilitate natural foot movement.
So, if barefoot shoes can benefit runners, could they do the same for cyclists?
Judging by how few brands have explored the concept, the cycling world looks far removed from the barefoot running landscape. The real question is whether this reluctance in cycling is founded on solid reasoning or is a result of cycling's resistance to change.
What is a barefoot cycling shoe?
Straight off the bat, this question delivers the first issue. In cycling terms, this question can’t be approached in the same way as general shoes. What constitutes a barefoot cycling shoe is open to debate. A few different takes are floating around, making barefoot cycling shoes hard to define.
With running, it's straightforward. A barefoot shoe has a 0 mm drop from the heel to the forefoot and uses minimal cushioning. Barefoot shoes also have a wider toe box than typical shoes. The rationale is that it allows for natural foot mechanics when you walk or run, but for many people, transitioning to barefoot shoes increases the chance of injury while the foot adapts and strengthens.
The issue with transferring this to cycling is that cycling isn’t an anatomical movement. As much as it pains me to admit it, humans were never intended to spend hours pedalling bikes, and as a result, it is an alien movement for the body. This means more support is required to prevent injuries and compensate for natural asymmetry. In cycling, 'barefoot-style' doesn't mean riding without shoes, or even ultra-minimalism, but rather refers to design elements such as flat soles, no heel lift, and roomy toe boxes that allow for more natural foot function.
Any attempt at a barefoot cycling shoe will differ from a barefoot running shoe in a few ways. The most notable is that it cannot use a minimalist soft sole. The foot interacts with the pedal in a concentrated area around the ball of the foot. Without a rigid base, the foot would collapse around the shoe, and the movement would quickly fatigue the foot, opening it up to potential repetitive strain injuries.
You can use softer-soled shoes like flat mountain bike shoes, but all this does is move the rigid base from the shoe to the pedal. Flat pedals use a far wider platform than clipless pedals to create a solid base for the foot to act against.
But as much as natural foot movement is ideal, cycling isn’t walking, and without proper structure, problems arise. “Your feet have evolved to walk 10,000 steps a day,” explains Julian Wall, bike fitter to EF Pro Cycling. “So putting that onto a bicycle and pedalling unsupported won't work." You have to make your foot a component of the bike. It has to become a stable lever, and the only way to do that is with a good-fitting rigid shoe."
Stephen Drake, founder of Lore cycling shoes, explains that, generally, three factors are considered when discussing barefoot cycling shoes. “The first one is toe spring, or rather, its removal. The second variable is widening the toe box to accommodate the foot, and the third is a heel lift.” Some brands like Strong Feet Athletics take this a step further with a completely flat footbed, opening up the interpretation of the definition of what exactly a barefoot cycling shoe should be.
Under cycling’s definition of a barefoot shoe, Lore was the first to bring this concept to the market, with Strong Feet Athletics following suit with its take. Beyond these brands, some concepts explored in barefoot cycling shoes are spilling over to the mainstream. Many brands now offer a separate wide-fit shoe, increasing the width across the toe box. Specialized is one of the latest brands, with its Ares 2 shoe, to increase toe box width for its ‘standard’ width high-performance road shoe.
Considering that the Ares 2 is positioned as a high-performance shoe, which is claimed to offer power gains, the fact that it borrows design inspiration from barefoot-style cycling shoes moves the concept from niche to fairly mainstream. This isn’t to say that the Ares 2 is a barefoot-style cycling shoe, but it nods in that direction and deviates from standard performance shoe designs of the past.
Speaking about the wider toe box, Drake points out, “Widening the toe box doesn't necessarily improve the fit or function of the shoe if the foot is too narrow for that new widened toe box.”
“This introduces slop and lack of force transfer, making the foot work harder to correct itself and transfer the load compared to if it were properly contained in the shoe.” Although wide shoes can be a step in the right direction for many, they cannot be seen as a blanket solution.
Toe spring and heel rise
Barefoot-style cycling shoes like the Leviathan from Strong Feet Athletics use a completely flat sole, ticking one of the key boxes of a barefoot shoe: removing any drop from the rear to the front of the shoe.
This shape is said to allow for a more natural foot function on the bike. A zero-drop shoe places your foot in a position that mimics standing on a flat surface; the rationale is that it allows the foot muscles to stabilise themselves rather than forcing the foot to conform to a manufactured position.
Heel-to-toe drop is discussed readily in sports shoes, with most running shoe brands listing the drop in millimetres. However, this is not the only element that can vary in height. The ramp-up at the toes is known as toe spring; in cycling, this can be useful. As Jon Wild, bike fitter and owner of Pedalling Perfection, explains, “If you ramp your toes up slightly, it gives something for you to push against.” This is particularly useful when pedalling through the dead spot at the top of the pedal stroke. Wild continued, “Over the dead spot, that slight toe lift does help you scoop the pedals forward ever so slightly.”
The issue with toe spring is that lifting your toes (especially the big toe) causes the Windlass mechanism to engage (the use of the plantar fascia, a thick band of connective tissue on the sole of the foot). If you pull your toes upwards, you can feel the arch of your foot tighten. Biomechanically, this helps move body weight and force through the foot. This naturally occurs momentarily through each stride as we walk or run. Wild believes holding your foot in this position for prolonged periods should be avoided.
Meanwhile, Nick Squillari, founder of VeloKicks and a certified podiatrist, points out that the Windlass mechanism is not always engaged throughout the whole pedal stroke, saying, “Closed chain pronation (the way your foot rolls when planted during a movement like pedalling) occurs as the foot passes the three o'clock position and through the later stages of the power phase.” This shares some similarities with running; however, the position is still held for a longer duration per cycle than it would be in running.
Drake believes that toe spring isn’t beneficial to cycling. “If you look at the most popular high-end shoes, they are all based on an aesthetic model that features narrow forefoots, toe spring, heel lifts, and very tapered toe boxes,” he says. “So, all these things are essentially legacy elements from traditional footwear.”
He also adds that using toe spring to engage the Windlass mechanism isn’t the best approach in cycling shoe design. “You're not allowing the arches of your foot to engage naturally and fire on and off sequentially the way they should. You're casting the foot in an awkward position that it shouldn't be in per se for long periods.”
Benefits of barefoot cycling shoes
The wider toe box and flat sole allow the foot to behave more naturally. The issue for some feet in traditional cycling shoes is that they are cramped and held in an unnatural position. For many, this squeezes the metatarsals (the finger-like bones of the foot and toes) together. Wild explains that this can stop the nerves in the foot from informing your brain exactly what is happening.
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