Help with the develpment of a NEW Triathlon shoe.- Survey and testers needed!

Hey All! We are in the process of developing a new triathlon shoe that will be optimal for triathlon athletes- a shoe that seamlessly transforms from a strong-based clip-in biking shoe, to a light-weight running shoe WITHOUT the added transition time to your race!

Please take the time to complete our survey which will take approximately 5 minutes, or less. Also, provide your contact information in the space provided in the last question if you are interested in testing our new shoe!! We need all of the feedback and information about our customers that we can get, so PLEASE take a moment to complete this survey regarding your triathlon preferences.

Click the link below to take the quick survey that will help us!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2Y7MD7H

Also, feel free to take a look at our short introduction video!

http://www.youtube.com/...wkQ&feature=plcp

Thank you in advance for your assistance! We will keep you posted with the development of this shoe!

Triathletes are concerned with details (well I am). If you can't spell development in your subject line, I wonder how much thought has gone into the develpment (sic) of the shoe.

Good idea though

I would be interested in a road shoe I could walk in.  I'm using MTB shoes which are heavier and don't have the same feel.  I suspect a combined run/cycle shoe will likely have a combined price and that wouldn't interest me.

That looks less like a survey designed to elicit genuine information and more like a set of very leading questions leading to someone getting to fill in their contact details for you.

I was hoping to learn something revolutionary about the way you're looking to combine a single shoe which would need to serve very different purposes for running and cycling.  A good cycling shoe, as you point out, needs a stiff base, partly for comfort but mainly for efficient power transfer.  However, a good running shoe (for me anyway, and I think my feet are pretty normal!) needs to have a degree of flexibility to help ease you through the gait cycle of landing and toe-off.  I also like some cushioning, even in a racing shoe, although I guess some people are happy with more minimalist shoes.  (But perhaps not for long distance tris?)

If you're getting anywhere near squaring that one, I would be genuinely interested in testing out such a shoe, but nothing in this poorly designed survey suggests it.

How about a plate running through the shoe constructed from a number of spring loaded segments that can be drawn together by means of a cam on the back or a plate that fits on to the pedal with a quick release to hold any running shoe and drilled to take any kleat?  Or a running shoe with an insert that makes the shoe rigid for cycling but pulls out of the shoe when you want to run, a bit like the qr's you get in foundry boots/

I really can't see how you are going to get a "one size fits all" shoe to satisfy the needs of every triathlete.

there's enough of a debate about the best shoe to run in - heelstrike, barefoot, forefoot, flats etc - that everyone has their own preference.  how do you factor in these needs into a dual purpose shoe???  

and as an example, I use two types of shoes depending on distance - a more minimal tri specific running shoe for tris up to standard distance; a more conventional distance running shoe for LD racing.

sorry - I think you're looking at a very narrow market and it's not a marketable proposition and for that reason I'm out

Btw who is we?

Good ask JB, but I doubt that MK will put that forward so early. This sort of market research is often done by "unknown manufacturer" wanting to break into the big boy market. Assume that it's not Nike or Asics.

Personally, I can see the appeal of a seamless transition shoe, but by targetting the mass market they have got it all wrong. There are three people to ask, and they all have a Brownlee in their name. (Dad's the other). Transition times are relevant in distances up to Olympic. After that a few seconds are irrelevant outside the top 10. Just watch the Olympic video. I didn't see anybody struggling with shoe transition. They all entered with a few seconds between them from the bike leg and exited with a similar gap onto the run leg. It was awesome. Off bike-barefoot-BANG- lock laces BANG- running. Sure, there might be an opportunity to save 2 seconds, but over the next 10k of running I'd rather be in my fave fast shoes.

personally i don't think this one is or was going any where, look at all the different running shoes people use, then look at the cycling shoes, what is being made has to be able to do both jobs and the right shoe for the person for each. This is too big an ask for too different tasks.

Any one at a high level would surely be getting their kit from sponsorship any how, saving 2 or 5 seconds would come far more easily from other areas of the race. Interesting idea, but not sure the market would be there.

Suppoe if you beleive in minimalism and near barefoot running then some sort of barefoot running sock thing with a platfrom/shoe/outer with the clip on it. Possibly with the inner being in the outer at the start of the race.

But this would still leave more cushioning than desired on the bike.

Unless it involves electrical destabilisation of carbon nano modules to stiffen/relax the sole based on output from the garmin as you hit lap in transition. That could work.

M..eface

Who is on for an IM PeeBee this year as he is going to save literally 7 seconds in transition. So 12 hrs 22 minutes and 11 seconds on the cards then!

"This sort of market research is often done by "unknown manufacturer" wanting to break into the big boy market. Assume that it's not Nike or Asics."

a bit of research turns up the fact that the OP is an active triathlete and:

"Kelsey Martin - Health, Wellness and Fitness Professiona, Greater Philadelphia Area

Education: Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 2009, Athletic Training at Indiana University Bloomington"

so I would suspect that she is either working on a further academic project, or is employed by some firm looking at developing such a shoe

and this survey has been posted on a number of fora

Something like this already exists and its terrible - they are called Pyros.

I thought of Pyros when I saw the OP but I get the impression it's a bike/run shoe without a platform