Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc.

Carl Darius Bird

Greg Grenzke

Robert A L Cook

Robert Arthur Laurence Cook

Andrew Lee Pruitt

Luke Fryer

John Wilkening

A clipless cycling shoe having an upper and a base plate. The base plate has a medial portion, a lateral portion and a medial sidewall. The medial portion has a rigid support structure having a top portion and a bottom portion, a cavity is formed between the top portion and bottom portion, wherein the cavity is filled with a core material. The lateral portion has a lateral plate. The medial sidewall wrap is adjacent the medial portion and extends outward and upward relative to the base plate and the medial sidewall wrap extends a portion of the length of the base plate. The medial portion is desirably thicker than the lateral portion.

Cycling shoe

A method of making a glove includes placing a flexible material into a contoured mold, direct molding a resilient material (e.g., a thermoplastic elastomer) onto the flexible material while the flexible material is in the contoured mold, and securing the flexible material to other materials to create a glove. The resilient material can be applied in liquid form and at least partially solidified while in contact with the flexible material. Direct molding can include forming the resilient material into an anatomical shape and forming perforations in the resilient material. The method can be used to create a cycling glove including a palm panel having a flexible material, a resilient material formed into an anatomical shape and co-molded to the palm panel, and a back panel secured to the palm panel. The glove can further include a facing material attached to the flexible material with the resilient material sandwiched in between.

Bicycle glove with direct-molded padding

A cycling shoe can include a hook that, when used together with another device, such as with a rubber band, can position the shoe on a bicycle in a desired position. The shoes can be clipped into pedals on the bicycle, and the hook and rubber band can be used to position the shoes and crank arms of the bicycle in the position desired by the user. The hook can be on the arch side of the shoe. The hook can be separate from the tightening system.

A shoe that includes an upper defining a heel, a strap adjuster member coupled to the upper, and a strap that extends across a portion of the upper. The strap is coupled to the adjuster member such that at least a portion of the strap is movable in one of a direction toward and away from the heel.

Cycling shoe with an adjustable strap

In an embodiment, a bicycle saddle fit system comprises first and second supports, a substrate coupled to the first and second supports, and a measurement gauge coupled to the substrate. The first and second supports are each configured to receive sit bones of an adult human. At least one of the first and second supports is selectively moveable to locate the sit bones and to define a sit bone width. The substrate is configured to facilitate the selective moveability of the at least one of the first and second supports. The measurement gauge is configured to visually indicate the sit bone width. In another embodiment, a method of fitting a bicycle saddle to a human rider comprises locating the first and second sit bones of the rider, reading a sit bone width from the measurement gauge, and assessing a saddle characteristic based on the rider's sit-bone width.

Saddle fit system and method

In an embodiment, a bicycle saddle fit system comprises first and second supports, a substrate coupled to the first and second supports, and a measurement gauge coupled to the substrate. The first and second supports are each configured to receive sit bones of an adult human. At least one of the first and second supports is selectively moveable to locate the sit bones and to define a sit bone width. The substrate is configured to facilitate the selective movability of the at least one of the first and second supports. The measurement gauge is configured to visually indicate the sit bone width. In another embodiment, a method of fitting a bicycle saddle to a human rider comprises locating the first and second sit bones of the rider, reading a sit bone width from the measurement gauge, and assessing a saddle characteristic based on the rider's sit-bone width.

In one disclosed embodiment, a bicycle saddle fit system comprises an impression pad of sufficient size to span the sit bones of an adult human, and a measurement gauge fixed to and extending along the impression pad. The measurement gauge is usable to measure the distance between sit-bone impressions made in the impression pad by a person previously seated on the impression pad. In another disclosed embodiment, a method of fitting a bicycle saddle to a human rider comprises measuring a sit-bone width of the rider, determining a preferred riding posture of the rider, and assessing a saddle characteristic suitable for the rider based on both the rider's sit-bone width and the rider's preferred riding posture.

Methods and apparatus for promoting an ergonomically proper leg and foot posture while cycling are disclosed. A cycling shoe has a rigid outsole with a heel portion, a forefoot portion forward of the heel portion, a toe portion forward of the forefoot portion, an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface has a pedal contact area underlying the forefoot portion. The pedal contact area defines a base plane, and the upper surface of the outsole is sloped laterally with respect to the base plane along substantially the entire width of the forefoot portion, at a predetermined varus-compensation angle.

Growing community of inventors

Aptos, CA, United States of America

Carl Darius Bird