Shoe help: how to make soles grippy?

Here's the sole after one off road and one on road ride

When trying to clip in, if my foot doesn't position the cleat into the SPD perfectly, to sole simply slips off the metal of the pedal. It's so bad, it's pretty dangerous off-road when you stall on technical climbs .....................

Except, it's just as bad on the road bike ☹️

OK, but the solution to this is to clip in, and just keep practicing until you can do it first time every time. Sometimes that does need re-learning with new shoes. If you end up perched on the pedal then you will slide off and cash (or at least smash your shin on the pedal).

So, can you buy sheets of rubber and if so, is there any particular type I should be looking for? And what type of glue would be best?

Yes, an old CX trick is to cut up an MTB tyre's tread and glue it to the sole. Probably pre-dates SPD shoes! That's more for running with the bike though. 

My advice is to buy new shoes. Sorry.

Before now I have screwed a piece of old tyre on the instep so I could descend tricky bits unclipped.
I now ride flat.

There's really only one option and you know it.

New bike required.

I have not tried this but is thoroughly cleaning the tread areas then applying a layer of ShoeGoo to the areas either side of the cleats worth a go?

https://www.repairingproducts.co.uk/product/shoe-goo-black/

I managed to find a picture.

Don't think you can easily...I've had shoes like that and you very quickly adjust to them for pedalling but they aren't comfy for walking.

They work well for pedalling once you get clipped in first time.

Posted by: thisisnotaspoon

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the solution to this is to clip in, and just keep practicing until you can do it first time every time. Sometimes that does need re-learning with new shoes.

Is it possible that the tread on the new shoes is deeper, causing the cleat to be more recessed than you are used to? It might be worth checking where any interference with the pedal is occurring and trimming back the tread. 

You could coat the sole with Shoe Goo. I use that on foot part of my skydiving suit so that I have more grip at the door, it should stick well enough on those soles and you can make the layer as thin or thick as you need to.

You could try 2228 mastic tape on the flat, recessed bits.

I can't promise you it'll stay on, but maybe superglue it if not.

Do report back.

Melt a pattern on with a fine tipped soldering iron?????

Posted by: willard

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I use that on foot part of my skydiving suit

Hey, don't we all! 😛

I'm in the buy some different shoes camp. Life's too short. Specialized Recon's are very nice, the latest 1.0 version has a Boa closure and just works. Sole is fine. Not insanely expensive. 

I suspect that's just XC/gravel shoes these days. My specialized XC shoes are almost exactly the same, and i recon Dog's Recons are v similar. The access for cleat and pedal interface is very uncluttered so should make clipping in easy. 

But.... What pedals are you riding? Is there lots of pedal to get in the way? I'm riding XTs and 540s and they're literally just clip.

But as TINAS says, you need to practice and get used to it so it becomes second nature.

Is it possible that the tread on the new shoes is deeper, causing the cleat to be more recessed than you are used to? It might be worth checking where any interference with the pedal is occurring and trimming back the tread. 

I've actually got the older 900 version with the carbon sole, they work fine with 520 and 540's 🤷 

Had to give up on them in the end as I have wide-ish but very tall feet and they never quite broke into shape even after a few thousand miles.

Another thing to check, is the OP using shimano cleats and shimano pedals? I tried using 3rd party SPD cleats (they were Boardman branded ones but I imagine the temptingly cheap Decathlon ones are the same) and they aren't quite the same and just wouldn't catch in the bindings quite as reliably.

I've used these shoes with three different pedals so far:

Shimano one sided road pedal (A520?) [on my road bike]

Shimano M520 

Favero Assioma MX

[Latter two on my gravel bike.]

I'd tried the cheap BTwin Decathlon cleats but switched them immediately to regular Shimano single-release cleats as the BTwin cleats can twist too easily 

And I've been riding SPD for 30+ years so don't need to learn how to clip in!!.

Anyhoo, I'll try Shoe Goo to start with. Unfortunately, I don't have any old MTB tyres hanging around but I'll poke around my LBS to see whether they've got any old take-offs from when they've replaced customers old tyres.

If you're wanting to make them grippier, add a touch of sand to the shoe goo before it cures.

I've just re-read this thread and I'm personally a bit baffled about the need for 'grip' in the middle of the sole of a shoe when using on the road (I can understand on the mtb, or even gravel bike, when you may want to unclip and ride the pedal). 

Both my pairs of carbon soled road shoes have zero grip, just hard carbon on almost all of the sole which would slide straight off the pedal.  Even my (Mavic) gravel shoes are pretty minimalist on the grip front (I wanted them with a low profile sole as I don't ride that bike in the mud) and don't offer any midsole grip.  You've been using SPDs for far longer than me (I'm flats on MTB and only been on the road/gravel for a few years) so I am cautious of sounding patronising, but you're clipping in by pushing forward and down with the approximately the front/ball area of your foot, how could you be missing so much as to need to catch it with grip in the middle area? My only thoughts here are clipping in technique (we all learn bad habits over time) or the very raised grips on the soles of your new shoes are causing them to 'skate' over the pedal rather then engage effectively.

As for adding grip, what about cutting a section of old innertube to size/shape and using epoxy to attach?

Vlad, I was thinking about this yday when out on the road bike after a few weeks not riding it. Same shoes for both road and MTB. Wasn't casting aspersions on your spd experience, but rather thinking that your neuromuscular memory is still thinking your cleats are where they are on the old shoes, and if the cleats on the new shoes are a bit more fwd or back, then it will take a few rides to reset. I've been working on my road bike fit, so it felt a bit different yday, and clipping in was a bit off for a few miles until I'd got used to it.

Seems a shame to heath Robinson a decent pair of shoes, and maybe adjust cleat position before the tyre attachment