Triathlon Shoes – Buyer’s Guide

If you are planning to participate in a triathlon, it is essential for you to obtain triathlon shoes for your cycling and running events.

Triathlon shoes for cycling are similar to other cycling shoes used in races because they have binding cleats that snap into the pedals. This allows the cyclist to not only get gains from pushing the pedal down, but from pulling as well.

You can usually find really comfortable triathlon shoes for cycling. A lot of times they are padded sufficiently so that you don’t need to wear socks, which will shave off transition time, especially if you are coming from the swim. Have you ever tried to put on socks when your feet are wet?

It is a little hard to do. These special shoes also have holes to allow excess water from the swim to easily drain off. Instead of three straps, that most regular cycling shoes have, triathlon shoes only have one or two.

And instead of complicated laces or buckles, the fastening straps are made of Velcro. This also helps with gearing up during the transition time.

In addition, the Velcro straps are positioned from the outside of the foot inwards. This untraditional placement of the strap ensures that a strap that has become loose will not be entangles in the wheel spokes, chain, etc.

To shave off even more time during the transition, a lot of competitive athletes decide to leave their triathlon shoes clipped into the pedals for the entire time of the race.

This essentially means that when the athlete gets out of the water, he/she is getting onto the bike bare foot and wet. The athlete will usually bike for a few minutes to get rid of some of the water with his/her feet on top of the shoes.

Then he/she will take a pause to slip their feet into the shoes and fasten them on. The same goes for the other end of the biking leg.

When approaching the transition between biking and running, the athlete will take his/her feet out of the shoes while coasting up to the transition area. He/she will then run barefoot into the transition corral to put on running shoes.

Running shoes are also a must. You must make sure that you have good running shoes that have been practiced in a few times to ensure you won’t get blisters, sores, or injuries.