Make your own SPDs!

Make your own SPDs – Retrofitz DIY Kit Review

Every biker loves a bit of customising,  a carbon bar here, some titanium bolts there.  However,  when it comes to SPD compatible sneaks, we have had to put up with some truly ugly designs in recent years. It’s true that companies like Five Ten have changed the game, but no self-confessed sneakerhead is going to consider them design classics. Stepping up to the plate comes a small company operating out of Santa Cruz called Retrofitz  with the question “Can any shoe be a cycling shoe?”.

The short answer is ‘yes’ and we thought we might give it a go using their DIY Conversion kit and a pair of hot sneaks supplied by our friends at Etnies.

From the outset they make clear that this is no easy operation and a degree of skill with tools will be required to fit them yourself.  Lacking both skill and some suitable tools we picked up some appropriate Silverline  tools online and felt that was enough to be getting on with. After all, the actual kit is a simple set of injection moulded nylon plates and a set of bolts, so how hard could it be?

The first and most important step was to mark out the cutting line on both shoes. We did this following the measurements from Retrofitz and combining this with making a template from another piece of plastic and using an old pair of Shimano Stormtroopers as a guide.

Then came the fun part.  An old pair of Oakley Goggles were dug out and the biggest cutting disc we could find was fitted to the Silverline multi-tool. We should add that Retrofitz use a slightly more subtle method of cutting out the shoes, however we didn’t have a 2-tonne press to hand, so this was the next most obvious solution.

After the dust had settled and the battery in the smoke alarm had been removed, we were left with two perfectly good sneakers with holes in the bottom of them. The fit was checked against the plates and any edges and bits of loose material were tidied up with the ubiquitous Stanley knife.

To get the plates to sit properly in the bottom of the shoes, paper templates were made from the footbeds and the holes were marked. These were then used to mark cutting lines on the plates and some Silverline Aviator Snips made easy work of cutting away the excess plastic.

The now cut down plates were then used as a template to mark the holes for the bolts. Again the guys at Retrofitz have a clever jig and impressive drill bit which does this, but neither could be found in our box of inner tubes and broken tyre levers, so we went for this method. The multi-tool was then used to drill countersunk holes for the bolts and after a little bit of huffing and puffing the bolts were all tightened up.

The final step was to attach some cleats in the normal way, add some smart lacing up and fist bumping and we have a set of Custom SPD Sneaks.

But do they work?

First off, they don’t feel like SPD shoes. This is primarily down to them not having a reinforced sole unit. Not sure if this will be a problem in the future, but as long as you are running pedals with a cage then they are as good as running with flats.

The cleats are a little tight, but that could be as much down to an old set of pedals as it is to do with the placement, which of course can still be adjusted.

How are they going to cope with mud and rain? Not sure yet, the uppers were never designed to cope with all weathers and the cleats might fill up with crud, but again no different to wearing normal sneaks with a set of flats.

Would we do it again? We chose the Etnies Number Mid sneakers  as they looked like a good supportive biking shoe, however the compound of rubber used in the see-thru sole was a little hard. If we were doing it again, and I think we will, a softer thinner shoe will be the next one to try.

Will they last a season? Watch this space!

More importantly, could this be the next craze?

Retrofitz DIY Conversion kits cost $50 if you are in the US or $65 if you live anywhere else ( shipping included ) Their official instructions can be found here

Silverline Tools are available from many good retailers and we should note we ordered them before they signed the deal with Atherton Racing!

Etnies make some awesome sneaks which can all be purchased here.

 

Words and Pictures by Tim Sadler.

DIY Etnies Retrofitz Silverline spds