noglider 

I like the video better than the product link. I saved some SPD sandals that wore out, hoping I could get someone to put the sole on some shoes for me. But I never got around to it, so after a long while, I tossed them. I shouldn't have. Has anyone added SPD to a shoe of any kind?

KC8QVO

The catch to those methods is it requires tearing apart shoes to do the conversion. My strap on adapters don't - they leave the boots entirely intact. For the time being, for me anyway, the adapters I made suit my needs. down the road maybe I'll get a dedicated pair of winter cycling boots instead.

Stormy Archer

That's fair. Though it's worth mentioning that I think the only tearing up that you HAVE to do is cut a hole in the sole for the cleats. Especially if your shoes already have removable insoles. They kinda went above and beyond in that video.

If anyone has a pair of wrecked SPDs to send me, I'll totally try it and and report back.

KC8QVO

Another thought on the subject of cutting in to the soles and this forum section being to the tune of "winter cycling" - the sole is also a prime area for heat loss. Given the boots I am using are winter boots - they are well insulated. Adding non-insulating (or not as insulating) material in place of what is already there will diminish the cold weather performance. Conduction from the cleat clipped in to the pedal will wick away heat. Having the adapters I made entirely external to the boots means, for all intents and purposes, the use of the adapter, speaking for heat loss, is no different than walking on metal at the same cold temperature.

timtak

Brilliant. Bravo!

I hope you get a quick release mechanism going. If not velcro then perhaps a couple of old ratchets from cycling shoes you no longer use might work if they were extended.

Since it does not get that cold, and I don't care about looks, I use PET bottle covers on my cycling shoes


Bottle and Shoe Covers by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
but I could not walk up a mountain in my SPD-SLs.

By the way, I wonder how long@KC8QVO's crank arms are, and if they are more than 170mm.

[ Background: It seems to me that I have been experiencing knee pain because my knees got weak, partly because I gave up walking up the stairs and squats, and then minor mis-fitting of my bike (perhaps q factor, crank arm length, not high enough seat to counterbalance the latter, and poorly place Rotorized Biopace chainrings), encouraged me to mis-use float and cleat instability to pedal in a knee destroying way. I kneed to strength my knees, tune up my bike, tighten my cleats (I have moved from yellow to blue) and pedal properly. One of the things that has helped is slightly shorter cranks. I wonder if that may help the OP too.]

madpogue 

For a completely different purpose, these products - https://stabil.implus.com/ - go on/off your boots easily and quickly, and stay put while in use. I have an older version of the Maxx2, which is basically a Vibram sole with a set of fairly heavy duty nylon/velcro straps. Good model for a base construction for such a contraption.