The Cologne Competence Center Sport, Kom*Sport for short, is home to the Solestar insoles, which are not only popular with professionals. In the basement of an old building, where Oliver Elsenbach and Sebastian Klaus take care of helping their customers to improve their performance on their bikes, they both manufacture the soles that meanwhile have a remarkable reputation.
"It is a general concern of ours to enable cyclists to have a better and more performance-oriented time on the bike", according to Elsenbach. One of his most important partners in the development of the Solestar was Gerald Ciolek. The winner of Milan-San Remo 2013 helped develop the distinctive red and black carbon sole from the start. "I ride better with the soles and, above all, pain-free", so his clear statement.
But how is an individually manufactured sole made? We asked ourselves that and paid Kom*Sport a visit.
#1 – First, the foot profile is determined on the scanner.
#2 – After that, the profile is edited by computer. Since every foot in cycling is relatively static in the shoe, you have to put it in the right position without anything pinching.
#3 The correct blank is then selected according to the shoe size.
#4 The carbon layer is already incorporated into the blank.
#5 Based on the created foot profile, the corresponding wedges are applied, which should bring the foot into the correct position.
#6 After the wedges have been attached, the sole is coated with glue and the comfortable upper layer is attached.
#7 Then the edges of the sole are ground to avoid unpleasant friction in the shoe.
#8 This process is repeated exactly for each sole. Then the soles can be put in the shoes. During a test drive you can then check whether everything fits. Readjustments are rare, but possible.
The individually made soles cost 249 euros per pair. Drivers with a valid license receive a discount [Link]. Alternatively, Solestar also offers the Kontrol at [Link].