Did a Major Bike Brand Just Patent the Future of Cycling Technology?

I can recall the moment quite vividly. My buddies and I were attempting to cycle from NYC up to Cold Spring, a 62-mile journey. We’d already repaired a couple of flat tires when, 20 miles in, I struggled to get the rear derailleur on my sweet, swift Giant Defy to shift up and down among its many sprockets. 

With great shame, I realized that the battery on one of the electronic shifters had died, turning this hitherto high-tech bike into a very expensive two-speed. In need of a recharge, we made a pit stop at a bike shop in the lovely little town of Hastings-on-Hudson — and grabbed a round of beers at a nearby bar. 

By the time we got back on the road, we were hours off schedule, and in the end we only made it as far as Ossining (a 36-mile ride) before — after another round of beers — we had to catch a train back to the city. Lesson: Too much tech (especially in the hands/feet of a doofus like yours truly) can actually leave you falling behind.

Which brings me to the latest cycling tech news (big ol’ hat tip to Velo‘s Jessie-May Morgan): Renowned component maker Shimano has won a patent for automatic, on-the-fly adjustment of cleat positioning via a wireless electronic system that can shift the shoe forward, back or side-to-side based on info collected via sensors.

Breaking down Shimano’s auto cleat-shifting patent

If that sounds like a bunch of technobabble, we get it. In more relatable terms, based on the diagrams, there appears to essentially be a motorized adjuster sitting between a cycling shoe and cleat, enabling the shoe to dynamically shift forward and back or slide side-to-side along rails.