A1 cable routing: how optimize your fit by tweaking the cable routing and closing forces of your A1 shoe.

by Phillip Lucas January 20, 2023

Its time for better fitting footwear. The upper cables on the A1 shoe can be customized for your optimal fit; with two of the four cabling options visible in the image above.

Read on, or click here to see pricing and availability of A1 shoes.

More than just an adjustable heel: you can optimize routing of the cables on your A1 shoe to offer an optimized fit.

The A1 Shoe's most evident customization function is found in its heel, which can be moved in 3 dimensions: By adjusting the heel one can change the Length of the shoe, the Heel height and the Heel angle in rotation. This ensures an A1 will fit the exact length, heel angle and height, and shape of your foot (see this blog post for more info about the heel). But the heel is only half of the customization an A1 shoe offers.

This image shoes one identical shoe in its midway upright heel (left) setup vs its rotated and advanced heel cup (right) setup.

Why would I want to make changes to the cable routing on my A1 shoe?

When the cabling routing isn't optimal for you, you will likeley have an aspect of the tighetning that isnt quite right for your foot. Sometimes you may feel that the tounge is a little too tight high up on the bridge of your foot. In other situations, you may feel that your feet aren't held secureley enough against the A1's adaptive heel. In yet other situations, you may feel that there is just a little too much lifting off the sole of the shoes when you pull up to pedal. There are many upper fit and tightening situations that call for optimization of your cable routing.

What changing your cable routing does.

By setting up your cabling pattern correctly, you can change the tightening vector (direction and force) of the upper and lower tounge segments individually to ensure a perfect fit for your foot. These changes will either pull the upper and lower tounge segments more backwards (toward the heel) or more downwards (toward the sole). You can use a combination of routings, and even assymetrical left foot / right foot cabling to ensure an optimum fit for your feet. There will be many more situations where your fit could be imporved through tightening vector tweaking, so feel free to experiment in order to find the best fit for you.

You only need to look into this if you feel something about the upper fit of your shoe isn't perfectly optimal.

If it has not occured to you that the closure shape and tightening vector of your shoe is not ideal for your foot, there is no real need to change everything. In that case you will be part of the large portion of people for whom the standard factory setup works well.

The four possible cable routing options.

Beyond just having one tightening vector possible per foot, you can individually tuen the forawrd and rearward sounge straps. Here are the fout runing options you can choose from.

Front and Rear backward vectors.

This is the standard cable routing of the A1 shoe as it comes out of the box, which we feel offers the best starting point for most users. It offers a balanced tightening vector to keep your heel i nthe heel cup and your feet on the sole of the shoe.

Note that when establishing this cabling vector after having tried another, that the upper toungue cable must be routed underneath coming from from the middle cable guide eyelet on the side of the shoe (fine dotted blue line going upward), and then over the top toward the rearward cable guide eyelet (thick solid blue line going rearward). If the midsection of the cable is routed above the loop by mistake (with the thin dotted section on top), this can lead to twisting outward of the tounge's upper strap.

Front and Rear downward vectors.

This cable setup will offer a tighening vector that pulls more downwards toward the sole of the foot at both the front and rear of the bridge of your foot. This is a good solution if you experience unwanted foot lift during the upward pull quadrant of your pedalstroke, or wish to reduce sideways float of your foot in the toebox.

Front backward, Rear downward vectors.

This cable rounting can help to ease a sensation of too harsh a band of closure over the top of high-bridged cyclists feet by pulling the upper stap slightly forward down the bridge of the foot.

Front downward, Rear backward vectors.

This setup can work optimally if you would like a little more downforce a little further forward on your forefoot, combined with an upper midfoot tighening vector that pulls slightly toward the heel.

Feel free to customize and experiment

There are many situations where a small tweak in cable routing can make a big difference in how the shoe feels for you. Your optimal left and right routing may vary, so feel free to experiment with the cable routing to discover all of the comfort and performance tune options your A1 shoes offer!