Shoes and/or shoe elements facilitate natural foot motion and/or reduce forces tending to fight natural foot motion. In at least some such structures, a wearer's heel is secured to the hindfoot region of a shoe (e.g., by a strap system) in a manner that permits heel/forefoot rotation and that allows the lower leg to remain straight. In other structures, a shoe can include a heel supporting component that is separate from a midsole component, and this heel supporting component can move toward the lateral side and/or medial side of the shoe along an interface between the heel supporting component and the midsole component. Other suitable shoe and shoe component structures also are described.

A shoe including: a sock-shaped base member forming at least a portion of an upper; a reinforcement member made of a thermoplastic resin welded to side surfaces of the base member on a medial side and a lateral side of a foot; and a mid sole made of a thermoplastic resin welded to a bottom surface of the base member.

The present disclosure relates to an item of footwear with sole protection. The footwear has an upper adapted to receive a foot of the wearer; a sole secured to the upper and adapted to be the interface between the wearer and the ground; and a puncture resistant layer embedded into the sole so as to provide the sole protection for the foot of the wearer, the puncture resistant layer having an outer edge exceeding an inner perimeter of the item of footwear defined by a junction between the upper and the sole.

A plate for an article of footwear includes a substrate, a first strand portion attached to the substrate via first stitching, and a second strand portion disposed on the first layer. The first strand portion includes first segments that each extend between two different locations along the substrate to form a first layer on the substrate. The second strand portion includes second segments that each extend between two different locations along the substrate to form a second layer on the first layer.

An article of footwear has a sole structure with multiple components. The sole structure includes a midsole member, an outsole member and an exterior support member. The midsole member and the outsole member have corresponding grooves. The exterior support member provides reinforcement for the midsole member. The outsole member includes a plurality of bristle members.

A sole structure for an article of footwear having an upper. The sole structure includes an outsole having a ground-engaging surface and an upper surface formed on an opposite side of the outsole than the ground-engaging surface. The sole structure also includes a midsole attached to the outsole and including an outer perimeter surface extending between the outsole and the upper. The sole structure further includes a plate disposed at least partially within the midsole and extending (i) from a forefoot region of the sole structure, (ii) through a metatarsophalangeal (MTP) point of the sole structure, and (iii) toward a heel region of the sole structure. The plate includes a first plate portion extending from the outer perimeter surface of the midsole.

A footwear construction includes a sole assembly including a first midsole, a second midsole, a spring plate between the first and second midsoles, and an outsole. The plate can include an upward curving, multi-radii transition portion extending from a lowermost portion to a forward most portion of the plate so as to roll a wearer's foot forward into a next stride in a gait cycle of the wearer. The plate can include a lateral arm and a medial arm in the forefoot region separated by a plate slot extending rearward from the forwardmost portion of the plate toward the lowermost portion. The medial arm can be longer than the lateral arm. The plate can have a first bending stiffness during bending in a first direction, and a second bending stiffness greater than the first bending stiffness during bending in a second direction.

A footwear article includes a foot-attachment structure configured to attach to a foot, and longitudinally opposite front and rear ends. The footwear article further includes a downward-facing exposed sole surface. A cantilever extension, in a natural condition, adjoins the sole surface at a junction, and projects rearwardly and downwardly from the junction. The extension has a proximal end and a distal end that are longitudinally opposite each other. The extension is supported at only the proximal end. The extension is configured to elastically resist upward rotation of the extension toward the sole, and is configured to be pushed upward toward the sole by the upward force.

An item of footwear including a sole assembly that comprises at least an outsole and an insole, and further comprising one or more shear force-reducing coupling elements (30) disposed between the insole and the ground. The coupling elements (30) are adapted to permit limited displacement, in a plane parallel, in use, to the ground, of overlying components of the item of footwear. The coupling elements (30) provide less resistance to displacement of overlying components of the item of footwear in a first direction than in a second, reverse direction.

The present subject matter is directed to an article of footwear for cycling. The article of footwear includes an upper comprising an opening, a midsole in contact with the upper, and an outsole in contact with the midsole. At least one of the midsole and the outsole comprises a concave portion in at least a midfoot region of the article of footwear. An apex of the concave portion in at least one of the midsole and the outsole is configured to come into contact with a pedal of a bicycle when the concave portion is pressed by a foot against the pedal.