# Shoes - Experience with Moldable Carbon Soles?



## mikiek (Aug 18, 2014)

I have a pair of new Lake MX331 shoes with the soles that you heat up in the oven and supposedly mold to your foot shape. I've been thru that exercise 3 times now and sole still feels a little lopsided and has a few uncomfortable bumps in the heel area.

Does anyone have some decent instructions on how to do the molding thing? Particularly, I would like to "undo" the indentations at the heel and smooth out the entire contour.


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## PMC (Jan 29, 2004)

is the bump in the carbon shell where it's pushed in too far?
I had a spot on mine that was a bit pinched on the outer edge. I heated them and applied light pressure from the inside to re-molded that edge outward just a touch which made all the difference.


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## mikiek (Aug 18, 2014)

PMC said:


> is the bump in the carbon shell where it's pushed in too far?
> I had a spot on mine that was a bit pinched on the outer edge. I heated them and applied light pressure from the inside to re-molded that edge outward just a touch which made all the difference.


Yes, the worst spot is an indentation at the heel which probably would not be too bad except it is very off center. So when you did the remolding did you do it with your foot in the shoe? You've got me thinking maybe the way to undo some of what I have done would be to heat it up but work the sole with my hands instead.

Right now I just want to smooth the whole thing out and then redo with my foot.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

mikiek said:


> I have a pair of new Lake MX331 shoes with the soles that you heat up in the oven and supposedly mold to your foot shape. I've been thru that exercise 3 times now and sole still feels a little lopsided and has a few uncomfortable bumps in the heel area.
> 
> Does anyone have some decent instructions on how to do the molding thing? Particularly, I would like to "undo" the indentations at the heel and smooth out the entire contour.


Molding out bumps is easy enough, depending on the shoe. Footbeds are very tough in some instances, as you might imagine. A noodle to the heat footbed would be a nightmare. "Entire contour" is a concept... What do you mean? The whole shoe? How high is the moldable portion of the shoe? The biggest and most common problem with heat molding is having purchased the wrong size shoe...


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## PMC (Jan 29, 2004)

mikiek said:


> Yes, the worst spot is an indentation at the heel which probably would not be too bad except it is very off center. So when you did the remolding did you do it with your foot in the shoe? You've got me thinking maybe the way to undo some of what I have done would be to heat it up but work the sole with my hands instead.
> 
> Right now I just want to smooth the whole thing out and then redo with my foot.


Yeah, I did it or should I say undid it off the foot just using my hands. I will say be careful and don't apply too much pressure as you can crack the carbon if you're ham fisted about it. Just use some restraint and if it takes a couple times in the oven to work the bump out that's not a bad thing.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

mikiek said:


> Yes, the worst spot is an indentation at the heel which probably would not be too bad except it is very off center. *So when you did the remolding did you do it with your foot in the shoe? You've got me thinking maybe the way to undo some of what I have done would be to heat it up but work the sole with my hands instead.*Right now I just want to smooth the whole thing out and then redo with my foot.


What I read the OP my first thought was how to heck could that happend but now we know. Do yourself a favor and read the instructions that came with your shoes or google them on line if you don't still have them. 
I have Lake CX 401 that have the same heel and last I check the instructions along with a youtube video or two are out there. It's easy and foolproof if you do it right.


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## mikiek (Aug 18, 2014)

Jay Strongbow said:


> Do yourself a favor and read the instructions that came with your shoes or google them on line if you don't still have them.


I did read the instructions - pretty vague for the most part. I was asking PMC how he re-molded his shoes. Heating up the shoe again and putting my foot in (per the instructions) is not going to undo the crappy job I did on the first go-round. The lumps need to be massaged out and a foot isn't going to do that. Hand and fingers would do a much better job.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

mikiek said:


> I did read the instructions - pretty vague for the most part. I was asking PMC how he re-molded his shoes. Heating up the shoe again and putting my foot in (per the instructions) is not going to undo the crappy job I did on the first go-round. The lumps need to be massaged out and a foot isn't going to do that. Hand and fingers would do a much better job.


Hmmm, I don't think so, for hand and fingers... You molded the shoe without your feet in them I guess? What do you mold like that? Did you somehow get an indentation in the heel cup? You may be able to fix this in two stpeps... Granted the oven is hard on Velcro and buckles... I'd start with an object you can use to simulate the original heel cup.


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## mikiek (Aug 18, 2014)

PBL450 said:


> Hmmm, I don't think so, for hand and fingers... You molded the shoe without your feet in them I guess? What do you mold like that? Did you somehow get an indentation in the heel cup? You may be able to fix this in two stpeps... Granted the oven is hard on Velcro and buckles... I'd start with an object you can use to simulate the original heel cup.


Wow - I didn't think I was this unclear.  Following the instructions, I warmed up the shoes. At the proper time I took the shoes out of the oven , and put my feet in them. I was sitting down, trying not to put all my weight on them. One shoe came out fairly good. The other, has a big indentation - apparently from my heel - at the rear. Somehow though the indentation is not in the center of the sole, it is way off to the inside.

So, I want to undo this and start again. I don't think heating the shoe up and using my foot again is going to accomplish this. So, I think using my hand to work out the indentation may be the best option.

If I can get the sole close to the way it was originally, then I will go thru the process one more time and try molding to my foot again.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

mikiek said:


> Wow - I didn't think I was this unclear.  Following the instructions, I warmed up the shoes. At the proper time I took the shoes out of the oven , and put my feet in them. I was sitting down, trying not to put all my weight on them. One shoe came out fairly good. The other, has a big indentation - apparently from my heel - at the rear. Somehow though the indentation is not in the center of the sole, it is way off to the inside.
> 
> So, I want to undo this and start again. I don't think heating the shoe up and using my foot again is going to accomplish this. So, I think using my hand to work out the indentation may be the best option.
> 
> If I can get the sole close to the way it was originally, then I will go thru the process one more time and try molding to my foot again.


OK, that's what it sounded like... And that's the two steps I mentioned, exactly, first to get it back to the original and then mold it. A heat gun might be better and more localized for the first step, just cover the Velcro and buckle with a hand towel or something. It would be best if you can find a heel shaped object like the heal of a shoe stretcher or even a wooden oval something... Get the indent out with that.


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## bubba117 (Aug 20, 2012)

I have a pair of Fizik Uomo R1 shoes with the moldable soles. I got them at a fizik dealer with the correct tools to mold them. Essentially an easy bake oven and also a special molding block. Heat up the insole and then sit the insole in the molding block then press down on the insole with your foot. After 8 months in the shoes I have no complaints and have not had to remold them, though fizik says you can remold up to 3 times. Maybe your missing a piece of the molding process? I would strongly suggest checking with the manufacturer as it could be a defective insole or simply missing a part of the molding process.


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