When Gerald Strickland began designing a boathouse for the Buffalo’s West Side Rowing Club, he started down a path that would lead to an innovative new approach to the sport.
Strickland was shocked by the number of worn-out shoes he saw strewn around rowing shells at the club. His natural curosity took over, and he started to learn about the issues rowers have with footgear while competing in their grueling sport.
A natural problem-solver, Strickland started brainstorming ways to enhance the rowing experience by providing a more comfortable and secure solution for an athlete’s feet.
Soon after, Strickland had conceptualized what would become the G CLIP™ Quick Release Rowing Shoe System™–with the help, of course, of our engineering team at Apple Rubber.
In Beta: G CLIP gets a workout from U.S. rowers
Founded in 2013, Strickland’s company producers the patent-pending Quick Release Rowing Shoe System, which provides rowers with greater stability while rowing and offering a safe release in case of an emergency.
Currently, a beta version of the system is being used by rowing clubs throughout the northeastern United States and California. The testing process will last for three months, and then G CLIP™ will use the rower feedback to fine-tune the product.
A deeper dive into the system
The problem: A rower’s feet need to move freely and comfortably without impacting performance. Otherwise, sthe act of rowing can cause stress on joints, physical discomfort and suboptimal performances — not to mention ruined shoes.
The idea: The Quick Release Rowing Shoe system would allow feet to be splayed, allowing greater comfort. The system, Strickland believes, offers better balance and better control for the rower.
“All rowers would have to do is take off the rubber cover, clip in, and row,” Strickland says. “Our system can be used without damaging the shell, and would fill a very specific purpose in the rowing world.”
The system consists of four parts:
- Receiver mounted in the shell, designed to fit into the existing mounting holes
- Shoe worn by the rower
- Rubber cover (constructed by Apple Rubber)
- Quick release cleat to connect the shoe to the receiver.
“The main idea in making this system was to make rowers more comfortable – everyone now has their own custom-fit shoes,” Strickland says. “Apple Rubber was a crucial part in our testing and helped us to come up with the product.”
Product Development: Enter Apple Rubber
Apple Rubber engineers worked with G CLIP™ designers to ensure the rubber cover design was both functional and capable of scaling to a larger manufacturing process.
The cover was crafted from liquid silicone rubber (LSR). This material has several properties that benefit the rower, including:
1. The LSR is hypoallergenic. Any rower that comes into contact with the cover does not have to worry about allergic reactions. This can be an issue for other types of rubbers like latex.
2. The elastic properties of LSR will remain constant over time. This allows the shoe cover (with use of LSR elastic properties) to stay attached to the shoe when not in the boat. Other rubber materials–like TPE’s –can exhibit a marked loss in tensile force over time, which could lead to the cover falling off the shoe.
3. LSR materials can be pigmented to match nearly any color scheme. This allows for an eye-catching part that matches other components of the system.
“It’s exciting being able to work on these projects,” Apple Rubber project engineer Dave Meehan says. “Between G CLIP™ ‘s added design input and the work of our engineers, we were able to create an innovative end product for this innovative start-up company.”