eli5 why isn’t there shoes with no trees that are super grippy like drag racing slick tires

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Considering how grippy drag racing slicks are I feel like there would be a shoe equivalent

(Edit for title: tread)

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7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think it has to do with the surface area required to make a shoe tread grippy like a car. Considering how wide a cars wheels are, more of its surface area will be applying friction to the ground than shoes will.

Anonymous 0 Comments

There are super grippy shoes. Rock climbers use them. The soles will actually be tacky. Shoe traction has a limit against the strength of the legs of the person wearing them. If you made shoes so sticky, the athlete wouldn’t be able to separate the shoes from the ground.

Racing slicks allow more horsepower to be transferred to the ground than normal tire traction would allow. More traction enables you to build more powerful engines, more hp pushes tire manufacturers to make stickier tires.

Stickier shoes can’t be equaled and matched by stronger athletes in the same hp/traction race.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Cause the world isn’t flat. Ever try stepping on mud? The thing that keeps you from slipping on your butt is that parts of your shoe dig in (the tread) and keep you from sliding. Think of it like a sled on snow vs a board covered in spikes. The spikes would dig in and provide more resistance to slippage or movement.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The grippy tires on racing slicks have to be slightly melted to be sticky, which is why they do the burnout before they race. Not something we can do with our shoes.

Unless we go super saiyan or something I suppose.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Climbing shoes, specially the boulder ones.

They grip like crazy and are slick. You can walk a 70 degrees flat rock without slipping, easily.

Problem is that very soft sole will wear quick, so the general shoes are a harder material and a tread to help the grip, instead of relying only on expensive soft rubber (soft rubber that wears little like Vibram does cost a bit)

Also, on wet metal surface (grates on the sidewalk) slick shoes will slip no matter the rubber quality.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Slick tires grip only one kind of surface, a perfectly flat racing track.

Shoes are expected to go on different surfaces, including carpet and grass and not-so-smooth sidewalks.

For rubber to be sticky, it needs to be pretty soft, so it will wear out fast, or will cost a lot.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The waffle patterns in shoes, and tires, have a function.

For tires, it’s mainly offering somewhere for water to go under the tires. Also loose dirt, snow, and such. With a flat bottom, it’s harder for water and all to get out of the way quickly. As it would need to travel further under the tire to find an exit.

You definitely don’t want a layer of water, or anything else, hanging out underneath your tires. This prevents contact with the ground and greatly reduces traction.

The grooves in a tire can sometimes help dig too, in some situations, to get the loose stuff out of the way. Like a big tractor tire does. Regular road tires aren’t extremely good at it thou. Maybe okay with snow and mud depending on the conditions, definitely a lot better than a flat race tire.

With flat rubber race wheels, race on a clean dry track and you’ll be okay. Taking advantage of a bit more contact area for better traction. And, using a thinner tire to reduce the weight.

Also, more directly concerning shoes. You want a shoe to be flexible. You can use a thin sole that will quickly wear out, or a thicker layer that will last a lot longer. To make the thicker layer more flexible, cut some grooves in it.