The naughty VFF Bikila continued

I finally managed to fix my left running Bikila.

I was impatiently waiting for the shoe goo I had ordered to arrive. Once it got here I made an attempt to reattach the soft arch bit to the actual rubber sole as they had come apart. Not sure what caused it - they might just not have been glued properly initially. I was glad to see that there was no damage, just a bit of detachment ;o).

So I got a bit of surgical spirit, some cotton buds and some clamps. I cleaned the area with the surgical spirit, using the cotton buds to reach inside the little gap as well. I then went and put some shoe goo in with the cotton bud end minus the cotton. It seemed to go in pretty well, and I probably even used a bit too much. As it's a big tub though I didn't worry about that (there's enough to fix another ton of shoes, but I hope I won't have to use it again anytime soon). I put loads in and then secured the two parts with a big clamp. I wiped off any excess goo that was coming out of the gap as soon as I put the clamp on and put the vff into a safe and well ventilated spot....and left it there for the next day and a half to allow the goo to cure.

The fixed Bikila with excess shoe goo

When I checked back it all looked good. There is a bit of excess goo under the shoe now, but it's not causing any trouble; I guess it might just keep things away from the actual spot a bit more.

So yesterday I took the Bikilas for the first test run since the fix. I ran a 6k loop and they felt no different to the way they were before they came apart.  Good as I thought I had put way too much goo in the gap and was worried that it might affect the feel of the foot bed. But it didn't.

Close up of the fixed VFF after the run - just a bit of dirt, no damage. (Pattern on the goo is from the clamp is used)

When I got back home I inspected the shoe to see did the goo actually hold up. And it did! Not a sign of anything coming apart, the two pieces are sticking together as if they've never been apart.

That makes one fixed VFF and one happy Diana! :)

Take care all and happy running!