Sam Wilson at Janousek Stampfli writes to follow the article Can I buy my own Rowing Shoes
From a company point of view, we sell Nike shoes (we keep in stock), Bat Logic footplate (we have limited stock), Janousek Shoes (made by Anil, plenty of stock). We also can source Shimano Shoes/footplate (although as of yet we have had very little interest in this product as it is very expensive).
Adidas have discontinued, there are limited stocks left, and you need to buy a size bigger than you need. There are only size 6, 7, 10 and 11 left in adidas Adipower (red) and 6 and 15 in AdiStar (white with green cover).
You can also buy shoes for cross training such as jazzercise from other websites.
Footplate sizes for rowing boats
For Janousek and Stampfli we have two sizes of footplate 23.5 hole centers for singles and doubles and 25 hole centre for fours and eights (beware in bow and stroke positions as in the past this has varied). Unfortunately they don’t cross over. That had been completely standard until we started fitting Durham Boat Company Carbon fittings in to the Stampflis. These are made differently to aluminium footplates an have the bolts attaching the foot stretcher either in behind the shoes or down the centre of the boat (just to make life complicated).
For the readers information there is a reason behind why we do this, its to get the feet as wide as possible so that they can have a more stable platform when they row. Obviously in singles and doubles there is limited room where as fours and eights there is less limitation.
Other boat companies have different set ups some have 3 sets of holes, different hole centres etc. The main issue your reader will have with the purchase of the shoes is getting a suitable plate as you have already said.
BAT Logic foot plates
BAT Logic Plates are fairly universal, the were designed along side Nike shoes, but also have the same profile as the Adidas AdiPower, and can work in conjunction with most standard shoes.
From a personal point of view, I have been using Nike shoes for approximately a year now with a BAT Logic footplate. The Nike shoes I love and would recommend to anyone, although other people don’t find them as comfortable as I do. The Nike and Adidas shoes are both made really robustly, certainly Adidas have a reputation of lasting the test of time, which has always made their price justified. Although Nike have not been around that long the quality of the product looks as good as the old Adidas, which makes their £115 + VAT worthwhile.
The BAT Logic plate I am not convinced makes me go faster, but having seen the data for the benefits of stability to my back I will continue to use them for me good health over speed. These are also very pricey at £120 + VAT and currently a one size fits all philosophy at the moment means that those with a smaller foot size are unable to get their heels low to the bottom of the boat.
I hope this can be of help to the person who initially asked the question and to your readership in general.
Kind regards Sam
