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It’s a metal or sometimes thick plastic stiffener in the sole, I think they only run 3/4 the way along the sole from the back. I guessing trainers don’t have one or they are not as stiff as you can bend them right over.
Not read this but it looks like they are important to footwear
https://sneakerspeculation.com/2020/01/02/importance-of-shank-plates/I used my approach shoes on my Brompton flat pedals because they were stiff, ride in proper shoes Time spd/Look all other times so wanted a stiff shoe to pedal not a trainer.
Mr_Smyth-
Good link. So it's basically a stiffener/support to stop the midfoot collapsing in raised midfoot shoes. I've also heard of rock plates which I assume are kind of similar plate to stop sharp stuff impacting the bottom of the foot. I'm just tile bagging on foot at the moment so doing 10-20k walks on mostly footpaths, roads and bridleways. But if I'm off the bike for longer I'll probably be looking towards some proper hiking to stop myself going insane.
I've got Shimano and FiveTen for flat pedals.
hippy
What's a shank in a shoe? I've heard of approach shoes. I think bikepacking were talking about them as a decent alternative for touring shoes and/oe maybe fiveten made some.