Patent ID: 7490418

Claim:
A footwear apparatus with retractable spikes comprising: a shoe having a heel portion, a sole portion and a side wall portion; a gear assembly mounted within the heel portion of the shoe, the gear assembly providing an actuator gear communicating with a plurality of drive gears; a plurality of threaded couplings fixedly engaged with the sole portion; a plurality of spikes, each one of the spikes threadedly engaged with one of the threaded couplings; a plurality of flexible drive shafts, each one of the drive shafts fixed axially at a distal end thereof with one of the spikes, and axially at a proximal end thereof with one of the drive gears; a flexible actuator shaft engaged axially with the actuator gear, the actuator shaft terminating with an actuator knob for manual rotation thereof, whereby such rotation of the actuator knob and actuator shaft transfers rotation to the spikes for extending, and for retracting within the threaded couplings.