Athletic shoe with improved heel structure

A shoe comprising:

• an upper having a heel region;
• a rear sole support attached to the heel region of the upper, the rear sole support including a first downwardly extending wall having a first groove, and a second downwardly extending wall having a second groove,
• a rear sole detachably secured to the rear sole support;
• a mounting member attached to the rear sole and including at least one rim for engaging the first and second grooves to secure the rear sole to the rear sole support, the mounting member including an external protrusion;
• and
• a locking member engaging the rear sole support and one of the rear sole and mounting member to prevent rotation of the rear sole relative to the rear sole support during use, the locking member including an opening for receiving the external protrusion to engage the mounting member with the locking member.

A shoe comprising:

• an upper having a heel region;
• a rear sole support attached to the heel region of the upper, the rear sole support including a first downwardly extending wall having a first groove, and a second downwardly extending wall having a second groove;
• a rear sole detachably secured to the rear sole support, the rear sole having an outsole and a midsole more resilient than the outsole, the midsole comprising at least two midsole layers, the rear sole support including a central opening and an uppermost midsole layer sized to fit within the central opening to cushion the heel region of the upper;
• a mounting member attached to the rear sole and including at least one rim for engaging the first and second grooves to secure the rear sole to the rear sole support, the mounting member being substantially ring-shaped to rest on a top surface of one of the midsole layers and surrounding another one of the midsole layers;
• and
• a locking member engaging the rear sole support and one of the rear sole and mounting member to prevent rotation of the rear sole relative to the rear sole support during use.

A shoe comprising:

• an upper having a heel region;
• a rear sole support attached to the heel region of the upper, the rear sole support including a downwardly-extending first wall and a downwardly extending second wall, at least one of the first and second walls having an arc-shaped surface;
• a noncircular rear sole;
• and
• a mounting member attached to the rear sole and having at least one arc-shaped surface complementary of the arc-shaped surface on at least one of the first and second walls, the mounting member detachably secured to the rear sole support by engaging the arc-shaped surface of the mounting member with the arc-shaped surface on the at least one of the first and second walls such that said at least one arc-shaped surface of the mounting member is between the first and second walls.

A shoe comprising:

• an upper;
• a real sole support attached to the upper;
• and
• a rear sole secured to the rear sole support, the rear sole having a bottom surface, at least a portion of which is ground-engaging, the bottom surface having an aggregate area, the aggregate area having a substantially planar surface and at least two beveled surfaces non-planar with the planar surface, an aggregate area of the at least two beveled surfaces being less than the remaining aggregate area of the bottom surface, each of the at least two beveled surfaces inclining in an upwardly extending direction from an interior portion of the beveled surface toward an outer edge of the beveled surface, at least a portion of the outer edge of the beveled surfaces being coincident with the outer edge of the bottom surface, and the rear sole being positionable in a plurality of positions relative to the rear sole support.