So I've picked up a pair of vintage bowling shoes to try out an experiment. I took them down to the cobbler on the town square (yes, we have an actual cobbler!) and asked him to re-sole the shoes with a stiffener. I showed him some of my vintage cycling shoes for an example and he knew exactly what needed done. I'll pick them up and try them out next week and post a report. I'm kind of excited to see how this works out!