These were purchased to replace my father's sneaker laces so it would be easier for him to get his own shoes on with his Parkinson's Disease. We installed them easily (but did need to watch videos on their website to get it right), but left several inches on the ends before permanently cutting them. After my dad wore them for a day and we made various adjustments by tightening and loosening them, we were ready to cut them and singe the ends with one of those big lighters we had for lightening candles or fireplaces, but we could have used a simple match if we hadn't had a lighter. Easy. We left a small amount of elastic on each end and fastened the end clips to those pieces--he liked the look of that. Overall we are pleased with the product. I am not there to see how they are working out long-term, but I'm hoping either he is able to continue to put on his shoes alone, or that others are able to assist him. The time is coming soon when he will need super-simple shoes because he won't be able to even assist in putting his foot in--which is still necessary with the Xpand laces on his current shoes; the sneakers already didn't open wide enough, even with regular shoelaces, to just slip a foot in, so it requires some stepping-down pressure for him to get his foot in either way. But for now they are exactly what he needed and he was happy he didn't have to buy "old man shoes." He is not active anymore so just walks for daily living, not anything strenuous,  but these definitely keep the shoes on for those purposes. I'm looking forward to getting some for my workout sneakers because I love slipping my shoes on and off (we remove shoes when we enter the house, so I like to do it easily, rather than having to sit down to tie and untie). Great product!