[shog]

Hello I've always had a problem with hotspots and cleats. I've tried most of the major brands and have mostly learned to live with the pain. Recently I upgraded to Speedplay X's (love'm) to deal with some knee issues unrelated to biking. Since upgrading to the Speedplays I have noticed why I'm having the hotspots; as I pedal I roll my foot slightly to the outside putting pressure on the outside of my foot and that is where the pain is. My question is how to deal with this problem ? Being aware of the problem now I am concentrating on not rolling my foot, but it seems like I should be able to deal with this with the fit/positioning of the cleat. Does anyone else have this problem ? What did you do ?

Shog

 

[Jesse D Smith]

Hello I've always had a problem with hotspots and cleats. I've tried most of the major brands and have mostly learned to live with the pain. Recently I upgraded to Speedplay X's (love'm) to deal with some knee issues unrelated to biking. Since upgrading to the Speedplays I have noticed why I'm having the hotspots; as I pedal I roll my foot slightly to the outside putting pressure on the outside of my foot and that is where the pain is. My question is how to deal with this problem ? Being aware of the problem now I am concentrating on not rolling my foot, but it seems like I should be able to deal with this with the fit/positioning of the cleat. Does anyone else have this problem ? What did you do ?

Shog

You might want to look into trying these. They're designed specifically to correct your problem. I don't know if they work, but it's definitely worth a try.

http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/index.html

 

[tgiboney]

As Jesse says try the LeWedge I highly recommend them, I was able to get them at my LBS and they set the cleats up with them using there fit kit to position the cleats on the shoe.

One more piece of advice once you are satisfied with the positioning and wedges mark the outline of the cleat and annotate the number of wedges with a silver sharpie on the sole of your shoes for future cleat replacement.

 

[shog]

Thanks it looks like a local fitness store does this fitting. I'm going to check them out this week and see if I can get fitted.

Shog

 

[Jesse D Smith]

Thanks it looks like a local fitness store does this fitting. I'm going to check them out this week and see if I can get fitted.

Shog

PM me or repost on how things turn out. I'm in the process of trying them also. My left foot rolls outward and I'm skeptical about adding wedges that will roll it out further, which is pretty much what the directions suggest. I don't have access to a fitter, so I'm experimenting. I have three pairs of road shoes, all Carnac. I'll set up one left shoe with no wedge, one with wedges that rolls the foot outward, and one that rolls it inward. I'll spend some time in the trainer with a mirror in front in an attempt find out what looks and feels best.

 

[Mr. Versatile]

Try looking at www.footprints.com. They've got almost anything you could think of. I was looking at their catalog today, and noticed an insert that deals with the problem you're describing.

 

[Jesse D Smith]

Try looking at www.footprints.com. They've got almost anything you could think of. I was looking at their catalog today, and noticed an insert that deals with the problem you're describing.

I went to the site and clicked on the innersole link and saw only three models. Could you direct me to the specific link where you saw the inserts? Thanks.

 

[johngfoster]

Another thought would be to go to a ski shop that fits ski boots and look at some custom orthotics for your shoes. These should effectively do the same thing, maybe even a bit better.

 

[kfurrow]

Another thought would be to go to a ski shop that fits ski boots and look at some custom orthotics for your shoes. These should effectively do the same thing, maybe even a bit better.

I second the above. I doubt that canting your shoe will fix your issue, as it sounds like your foot is rolling around inside your shoe. Canting is done to bring your femur (upper leg bone) and tibia (lower leg bone) into alignment with each other. That way, you can recruit your muscles to pedal as oppossed to stabilizing your leg from the pedalling force.

However, if your foot can move about inside your shoe then cants can't serve their intended function, as your foot rolling about will pull your tibia out of alignment again. Step 1 is to stabilize your foot and then you can start looking at canting your shoes.

Both my ski boots and my bike shoes have custom footbeds in them; it makes a world of difference once your foot isn't moving about in both cases. There are loads of ways to make footbeds -- weighted, unweighted, semi-weighted, and loads of materials to make them out of . All methods will be religiously defended by various parties, so I won't try to debate the merits of each system here. But since the idea is still the same -- stabilize your foot -- it can't hurt to call some ski shops and see if they can help you out.

Warning: well made footbeds aren't cheap. I think they're worth it. I like having happy feet.

 

[bmph8ter]

Interesting to see this thread now. Wife just bought me a new bike (Orbea Orca) and told me I had to change pedals and shoes too. I think her exact words were 'you're not riding any damn SPDs or mountain shoes on THIS bike'. I've tried Look Keos and am using some Speedplay X/2s right now. Both have been mounted on a pair of Sidi Genius 5 Mesh shoes.

I have the exact same pain that I never had with the SPDs and my old Pearl Izumi Vortex. I got the pain to back off a little this weekend by really cinching the straps down on my shoes, so perhaps mine is due to my feet moving inside the shoe. My wife is getting me some time with the owner of our LBS (where she works) in the next week or 2 so he can evaluate my fit. They carry the wedges, shims for leg length issuses, and just started carrying a new heat moldable footbed (http://www.yoursole.com/). Hopefully he can sort me out and I just didn't make a bad shoe decision. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[botto]

look into the shimano spd-sl's as well. after years with Look i made the move to them,a nd so far i've been very happy

Interesting to see this thread now. Wife just bought me a new bike (Orbea Orca) and told me I had to change pedals and shoes too. I think her exact words were 'you're not riding any damn SPDs or mountain shoes on THIS bike'. I've tried Look Keos and am using some Speedplay X/2s right now. Both have been mounted on a pair of Sidi Genius 5 Mesh shoes.

I have the exact same pain that I never had with the SPDs and my old Pearl Izumi Vortex. I got the pain to back off a little this weekend by really cinching the straps down on my shoes, so perhaps mine is due to my feet moving inside the shoe. My wife is getting me some time with the owner of our LBS (where she works) in the next week or 2 so he can evaluate my fit. They carry the wedges, shims for leg length issuses, and just started carrying a new heat moldable footbed (http://www.yoursole.com/). Hopefully he can sort me out and I just didn't make a bad shoe decision. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[yamaha_mike]

.... My wife is getting me some time with the owner of our LBS (where she works) in the next week or 2 so he can evaluate my fit. They carry the wedges, shims for leg length issuses, and just started carrying a new heat moldable footbed (http://www.yoursole.com/)...

well i just did a ride with my new heat treated sole inserts. no change.

my feet do move around though. i was thinking the front strap was too tight but now i think i am going to try super cinching all three straps to see if this helps. if not, it's going to be sad spending money on new pedals (just to experiment).

 

[shog]

Wanted to follow up, sorry it took so long but I bruised some ribs mountain biking and I was off the bike for a couple of weeks. I tried some cheaper heat molded orthotics without any difference and my shoes fit fairly tight so I don't feel like my foot is moving around in the shoe. I couldn't find the LeWedges locally so I had to order them. I had my first ride with the wedges yesterday. I started out with the recommended two wedges and I really don't notice a lot of difference. What I did notice though is that the wedges moved my knee more into alignment which is a definite improvement. I've added another wedge into the shoe but I have not ridden with it yet. The wedges have definitely changed my fit to the bike. I may need to play with cleat positioning a little as well I almost feel like I forward of the ball of my foot now since I put the wedges on my shoe.

Scott

 

[BugMan]

Not to minimize the usefullness of the wedges, but rather to make sure the obvious is not missed, make sure your cleat placement is optimal. I followed a method described some time ago by Steve Hogg on CyclingNews.com that recommends varying degrees of cleat "setback" based on shoe size (see "cleat position #1" and "cleat position #2"). Setting my cleats back the recommended amount greatly improved foot comfort for me. The basic method is as follows:

1) Find the "ball" of your foot (base of your 1st metatarsal bone on your big toe). Feel for the 'bump'.
2) Make a mark on the sole of your shoe that corresponds to the "ball" spot.
3) Position cleat on shoe so that the mark lines up directly over the center of the pedal spindle.
4) Move the cleat back 10 mm for a size 44-45 shoe. For smaller/larger shoe sizes, reduce/increase the backward movement of the cleat by 1mm for every two size increment.

 

[shog]

First the extra wedge definitely helped I rode 20 miles this evening with little pain so going to six degrees of wedge has helped. The jury is still out and honestly I don't think wedges are a miracle cure for foot pain. However even if it doesn't help long run with foot pain it has brought my knee in line so my femur and tibia/fibia are over each other. I have to think this is a good thing. I maintained a pretty good pace this evening a solo ride with an 18.7 mph average and very strong headwinds on the way out. No knee pain and the foot pain was minimal.

In regards to a cleat positioning issue. This problem has existed despite everything I have ever tried. Multiple shoes, different cleat systems, different bikes, etc. always my left foot. Please understand that I am rolling my foot and cleat positioning isn't necessarily going to help with that. That said I think I am going to need to adjust my cleat position. With the wedges straightening up my leg this has changed the angle of my foot to the pedal and it has had the effect of shifting the ball of my foot further back from center line of the pedal.

Scott

 

[shog]

One last follow-up I've ridden close to 100 miles with the LeWedge and I am quite happy with them. It's not a miracle cure but it has definitely helped. A couple of items for people considering this. I added two wedges stacked to act as a spacer to my other shoe to even out the length for both legs (probably not required). I did end up adjusting my cleat position slightly since the wedges cause me to hold my foot more parallel to the bike and this had the effect of shifting my foot position.

Scott