New shoes, pedals, pain - help!

Essex Man
Essex Man Posts: 283
edited June 2009 in Road beginners
After a couple of months with my road bike, I have finally done the inevitable and bought some shoes and pedals (SPD). The shoes are Specialized BG sport and they fit great - really comfortable.

I thought it would be a good idea to go out for a quick pedal this evening to practice clipping in and out. This was all fine, dead easy. However, by the end of my ride (less than a couple of miles) I had some pain in the outside of my feet. I did measure my cleat angle prior to fitting the cleats, and the pedalling action feels completely normal, not uncomfortable in any way.

I did stop half way through the ride and tighten my shoes, so the only thing I can think is that they were a bit too tight towards the end of the ride. However, I would appreciate any advice from other people's experience as to what this pain might be and how I could prevent it/make adjustments before I go out for 40 miles tomorrow!

Cheers.

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    generally you need to losen your shoes into a ride, not tighten them...


    your feet will naturally swell, particularly in the heat.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    I only tightened them because I could feel some movement of my feet in the shoes - I am not used to the lack of movement in the contact of shoe and pedal pedals I guess - so could feel movement in the shoe more.

    Will start off fairly loose tomorrow. Thanks!
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    you want to start off normal, and then re-adjust after 20mins or so.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    sounds silly, but it could be socks - especially if you are wearing the 'ergonomic' type with the padded sections on the soles. I've come to the conclusion that BG shoes just need a plain, unpadded sock inside...
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    softlad wrote:
    sounds silly, but it could be socks - especially if you are wearing the 'ergonomic' type with the padded sections on the soles. I've come to the conclusion that BG shoes just need a plain, unpadded sock inside...

    Nothing special about my socks - just trainer socks!

    It's now at least 45 minutes since I finished my quick ride, and the outside of my feet are still a bit sore. Like a sort of crampy type pain.
  • BikeDynamics
    BikeDynamics Posts: 52
    Hi

    This type of pain is often associated with your feet being effectively too close together across the bike. Re-adjust your cleats so your feet are further outboard, this equates to pushing the cleats inwards as far as you can whilst maintaining the correct angle and fore aft location.

    Mike at http://bikedynamics.co.uk/
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    BikeDynamics wrote:
    Hi

    This type of pain is often associated with your feet being effectively too close together across the bike. Re-adjust your cleats so your feet are further outboard, this equates to pushing the cleats inwards as far as you can whilst maintaining the correct angle and fore aft location.

    Mike at http://bikedynamics.co.uk/

    Hi Mike,

    Thanks, have now adjusted the cleats as suggested - although it is less than a cm worth of adjustment.

    Have read your website with interest now.

    Thanks.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Essex Man wrote:
    BikeDynamics wrote:
    Hi

    This type of pain is often associated with your feet being effectively too close together across the bike. Re-adjust your cleats so your feet are further outboard, this equates to pushing the cleats inwards as far as you can whilst maintaining the correct angle and fore aft location.

    Mike at http://bikedynamics.co.uk/

    Hi Mike,

    Thanks, have now adjusted the cleats as suggested - although it is less than a cm worth of adjustment.

    Have read your website with interest now.

    Thanks.

    Believe it or not, a few mm in any one direction can affect the comfort of a pair of shoes for a rider. Not saying it WILL - but it can.
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    Essex Man wrote:
    Nothing special about my socks - just trainer socks!

    like I said - padded socks and BG soles do not mix well.
  • BikeDynamics
    BikeDynamics Posts: 52
    Essex Man wrote
    Hi Mike,

    Thanks, have now adjusted the cleats as suggested - although it is less than a cm worth of adjustment.

    Have read your website with interest now.

    Thanks.
    ]

    10mm is huge. I've managed to fix this problem with a 2.5mm washer between pedal and crank before now.

    Best of luck

    Mike at BikeDynamics.co.uk
  • skyd0g
    skyd0g Posts: 2,540
    In my experience, you'll also probably find that the SPD pedals "loosen-up" after a few rides, so the 5 degrees of "float" becomes more easily available, which will allow your feet to rotate/move around with a little less resistance.
    Cycling weakly
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    Having move the cleats to the extreme outside of the shoe, I went for my 40 mile ride.

    I had no problems/pain whatsoever. It felt great.

    Thanks for the advice.

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