My feet hurt

Craigle

Hi all,

I've just got a cheap road bike (2012 Giant Defy 4) with SPD pedals and Specialized BG Sport shoes but after doing tiny distances (1.0-2.0 miles) I've noticed the bottom of my feet start to really hurt around the cleat/pedal area. The shoes are a comfortable fit but as a total novice I think the cause is more likely to be something I'm doing wrong and I was wondering if anyone had come across this before, as I don't know if it's something like me pedalling incorrectly, bike being too small (it's a 53.5cm and I'm 5'8'' and a half or so), seat too high/low, feet too soft (they are quite soft :oops: ), not putting enough of my weight on the seat, something like that? I'm quite unfit so I'm not speeding along pushing myself to the limit, often I'm only averaging 10-12mph over really short distances.

This is a really annoying problem and making using my road bike for any kind of distance near impossible right now so any advice would be appreciated :oops:

ALaPlage

Worth searching on here as there has been a number of threads on feet pains. I am sure you could find some useful advice.

Cleat set up is important to ensure the angle of leg dangle is correct however that usually induces knee or ankle pains if not right.

The other thing is to ensure you do not have the shoes strapped too tight as this impacts on circulation and can cause foot pain and hotspots.

Give it a search and I am sure you will find the advice you are long for.

wishitwasallflat

When I first got stiff road shoes they really hurt the soles of my feet in that exact area from the first mile. I put in a pair of gel insoles from Boots (£5 or so) instead of the ones fitted with the shoes and that sorted it. Probably compromised power transfer but that was of no real concern to me. Now three years later I have just got a pair of new shoes (same soles) and didn't find I needed them as I was fine with the ones that came with the shoes.

Maybe ...

Gizmodo

Foot pain is normally because the sole of the shoe is too thin. Check that you haven't overtightened the cleats or that a part such as an insole has been left out. If you bought them new from a local shop, take them back and ask them to check - it could of course be a fault, unlikely but you never know.

As said already, over tightening the straps can cause problems. Arch support insoles might also help if you have fallen arches like most of us do.

High Explosive

Might be putting to much pressure on the pedals, i had this just understanding how to use the rotation with peddals pullng as well as pushing. Also someone did say to me buy proper road bike shoes with propper pedals IE three ponts of contact, this speads the pressure out, not sure how correct that is but sounds right.