Big Footed rider shoe advice!

christopherderycke

Hi, My names Chris and I'm new here!

I had a professional bike fit yesterday which made a great difference but brought up an issue. I have size 12 (uk) feet and we could not get my cleat position far enugh back over the ball of the foot or pedal spindle. I use Shimano yellow cleats and Mavic Avenir shoes.
Bar using Speedplay pedals can anyone recommend a shoe which has the cleat holes drilled further back or even cleat holes in 2 different areas on the shoe? I ride a Trek Madone 5.2 2013 socially and for Olympic and Iron Distance triathlon.

Has anyone here had a problem at a bike fit where the fitter could not get the cleat back far enough to place the foot properly over the spindle?

Any help would be great cheers!

warrerj

Did the people who did the fit not make any recommendations?

I think maybe your bets bet would be to head to a shop with a large stock of brands and compare them side by side ??

crikey

I'm struggling to understand how a bike fit can be done if they can't get your feet in the right place?

...cos if your feet aren't right, lots of other things are unlikely to be right...

Trad advice is to set the cleats so the pedal axle sits under the ball of your foot; is this causing the issue, or are they suggesting you should have the cleat further back?

sloppyschleckonds

Crikey!

sswiss

crikey wrote:

I'm struggling to understand how a bike fit can be done if they can't get your feet in the right place?

...cos if your feet aren't right, lots of other things are unlikely to be right...

Ditto - would feel all wrong...You were there so you know how it felt...but I'd go back and recheck the fit...

christopherderycke

Thats the issue! the shoes dont allow the cleats to move back far enough. They are going to re do the fit when we find some shoes with correct adjustment.

I'm looking at Speedplay pedals and a shoe with boa lacing.

crikey

Hmmm...

I think bike fitting is snake oil, and you haven't changed that opinion.

How many miles will they ride with you to check the fit?

My fit has changed significantly over years, depending on what I'm doing.
It's like being fitted for shoes when you're 12 years old...

sswiss

Sorry Dude you need some advice from some big footed riders...and I'm not one.....maybe re-title the thread Big Footed Shoe Advice...see if you get the sort of Advice you are after....good luck

christopherderycke

Thanks SSwiss.

Cheshire Cat

I find that a little odd, I would certainly question the guy who carried out the fitting. I am also size 12 and have no problems with pedal/shoe alignment, my current shoes are Diadora with Look Kia pedals, I have always used Look due to the larger contact area, although Shimano provide an equally large contact area... this is important, don't let folk with little feet tell you that a smaller pedal/shoe interface is the way forward.

I have used Addidas, Shimano and Peal Izumi shoes and never had a problem, will soon be changing to some Giro shoes, don't expect a problem there either; are you suffering from excessive toe overlap on your bike?

cadencetri

It may help if I expand on Chris's problem as i did the fit! When it come to cleat fitting I would say that 99% of cyclists just flip over their shoe, suck their teeth and plop their cleat on the shoe without any consideration as to where this is going to place their feet in relation to their knee stroke, stance or pedal spindle. Some of the previous posts refer to the cleat being positioned under the ball of the foot. To some extent this is correct but a correctly fitted cleat for fore/aft adjustment (there are 3 other fitting considerations for the correct fitting of cleats) will have the pedal spindle sitting just in front of the the 5th metatarsal. The problem Chris has is that the drillings on his Mavic shoes do not allow for enough aft positioning - hence this question. The only manufacturer currently addressing the issue of the pitfalls related to generic cleating is Speedplay. They produce their pedals in various axle lengths, extended cleat plates and a full wedge range. There will always be doubters of bike fits but seeing is believing. I can also reassure Crikey that I will be riding a significant number of miles with Chris as he's a team mate

crikey

Some of the previous posts refer to the cleat being positioned under the ball of the foot. To some extent this is correct but a correctly fitted cleat for fore/aft adjustment (there are 3 other fitting considerations for the correct fitting of cleats) will have the pedal spindle sitting just in front of the the 5th metatarsal

You'll be expanding on this with evidence to support your claims?

I would say that 99% of cyclists just flip over their shoe, suck their teeth and plop their cleat on the shoe without any consideration as to where this is going to place their feet in relation to their knee stroke, stance or pedal spindle.

I would say that the majority of cyclists that I have ridden with in 25 years of riding and racing take great care over cleat placement. It's important, but it's not rocket science...

So, evidence for your claims?

cadencetri

Crikey

Don't normally come on forums as you get embroiled in endless irrelevant posts & they seem to attract certain types who appear to want to bolster their ego. If you can't help - don't reply

farrina

christopherderycke wrote:

Hi, My names Chris and I'm new here!

I had a professional bike fit yesterday which made a great difference but brought up an issue. I have size 12 (uk) feet and we could not get my cleat position far enugh back over the ball of the foot or pedal spindle. I use Shimano yellow cleats and Mavic Avenir shoes.

I use Sidi Genius 6 in size 49 using Shimano cleats and Dura Ace pedals and have experienced no issues at all. The only time I ever ran into problems was many years ago with Time shoes (do they still make them?) where I felt I was peddling with my toes and boy did I feel that!

By my reckoning my feet are longer than yours and I don't have small toes either!

In fact having checked my cleats on the shoes if anything they are set forward rather than back leaving me with almost 10mm to play with. I certainly have not noticed a problem and will study my feet positioning carefully when I am out on my ride tomorrow.

Best wishes

Alan

crikey

Don't normally come on forums as you get embroiled in endless irrelevant post & they seem to attract certain types who appear to want to bolster their ego. If you can't help - don't reply

My ego is fine, but thanks for the attempt to distract from the question...

I'm asking for the evidence. I don't think it's irrelevant, and if you have it, it won't be endless.

I have said that my opinion of 'bike fitting' is low, largely because bike fit is a dynamic process which changes over time and with differing activity.

So, evidence please?

declan1

That's got me thinking now. I also have size 12 feet and Mavic Avenge shoes (very similar shoes) and I find with the cleats in the middle of the positioning area feels good. Maybe I need to rethink!

cadencetri

crikey wrote:

Don't normally come on forums as you get embroiled in endless irrelevant post & they seem to attract certain types who appear to want to bolster their ego. If you can't help - don't reply

My ego is fine, but thanks for the attempt to distract from the question...

I'm asking for the evidence. I don't think it's irrelevant, and if you have it, it won't be endless.

I have said that my opinion of 'bike fitting' is low, largely because bike fit is a dynamic process which changes over time and with differing activity.

So, evidence please?

What makes you think that I want to justify bike fit/shoe fit to you? If bike fitting is low in your opinion that's fine. Nothing anyone will say will change your view. I can accept that but I will not pander to your requests.

crikey

What makes you think that I want to justify bike fit/shoe fit to you? If bike fitting is low in your opinion that's fine. Nothing anyone will say will change your view. I can accept that but I will not pander to your requests.

"I'm not talking to you because you're asking awkward questions" would be a lot more honest and accurate.

Hence my, once again, confirmed mistrust of the bike fitting industry.

There are useful pointers, tips if you will, that can help people who are new to cycling to get the best out of their bikes. Most of these will be provided by other, more experienced riders over a period of time. The internet can also help, as can any number of bike fitting chapters in many books.

Anyway, you're not able to help me by providing any evidence for your claims, so I will leave the subject there.

Hoopdriver

cadencetri wrote:

crikey wrote:

Don't normally come on forums as you get embroiled in endless irrelevant post & they seem to attract certain types who appear to want to bolster their ego. If you can't help - don't reply

My ego is fine, but thanks for the attempt to distract from the question...

I'm asking for the evidence. I don't think it's irrelevant, and if you have it, it won't be endless.

I have said that my opinion of 'bike fitting' is low, largely because bike fit is a dynamic process which changes over time and with differing activity.

So, evidence please?

What makes you think that I want to justify bike fit/shoe fit to you? If bike fitting is low in your opinion that's fine. Nothing anyone will say will change your view. I can accept that but I will not pander to your requests.

It seemed like a fair request. Other people with large feet do not seem to have these problems (see above) so asking for evidence of your claims/description is not only fair but could contribute to a worthwhile discussion on bicycle fitting. I would certainly be interested. I am large footed myself - size 48 - and have no issues, but then again I do not ride clipless.