Footbeds

gimpl

Hi All

Would really appreciate your thoughts on the following please:

Years ago when purchasing some ski boots I had some heat mouldable footbeds made up at the same time using some funky machine that I had to stand on to get the correct impression.

Do you think I could use these in my bike shoes (assuming they fit) ?

Many thanks

Cleat Eastwood

This was mentioned during the Tour of Turkey on eurosport last week - Magnus Backstedt said the heat mouldable ones are still quite popular so I guess the answer is yes.

How do they work? Do you microwave a shoe?

danlikesbikes

There are quite a few 'at home' options but also some brands that are in store such as Sidas where they do pretty much what you had done in the ski store.

If you google cycle orthotics you will see there are lots of companies & even physiotherapists that can do this. They are not cheap but you do pay a lot less for repeat sets to be made.

@cleat some you put them in a microwave & others are in the oven - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kwa7A3YcZQ

Edit: above link is from Bont the shoe manufactures who were & still are (I think) one of Backstedt's sponsors.

gimpl

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

This was mentioned during the Tour of Turkey on eurosport last week - Magnus Backstedt said the heat mouldable ones are still quite popular so I guess the answer is yes.

How do they work? Do you microwave a shoe?

No, this was at the Ski show some years ago. They had this big machine that you stood on and warmed up the insole and then sort of sucked your feet into it. A bit of a vacuum around the bottom of your foot which moulded the insole to it.

It was such a long time ago my memory may be slightly hazy and possibly not how they do these things anymore.

jordan_217

I don't see why not, if they fit. I had some moldable footbeds done when I got fitted for ski boots a few years ago. The bloke who done the fitting done me a deal on a second set for my running shoes.

I then threw the running shoes and forgot to take out the footbeds

MartinB2444

Adrian Timmiss and Cadence Sport does the Sidis footbeds for £70 a pair. Was included in the price of the bike fit. Only worth it if you are having problems otherwise.

drlodge

Probably better off having a proper bike fit and seeing if you need wedges and/or shims. It'll cost more, but you'll end up with shoes that fit properly and everything pushing at the right angles.

Grill

95%+ of all custom molded footbeds I've seen are complete garbage. Unfortunately custom beds are only as good as the fitter and most don't know their own ass from a hole in the ground. There are 2 places I would go for custom footbeds and that's either Profeet in London or Solutions4Feet in Bicester (Hamish and Colin are easily the best fitters in the UK). Adrian Timms at Cadence is one I would certainly take a punt on. I've never met him, but what I've seen of his footbeds shows a certain competence. I may visit him in the future to see for myself in the next couple of months.

esafosfina1

Don't know if this is any help... but I was warned off fitting 'orthotics' from one specific shoe to another, and as ski-boots and cycling shoes are different this may be the case in point. For what it's worth, I got some Specialized Footbeds recently and they are excellent, and quite affordable.

Grill

esafosfina1 wrote:

Don't know if this is any help... but I was warned off fitting 'orthotics' from one specific shoe to another, and as ski-boots and cycling shoes are different this may be the case in point. For what it's worth, I got some Specialized Footbeds recently and they are excellent, and quite affordable.

This is correct as press varies by discipline.

The Spec beds are the best value for money cycling specific ones on the market.

jouxplan

Grill wrote:

esafosfina1 wrote:

Don't know if this is any help... but I was warned off fitting 'orthotics' from one specific shoe to another, and as ski-boots and cycling shoes are different this may be the case in point. For what it's worth, I got some Specialized Footbeds recently and they are excellent, and quite affordable.

This is correct as press varies by discipline.

The Spec beds are the best value for money cycling specific ones on the market.

Absolutely agree. However, if your feet are in any way dodgy (falling arches, pronation etc), then in my experience the Spec Beds are not aggressive enough or supportive enough. I speak as someone who travelled from UK to Colorado to have a bike fit and advice from the guy that basically designed the Spec footbeds and the Spec BG Shoes (which I also use) (Andy Pruitt). Whilst their footbeds helped, it was insufficient. I have since found these http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/accessories/product/review-esoles-efit-custom-footbeds-13-46945

to be fantastic. They are cycling specific. Not wildly expensive. I have tried various footbeds from others, and none worked for me. Heat moulded ones are, frankly, worthless for anyone with dodgy feet, in my view. I also use orthotics in my work (office) shoes. These would be useless for cycling though

You also need to check whether you need shims and wedges and things.

Grill

Not entirely the case. I find the support on the esoles to be quite soft and easily collapsible whereas the Specialized beds (specifically the Greens) are more robust and very close to Superfeets in the level of support. The modularity of the esoles is nice, especially in regards to the metatarsal button, but you can easily build the Specs to do the same thing.

Considering my pronation and hyper-mobility, I've found it quite easy to get on with the Spec beds. Keep in mind that I was a fitter for many years and my snowboard beds are the work of a mad genius

jouxplan

Grill wrote:

Not entirely the case. I find the support on the esoles to be quite soft and easily collapsible whereas the Specialized beds (specifically the Greens) are more robust and very close to Superfeets in the level of support. The modularity of the esoles is nice, especially in regards to the metatarsal button, but you can easily build the Specs to do the same thing.

Considering my pronation and hyper-mobility, I've found it quite easy to get on with the Spec beds. Keep in mind that I was a fitter for many years and my snowboard beds are the work of a mad genius

Just goes to show how different we all are! One mans's 'these are great for me' is another mans's 'they don't do it for me'. I am genuinely surprised you find the green beds so supportive. Perhaps the design has changed - I'll have to have a look again The standard eSoles are indeed not very supportive. I use the black arch support, which is very aggressive and it has never collapsed.

I certainly admit I am no fitter! I have however experienced some 6 or 7 different fitters over the years, here and in USA, and it never ceases to amaze me how different fitters can be in their approach and competence. I'm a Steve Hogg fan myself

izza

In my cycling shoes I have the green Spesh ones.

Overnight they sorted my hot hurts that I was suffering from on longer rides. Not just support but also the metatarsal button bit that helps with the sole/ball of my feet.

Last couple of years I have started to suffer the aame type of pain in my ski boots despite having the heat moulded custom footbeds. Have bought a pair of Spesh ones to try in the ski boots.

edten

jouxplan wrote:

Grill wrote:

esafosfina1 wrote:

Don't know if this is any help... but I was warned off fitting 'orthotics' from one specific shoe to another, and as ski-boots and cycling shoes are different this may be the case in point. For what it's worth, I got some Specialized Footbeds recently and they are excellent, and quite affordable.

This is correct as press varies by discipline.

The Spec beds are the best value for money cycling specific ones on the market.

Absolutely agree. However, if your feet are in any way dodgy (falling arches, pronation etc), then in my experience the Spec Beds are not aggressive enough or supportive enough. I speak as someone who travelled from UK to Colorado to have a bike fit and advice from the guy that basically designed the Spec footbeds and the Spec BG Shoes (which I also use) (Andy Pruitt). Whilst their footbeds helped, it was insufficient. I have since found these http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/accessories/product/review-esoles-efit-custom-footbeds-13-46945

to be fantastic. They are cycling specific. Not wildly expensive. I have tried various footbeds from others, and none worked for me. Heat moulded ones are, frankly, worthless for anyone with dodgy feet, in my view. I also use orthotics in my work (office) shoes. These would be useless for cycling though

You also need to check whether you need shims and wedges and things.

+1 on esoles. the customisation gives plenty of flexibility and as they dont need heat moulding you can experiment as much as needed to find the optimum configuration of arch support.

gimpl

Thank you everyone for your comments.

The reason for my asking was because I wondered if the ones for bike shoes were significantly different to my ski ones.

I don't actually have any problems with my shoes but as I already have them I thought I might as well give them a go so last night I took them out of the boots and have put them in my shoes - going out for a ride shortly so will be able to see if they make any difference comfort wise. If not, I'm quite happy to go back to the original ones.

Many thanks

Grill

If the footbeds in your ski boots are custom then don't put them in your cycling shoes as they're not designed for the same type of press. If they're simply off the shelf drop-ins then you'll be fine.

gimpl

Ok - so went out on a 16 mile ride and whilst I set a pretty good time my left foot was a bit numb and even now some hours later isn't quite back to normal so definitely wouldn't recommend using non bike specific ones.