Foot Pain (hot foot)

cdempsey

Hi, I have started getting bad foot pain on medium to long rides. It is a burning pain far right ball of my right foot. Having done a bit of research I think it may be the hot foot condition. I don't really want to buy new shoes so I was going to try new socks and get some Specialized BG insoles (blue with metatarsal buttons - I have slightly flat feet). Has anyone else tried this and has it worked?

Grill

Insoles will make a difference, but I doubt your feet are as flat as you think. You're most likely pronating which gives the appearance of flat feet. To see what the depth should be with support lift your toes as this will cause the windlass effect which is where your arch should be if properly supported. Also you may need to move your cleats back a few mm.

simona75

I suffered with this for a while. My shoes have velcro fasteners so I always keep the fastener closest to the toes loose and the other two tighter, this seems to offer that part of my foot a bit more relief.

cdempsey

Thanks for the advice guys. I was diagnosed flat feet as a kid and wore insoles up to 13. I did manage to get in the army so they must be ok. Grill I have tried what you suggested - there is an arch of about 2cm. I'm not sure if this is normal or slightly flat. I will go to a Specialized shop and see what they suggest.

jamiekavanagh

I used the blue Specialized insoles and they worked fine. I got mine from Noahs Ark in Stroud. It isn't necessarily blue you'll need though. Stores that sell them should have a neat heat pad that you have to stand on to see what would work best for you. It leaves an impression that tells the guy which insoles would fit you.

lef

Varus cleat wedge(s) may also help. Loads of good info can be found if you google it.

Wedging, width of shoe, sufficient arch support (Spesh insoles still offer very little if you even have average arches), cleat fore aft position are all avenues worth looking into. In shoes wedging reduces room in the shoe so not ideal if the hot spot is a result from a too narrow shoe. Cleat wedging has been a better solution for me.

Grill

lef wrote:

Varus cleat wedge(s) may also help. Loads of good info can be found if you google it.

Wedging, width of shoe, sufficient arch support (Spesh insoles still offer very little if you even have average arches), cleat fore aft position are all avenues worth looking into. In shoes wedging reduces room in the shoe so not ideal if the hot spot is a result from a too narrow shoe. Cleat wedging has been a better solution for me.

The Greens have quite a high support. Certainly equal to what you'll find in the Superfeet range.

lef

may be high support for some but compared to say an esole black or even blue arch support it is still pretty low. I'm not saying it's not suitable for some but for me it was still way too low or at least not rigid enough - it was some time ago that I used them. Esoles worth a look but they darn expensive but the great thing is they allow for some playing around with the arch support.

Grill

Esoles are kitch and aren't the most robust. For the price there's no reason you shouldn't go custom as you shouldn't really be playing around with your footbeds if you don't know what you're doing. To say that Spec footbeds aren't rigid enough is laughable and the fact that you're experience is with the Blues tells me you haven't been properly fitted as the Greens offer more support. Any fitter worth his weight could easily adapt Spec beds for most feet and those with more serious issues need to look at the custom route.

lef

You should read my post again...I referred to the blue (and black) esoles arch supports - blue is the second highest arch support, black is the highest, both are much higher than the green spesh ones which still only offer medium arch support at best. I didn't mention anything about the blue spesh footbeds. If spesh footbeds work for you or anyone else then that's great but however rigid or not they are (it wasn't really intended to be my point...my bad) they don't offer a particularly high amount of arch support (this was my point).

I've not had any issues with durability. As for the kitch comment I'm lost for words.

ben@31

Try cycling on a cold wet February night. I wished I had hot feet... In fact, I wished I could feel my feet.