Bicycle Shoes and "Hot Foot"

I have the same problem with Sidi Genius carbons, same shoe with a
carbon sole and Lorica/mesh upper. Just buclke them a little less
snugly (especially the ratchet) and they're fine all day. The fact that
you broke the ratchet implies that you may be overdoing the closure. I
scrunch them tight for a race, but they'e too short to instigate
hot-foot (and there's plenty of other pain to distract me.) All of
this, of course, assumes that they fit you well. And you're right - for
shoes of otherwise excellent quality, the footbeds are thin and
non-functional.

Lou D'Amelio

BTW, the pain comes from pressure on the nerves running bewteen the
metatarsal heads ('knuckles' of your feet) and not from actual heat.

LD

I still have the problem, too, but not nearly as badly as I did when I
was wearing really cheap cycling shoes that had little padding and
weren't well contoured to the foot. My LBS owner suggested that I try
some Shimano shoes, and they reduced the pain a lot, I think simply
because they are padded and contoured somewhat better than the cheap
shoes. But on a long ride, I sometimes still have to stop, take off my
shoes and massage my feet to make them feel better.

I have a Morton's neuroma. At Interbike there was a group that were selling
custom orthodics. They were a couple of booths up from us. One of the guys
at the booth knew his stuff and diagnosed the neuroma in about 30 seconds. I
couldn't resist buying a pair. They should arrive next week sometime.

Try this, it has worked fairly well for me. At the worst, you will waste $5.
At the drug store you can get metatarsal pads that stick inside of the
shoes. I think they are from Dr. Scholls, the blue ones at any rate. Place
them under the ball of the foot, behind the toes. They are not supposed to
lift the toes at all, just the ball structure. AFAIK, the neuroma is
relieved when the ball of the foot is raised and the metatarsal heads can
sort of be arched with the center toe being the top of the curve. I hope I
am making sense here. Anyway, I can usually ride for about 60 miles before
the pain and cramping gets to be too much. With just the blue pads in the
shoes, I can finish a hard 100 miles with only mild discomfort. I am really
looking forward to seeing what these inserts from Interbike are going to be
capable of doing for me.

Is there anyone in the group really knowledgeable about this kind of stuff?

Bruce

"Lou D'Amelio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BTW, the pain comes from pressure on the nerves running bewteen the
metatarsal heads ('knuckles' of your feet) and not from actual heat.

LD

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm riding more this year than I ever have before, and some days I get a
burning sensation on the soles of my feet. More times than not, it
happens to my left foot, but today, it seemed to be affecting both feet.
I had to stop for a few minutes and get out of my shoes, which gave me
enough relief to get home from a 67km (42 mile) ride.

Based on a recommendation I read in Bicycling magazine, I tried
replacement foot pads in my shoes. They are thicker than the
manufacturer's pads, but aren't very soft, and don't seem to be any more
comfortable. I'm wearing Sidi's Genius 4 Mesh shoes (second to the top of
their line, I believe). Previously, I was using another Sidi model, which
seems to have more mesh openings than the so-called "Mesh" shoe.

I actually wore the older shoes for three days in a row because the buckle
on the newer shoes broke. I didn't ride as far on those days, but I
didn't notice any discomfort, either. I'm planning to wear the older
shoes tomorrow for a more thorough test. Maybe it is really heat buildup!

Does anyone have suggestions for alleviating this condition?

The SIDI buckles break now and then, I have broken two on the pair that I am
using now. I solved the hot foot problem by wearing thicker sox - as long as
they fit in the shoe without getting too tight. The first solution that I
came up with was to wear a thin pair of liner sox, like hikers use, under my
regular sox this worked okay. I have come up with a better solution which is
wool sox. I buy merino wool sox from REI. They don't itch, they last forever
but they are definitely Fred-wear. I have worn these in centuries and the
Death Ride and always finished with happy feet.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47821302&parent_category_rn=4501773

http://tinyurl.com/7er86

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

Quoted message said:

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around the age of
45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need longer shoes than
before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening out a
bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from where I
was six years ago.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Dan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Colin Campbell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm riding more this year than I ever have before, and some days I get a
burning sensation on the soles of my feet. More times than not, it
happens to my left foot, but today, it seemed to be affecting both feet.
I had to stop for a few minutes and get out of my shoes, which gave me
enough relief to get home from a 67km (42 mile) ride.

Based on a recommendation I read in Bicycling magazine, I tried
replacement foot pads in my shoes. They are thicker than the
manufacturer's pads, but aren't very soft, and don't seem to be any more
comfortable. I'm wearing Sidi's Genius 4 Mesh shoes (second to the top
of their line, I believe). Previously, I was using another Sidi model,
which seems to have more mesh openings than the so-called "Mesh" shoe.

I actually wore the older shoes for three days in a row because the
buckle on the newer shoes broke. I didn't ride as far on those days, but
I didn't notice any discomfort, either. I'm planning to wear the older
shoes tomorrow for a more thorough test. Maybe it is really heat
buildup!

Does anyone have suggestions for alleviating this condition?

The SIDI buckles break now and then, I have broken two on the pair that I
am using now. I solved the hot foot problem by wearing thicker sox - as
long as they fit in the shoe without getting too tight. The first solution
that I came up with was to wear a thin pair of liner sox, like hikers use,
under my regular sox this worked okay. I have come up with a better
solution which is wool sox. I buy merino wool sox from REI. They don't
itch, they last forever but they are definitely Fred-wear. I have worn
these in centuries and the Death Ride and always finished with happy feet.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47821302&parent_category_rn=4501773

http://tinyurl.com/7er86

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

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In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around the age of
45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need longer shoes than
before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening out a
bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from where I
was six years ago.

_ This happened to me when I got fat and out of shape, I went
from a 7.5 to a 9 size shoe. The interesting thing is that it is
somewhat reversible. Once I got back in shape, I dropped back to
a 8 -8.5 sized shoe.

_ Booker C. Bense

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Mike Jacoubowsky <[email hidden]> wrote:
:>> As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet.
:>> I have
:>> heard that this is normal.
:>
:> Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around
:> the age of 45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need
:> longer shoes than
:> before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening
:> out a
:> bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from
:> where I
:> was six years ago.

Interesting...I recently had to send back cycling shoes in my size because
they didn't fit. I finally ended up with a larger size...I just assumed
that it was a brand thing (different brands mean different things when they
say size 46 euro = 11.5, or 12 US)

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around the age
of 45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need longer shoes
than before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening
out a bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from
where I was six years ago.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike-

I hate to reference the "Senior Journal" when talking about my feet but here
it goes:

http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Aging/5-07-11AgingFeet.htm

Longer, wider, flatter and thinner. It goes with bigger, hairy ears, less
hair on the head and other generally unappealing changes. I will turn 49 in
a few days.

Dan

I had a similar problem this year. On rides over 100 km, I experienced
a severe burning sensation. I moved the cleats further back on the
shoe and the pain went away. With the pedal axle closer to my instep I
suppose I lost some efficiency. However, I probably wasn't that
efficient in the first place.

email hidden said:

I had a similar problem this year. On rides over 100 km, I experienced
a severe burning sensation. I moved the cleats further back on the
shoe and the pain went away. With the pedal axle closer to my instep I
suppose I lost some efficiency. However, I probably wasn't that
efficient in the first place.

Coombe:

http://www.coombe.com/coombe.html

Is claiming further back is *more* efficient. I don't know their
scientific backup for claiming this... I'm sure someone out here will
know of 433 studies to the effect for or against.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

As I get older, there seems to be less natural padding on my feet. I have
heard that this is normal.

Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around the age of
45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need longer shoes than
before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening out a
bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from where I
was six years ago.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

I had the same problem of foot lengthening going from size 8 to 9.5 in 2
stages..... and the second stage corresponded to extra weight gain.
First stage was about age 42, second about age 58.

Recently, I began to require much stiffer shoes to prevent metatarsal
area pains on long cycling trips. I use standard pedals.

Jim

--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplimental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

Bill Lloyd said:

email hidden said:

I had a similar problem this year. On rides over 100 km, I
experienced a severe burning sensation. I moved the cleats further
back on the shoe and the pain went away. With the pedal axle closer
to my instep I suppose I lost some efficiency. However, I probably
wasn't that efficient in the first place.

Coombe:

http://www.coombe.com/coombe.html

Is claiming further back is *more* efficient. I don't know their
scientific backup for claiming this... I'm sure someone out here will
know of 433 studies to the effect for or against.

It's probably very individual. Susanne Ljungskog, the Women's Road World
Champion in 2002 and 2003 I believe, has her cleats so far back she's had to
drill new holes for them. Almost in the middle of the instep.

--
Perre
I gave up on SPAM and redirected it to hotmail instead.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Don't know about less padding, but we find a *lot* of men, around the age of
45, start noticing their feet lengthening (and thus need longer shoes than
before). Most likely what's happening is that the foot is flattening out a
bit, causing it to lengthen. I'm actually up nearly a full size from where I
was six years ago.

God, I hope not. I'm already a size 51 european, which is something like a
size 15-16 US. On the plus side, I'm currently in 'extra wide, extra
high', so a standard size 52 would actually be easier to get.

Jasper

Thanks for the informative replies!

I still don't know just what to do, but with cooler weather coming (it
actually rained while I was riding today - I'm in Southern California),
I probably have a few months of greater comfort, and time to (perhaps)
find a solution.

Colin Campbell said:

Thanks for the informative replies!

I still don't know just what to do, but with cooler weather coming (it
actually rained while I was riding today - I'm in Southern
California), I probably have a few months of greater comfort, and
time to (perhaps) find a solution.

Did anybody tell you to wiggle your toes when coasting 😉) That's usually
all I need to do.

--
Perre
I gave up on SPAM and redirected it to hotmail instead.

colin:

Before you try investing on any new stuff, move the cleat back a couple
of milimiters until the ball of your foot is slightly ahead of the
pedal axle instead of right on top of it. I used to get "hot feet" with
any shoes until I discover that moving the cleat back slightly would
solve the problem. Give this a try before you do anything else.

Andres.