Which Cycling Shoes are Best Ventilated?

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame. For one thing, my feet seldom feel cold on winter mornings, and
I used to have that feeling regularly a few years back when I would
commute to work in 35F - 40F temps. There haven't been any 35F mornings
this winter, but I've ridden at 38F to 40F a few times. I used to wear
double socks on those cold mornings; now, it's just standard cycling socks.

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent
buyer's guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Hard to beat these for ventilation:
<http://www.gaerlan.com/bikeparts/acc/shoe/shoe.html>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire.  The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F.  That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles.  (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling..

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame.  For one thing, my feet seldom feel cold on winter mornings, and
I used to have that feeling regularly a few years back when I would
commute to work in 35F - 40F temps.  There haven't been any 35F mornings
this winter, but I've ridden at 38F to 40F a few times.  I used to wear
double socks on those cold mornings; now, it's just standard cycling socks..

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated?  I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent
buyer's guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Shimano, Lake and Keen all make SPD-compatible sandals. That's about
as ventilated as it gets. I have a pair of the Lakes, and they were
fantastic on the hottest days of my tour last summer.

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame. For one thing, my feet seldom feel cold on winter mornings, and
I used to have that feeling regularly a few years back when I would
commute to work in 35F - 40F temps. There haven't been any 35F mornings
this winter, but I've ridden at 38F to 40F a few times. I used to wear
double socks on those cold mornings; now, it's just standard cycling socks.

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent
buyer's guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Dear Colin,

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

I hope that's not the case, or that you just have less padding on your
paws, but . . .

A) The soles of your feet felt as if they were "on fire" at only 81F.

B) Removing your shoes for "a few minutes" helped.

C) You no longer feel real cold too well.

***

A) If your "burning" feet were just hot, they'd cool off in moments
when you took your shoes off, not minutes.

It's common for progressive peripheral neuropathy to give the
sensation of burning, freezing, and swelling. Your brain has to put
some interpretation on the false signals.

B) Taking your shoes off for relief that takes a few minutes (and
putting them back on a few minutes later for the same reason) is a
classic sign of progressive peripheral neuropathy--the slight change
in stimulation makes a difference in the annoying static coming from
the nerves in the feet. Velcro straps are darned helpful.

C) Failure to notice real cold (far more common than real heat) is
another classic sign. The failing nerves no longer transmit true
sensation, so numbness to real cold and real touch is the other side
of progressive peripheral neuropathy.

***

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The progress of the disease can be so slow that truly dim-witted
victims can take several years to figure out what's going on, even
with a family history.

Or so I hear. I'm still in denial. The silver lining is that my feet
no longer bother me on cold rides.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

Quoted message said:

Dear Colin,

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

I hope that's not the case, or that you just have less padding on your
paws, but . . .

A) The soles of your feet felt as if they were "on fire" at only 81F.

B) Removing your shoes for "a few minutes" helped.

C) You no longer feel real cold too well.

***

A) If your "burning" feet were just hot, they'd cool off in moments
when you took your shoes off, not minutes.

It's common for progressive peripheral neuropathy to give the
sensation of burning, freezing, and swelling. Your brain has to put
some interpretation on the false signals.

B) Taking your shoes off for relief that takes a few minutes (and
putting them back on a few minutes later for the same reason) is a
classic sign of progressive peripheral neuropathy--the slight change
in stimulation makes a difference in the annoying static coming from
the nerves in the feet. Velcro straps are darned helpful.

C) Failure to notice real cold (far more common than real heat) is
another classic sign. The failing nerves no longer transmit true
sensation, so numbness to real cold and real touch is the other side
of progressive peripheral neuropathy.

***

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The other thing that may be happening here is a bit of sole flexing or a
simple mismatch between your foot shape and the insole (ie, you need
orthotics). The reason I suspect those instead of ventilation is that
normal human beings don't have overheating feet, and especially in
non-winter cycling shoes, which almost inevitably consist of vast
swathes of mesh on the upper.

A fair number of people switch to "serious" road shoes in hopes of
getting the stiffer cleat (3 widely spaced bolts) and sole versus "less
serious" touring-type shoes, which usually take 2-bolt SPD-type cleats
and have more flexy soles which work better when walking around.

(not me: I use high-end stiff-soled MTB shoes even in road racing, as I
like walkability and use Crank Bros pedals on all my bikes)

But I digress: maybe it's just me, but I don't even get my socks sweaty
when I ride, no matter what the temperatures. This is odd, because I am
a very sweaty guy: I get sweaty running up and down stairs, I get sweaty
feet walking fast, etc.

My point is that feet don't actually get very hot while riding the bike,
because it's a no-impact workout. So whether it's a peripheral
neuropathy thing, a flexy-sole thing, or whatnot, it almost certainly
isn't a shoe ventilation thing.

What model of Sidi are you using?

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Quoted message said:

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

And better fitting shoes may help, too. Neuropathy + poor
peripheral circulation are common with diabetics --- if the OP is
a diabetic, that's highly likely. According to diabetic friends,
high blood sugar levels are part of the cause.

On Mar 8, 11:29 pm, [email hidden] (Dennis P. Harris)

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:31:31 -0700 in rec.bicycles.tech,

Quoted message said:

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

And better fitting shoes may help, too.  Neuropathy + poor
peripheral circulation are common with diabetics --- if the OP is
a diabetic, that's highly likely.  According to diabetic friends,
high blood sugar levels are part of the cause.

Also keep in mind that Sidis run about a (European) size small. I very
nearly made an expensive mistake bidding on some Winter Sidis in my
usual 46, then tried on a pair of 46s at an LBS to discover they were
WAY too small. I've never been happier to be outbid.

On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:12:54 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The other thing that may be happening here is a bit of sole flexing

[---]

Quoted message said:

A fair number of people switch to "serious" road shoes in hopes of
getting the stiffer cleat (3 widely spaced bolts) and sole versus "less
serious" touring-type shoes, which usually take 2-bolt SPD-type cleats
and have more flexy soles which work better when walking around.

But is that likely to be the case here? The OP uses Sidis, and even
their MTB shoes have *very* stiff soles.

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:31:31 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

[---]

Quoted message said:

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The progress of the disease can be so slow that truly dim-witted
victims can take several years to figure out what's going on, even
with a family history.

Or so I hear. I'm still in denial. The silver lining is that my feet
no longer bother me on cold rides.

Watch out that it's not a symptom of type 2 diabetes that you're
experiencing here, rather than peripheral neuropathy. You may not be
bothered by the cold, but you won't notice if you cut your feet up
walking bare foot over a sharp object either, and that can have very
nasty consequences.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Andrew Price said:

On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:12:54 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The other thing that may be happening here is a bit of sole flexing

[---]

Quoted message said:

A fair number of people switch to "serious" road shoes in hopes of
getting the stiffer cleat (3 widely spaced bolts) and sole versus "less
serious" touring-type shoes, which usually take 2-bolt SPD-type cleats
and have more flexy soles which work better when walking around.

But is that likely to be the case here? The OP uses Sidis, and even
their MTB shoes have *very* stiff soles.

Probably not. I poked through their current lineup, and there appears to
be nothing like the casual-sole shoes that Shimano makes so many of:

<http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/shoe.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd
_id=845524441786230&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302053521&ASSORTMENT%3C%
3East_id=1408474395181785&bmUID=1205062999936>

I don't make any submission on the idea that 2-bolt cleats lead to a
less stiff system than 3-bolt cleats; I experimented with Look Delta
cleats and found no difference in perceived stiffness versus my stiffest
2-bolt shoes (AXO Blackballs then, probably a set of Adidas Marathon
now). Others differ, and if the OP uses MTB shoes, it may be an issue.

That leaves the orthotics issues, and peripheral nerve problems. I
continue to believe that ventilation probably isn't the cause of the
OP's issues.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Tom Sherman said:

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot"

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent
buyer's guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Hard to beat these for ventilation:
<http://www.gaerlan.com/bikeparts/acc/shoe/shoe.html>.

Hard to beat for looks, too! Actually, I know one Amazon who wears
them. Unfortunately, I use Campy pedals, so they're incompatible (aw,
darn).

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

Quoted message said:

Dear Colin,

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

I hope that's not the case, or that you just have less padding on your
paws, but . . .

A) The soles of your feet felt as if they were "on fire" at only 81F.

B) Removing your shoes for "a few minutes" helped.

C) You no longer feel real cold too well.

***

A) If your "burning" feet were just hot, they'd cool off in moments
when you took your shoes off, not minutes.

It's common for progressive peripheral neuropathy to give the
sensation of burning, freezing, and swelling. Your brain has to put
some interpretation on the false signals.

B) Taking your shoes off for relief that takes a few minutes (and
putting them back on a few minutes later for the same reason) is a
classic sign of progressive peripheral neuropathy--the slight change
in stimulation makes a difference in the annoying static coming from
the nerves in the feet. Velcro straps are darned helpful.

C) Failure to notice real cold (far more common than real heat) is
another classic sign. The failing nerves no longer transmit true
sensation, so numbness to real cold and real touch is the other side
of progressive peripheral neuropathy.

***

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The other thing that may be happening here is a bit of sole flexing or a
simple mismatch between your foot shape and the insole (ie, you need
orthotics). The reason I suspect those instead of ventilation is that
normal human beings don't have overheating feet, and especially in
non-winter cycling shoes, which almost inevitably consist of vast
swathes of mesh on the upper.

A fair number of people switch to "serious" road shoes in hopes of
getting the stiffer cleat (3 widely spaced bolts) and sole versus "less
serious" touring-type shoes, which usually take 2-bolt SPD-type cleats
and have more flexy soles which work better when walking around.

(not me: I use high-end stiff-soled MTB shoes even in road racing, as I
like walkability and use Crank Bros pedals on all my bikes)

But I digress: maybe it's just me, but I don't even get my socks sweaty
when I ride, no matter what the temperatures. This is odd, because I am
a very sweaty guy: I get sweaty running up and down stairs, I get sweaty
feet walking fast, etc.

My point is that feet don't actually get very hot while riding the bike,
because it's a no-impact workout. So whether it's a peripheral
neuropathy thing, a flexy-sole thing, or whatnot, it almost certainly
isn't a shoe ventilation thing.

What model of Sidi are you using?

Sidi Genius 5, the only model that is available in a narrow width.

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles
of their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame. For one thing, my feet seldom feel cold on winter mornings, and
I used to have that feeling regularly a few years back when I would
commute to work in 35F - 40F temps. There haven't been any 35F mornings
this winter, but I've ridden at 38F to 40F a few times. I used to wear
double socks on those cold mornings; now, it's just standard cycling socks.

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need
to have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent
buyer's guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Dear Colin,

Better shoe ventilation can't hurt, but you may be describing
progressive peripheral neuropathy, not actual heat.

I hope that's not the case, or that you just have less padding on your
paws, but . . .

A) The soles of your feet felt as if they were "on fire" at only 81F.

B) Removing your shoes for "a few minutes" helped.

C) You no longer feel real cold too well.

***

A) If your "burning" feet were just hot, they'd cool off in moments
when you took your shoes off, not minutes.

It's common for progressive peripheral neuropathy to give the
sensation of burning, freezing, and swelling. Your brain has to put
some interpretation on the false signals.

B) Taking your shoes off for relief that takes a few minutes (and
putting them back on a few minutes later for the same reason) is a
classic sign of progressive peripheral neuropathy--the slight change
in stimulation makes a difference in the annoying static coming from
the nerves in the feet. Velcro straps are darned helpful.

C) Failure to notice real cold (far more common than real heat) is
another classic sign. The failing nerves no longer transmit true
sensation, so numbness to real cold and real touch is the other side
of progressive peripheral neuropathy.

***

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The progress of the disease can be so slow that truly dim-witted
victims can take several years to figure out what's going on, even
with a family history.

Or so I hear. I'm still in denial. The silver lining is that my feet
no longer bother me on cold rides.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Carl,
I hope I'm not getting old!
Colin

In article <[email hidden]>,

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

The hot foot feeling is generally from nerve compression and not your
feet actually being hot. The issue is more likely to be one of fit not
ventilation. It can also be an indication of circulatory problems in
your feet or even a neuropathy of some sort (Morton's neuroma is fairly
common; there are other neuropathies and a huge percentage of people
with diabetes don't know that they have it and can develop diabetic
neuropathy). However, fit is a likely culprit.

Try wearing your shoes looser. I found that any problems with hot
spots, even over 375 mile rides on a weekend, were eliminated by
switching to wool socks. I wear Smartwool socks while riding. Double
check your shoe size.

Tim McNamara said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Colin Campbell said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel
as if they're on fire.  The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de
Palm Springs, where temps reached 81F.  That was the first time in a
couple of years I've ridden over 100 miles.  (I removed my shoes at one
rest stop around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped,
but the sensation returned later.)

The hot foot feeling is generally from nerve compression and not your
feet actually being hot.  The issue is more likely to be one of fit not
ventilation.  It can also be an indication of circulatory problems in
your feet or even a neuropathy of some sort (Morton's neuroma is fairly
common; there are other neuropathies and a huge percentage of people
with diabetes don't know that they have it and can develop diabetic
neuropathy).  However, fit is a likely culprit.

Try wearing your shoes looser.  I found that any problems with hot
spots, even over 375 mile rides on a weekend, were eliminated by
switching to wool socks.  I wear Smartwool socks while riding.  Double
check your shoe size.

I do 375 mile weekend rides all the time. Reallly. Dog miles. -- Jay
Beattie.

P.S. -- I agree with everyone here that hot foot is a fit/nerve
problem, although my feet do sweat when I wear shoes or socks that do
not breathe. I use Specialized or Peterson insoles that help with my
high arches and take a little pressure off the ball of my foot.-- Jay
Beattie.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Colin Campbell said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:33:20 -0800, Colin Campbell
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My point is that feet don't actually get very hot while riding the bike,
because it's a no-impact workout. So whether it's a peripheral
neuropathy thing, a flexy-sole thing, or whatnot, it almost certainly
isn't a shoe ventilation thing.

What model of Sidi are you using?

Sidi Genius 5, the only model that is available in a narrow width.

It's not a sole-flex issue, or if it is, there's no cure.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:31:13 +0100, Andrew Price <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:31:31 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

[---]

Quoted message said:

It's hard to realize that your feet are going numb when you can feel
them burning. Who bothers to test their toes for sensation?

A doctor will have you close your eyes while he touches your feet with
a very thin wire. He won't take long, won't go double-or-nothing, and
won't try again with a thicker wire. You can try it yourself if you
have a lovely assistant. (It's awfully hard to do on your own.)

The progress of the disease can be so slow that truly dim-witted
victims can take several years to figure out what's going on, even
with a family history.

Or so I hear. I'm still in denial. The silver lining is that my feet
no longer bother me on cold rides.

Watch out that it's not a symptom of type 2 diabetes that you're
experiencing here, rather than peripheral neuropathy. You may not be
bothered by the cold, but you won't notice if you cut your feet up
walking bare foot over a sharp object either, and that can have very
nasty consequences.

Dear Andrew,

Thanks for the warning, which is the kind of thing that the original
poster should keep in mind.

Technically, I'm in denial about a genetic syndrome, not about
diabetes or neuromas or other unpleasant possibilities. Or so the
medical community claims.

Denial in my case is harmless, since there's nothing to be done and
the other diagnoses have been ruled out. It also keeps me slightly
more alert to the possibility that I may develop diabetes or other
problems in the future--Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome doesn't provide
any protection against other problems.

(Not that I inherited CMT. I'm in denial about other things. I still
part my hair on the left. True, there are only half a dozen hairs to
part, but it's the principle of the thing.)

You're quite right about the need to watch numb feet for injuries and
infections. Luckily, my problems have been mostly embarrassing rather
than serious.

Some years ago, I began to lose one big toenail or the other on the
first motorcycle ride of the season. I'd take my boots and socks in
the parking lot and see a completely purple toenail.

By the time that I was losing both big toenails after the first ride
of each season, it was hard to pretend that I was somehow hitting
rocks hard enough to smash toenails without noticing the impacts.

Of course, if your toes are numb, then they tap-tap-tap against steel
toe-caps while you're standing and jolting down long, rocky descents
in first gear. You can't feel the tap-tap-tapping, so you don't react
normally and shift your feet the little bit needed to avoid the
problem.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Colin Campbell said:

Carl,
I hope I'm not getting old!
Colin

Dear Colin,

Yes, denial works!

Other posters have pointed out that slightly looser or stiffer shoes
might help.

Whatever the cause, I hope your burning goes away.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

OK, several of you responded that fit may be part of my problem. I'm
certainly willing to concede that that is a possibility. One thing I
didn't mention is that I've been plagued by corns on the second joint of
the second toe of both feet for a good 18 months or longer. If I had to
guess, this problem might have developed as I (1) switched to Sidi
shoes, and (2) began riding more and more. I used Diadora shoes for a
few years before changing to Sidis.

I'm trying a pair of Sidi Genius 5 shoes in 45 Narrow, rather than my
current 44.5 Narrow, to see if that helps with the corns. These new
shoes are due in a matter of days. (Why do club "deals" take so long to
process?)

But this is all self-diagnosis. How likely am I to be able to get help
with proper fitting from the folks at the bike shop? Do I need to see a
"professional"? And who would that be - a Podiatrist? Do I need to
look into custom orthotics? Might I find happiness with another shoe
brand, and how would I find that out? Should I look into semi-custom or
custom shoes like Rocket 7's?

I spend too much time on the bike to go cheap on foot comfort issues,
but I'm not sure just what to do.

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

Quoted message said:

I suffer at times from "hot foot" - the soles of one or both feet feel as
if they're on fire. The most recent occurrence was at the Tour de Palm
Springs, where temps reached 81F. That was the first time in a couple of
years I've ridden over 100 miles. (I removed my shoes at one rest stop
around the 80 mile mark for 4 - 5 minutes, and that helped, but the
sensation returned later.)

I've read that as people age, the thickness of the padding on the soles of
their feet may get thinner, and this may lead to the "hot foot" feeling.

But I'm beginning to believe that my Sidi shoes are possibly somewhat to
blame. For one thing, my feet seldom feel cold on winter mornings, and I
used to have that feeling regularly a few years back when I would commute
to work in 35F - 40F temps. There haven't been any 35F mornings this
winter, but I've ridden at 38F to 40F a few times. I used to wear double
socks on those cold mornings; now, it's just standard cycling socks.

Are there other quality brands that are better ventilated? I may need to
have an alternative to the Sidis for the warmer months.

(VeloNews studied seven brands of carbon soled shoes in the recent buyer's
guide, but didn't rate the shoes for ventilation.)

Are you sure you do not have gout? I have it. It helps to drink a lot of
water. And take Aleve. Works for me. When I get a flare-up, I can't even
walk, the pain is so great.

J.