Cycling Shoes and Cyclists Feet

Chris has a shoe/foot problem, his foot or more precisely, his heel is moving around in his shoe, this is a common problem with cycling shoes and cyclist’s feet, we discuss the problem and the possible cure

Question: I am having trouble finding cycling shoes that fit. It seems that if my heal isn’t sliding out of the shoe, then my toes are pressed against the toe box. Conversely, if I allow for room in the toe box, my heal slides around.

Today I tried on Sidi, Shimano, Time with and without SmartFeet inserts and I was unsuccessful.

Please tell me you have some suggestions other than plastic surgery for my feet.

Thanks in advance!

Chris.

Hi Chris,
I think surgery is probably a bit drastic. Most cyclists have problems with their shoes or feet, which ever way you look at it. One of the most famous shoe adapter was Greg Lemond who used to cut bits from the inside of his shoes to allow a better more comfortable fit, this was in the days before shoe inserts. You mention SmartFeet inserts, do you use them? If so why are you trying shoes without them? OK lets move on from there, when you have shoes that fit you around the toe area, you say that your heel moves around in the heel, it maybe that your pelvis is out of line, so get your back checked by an osteopath or similar, once they have corrected your position you might find that you are pedaling with your legs in more of a straight line, so your heel shouldn’t swivel so much.

You don’t say what pedals you use, it could be that your heel moves around naturally, so if your pedals have more float then the shoe will move around with your heel, which will stop the feeling of them moving around independently.

Have you tried DMT? They have quite a tight plastic heel cup and hold the heel well in place, look for similar fitting; I’m surprised that you didn’t find either the Time or Sidi to fit as these are usually very accommodating.

Have you looked at your position on the bike, if you are sitting too high then as you stretch it could be pulling your foot out or in, try dropping the saddle, no more than a quarter of an inch and see if that makes any difference.

We started talking about shoe inserts and this could be your answer, if you haven’t already got them I suggest you try them or the shoe plate wedges which changes the angle your foot sits in the pedal or can allow for different length legs. All is not lost; there are still a few things you can try, let us know how you get on.