Soylent 

I'm trying to find the most comfortable shoes for my wife to use for spinning. She develops pain in her feet due to metatarsalgia (eliptical machine). Does anyone have any recommendations? Any experience with the Specialized BG shoes? A web search led me to Rocket 7 shoes but I'm not sure I want to drop $1500

DRietz

I think you best bet is getting her custom foot beds. I'm unsure about her condition. Is it something with her soles?

Also, isn't Rocket7 out of business? I thought they were...

Hot Potato

What kind of shoes does she use now?

ericm979

There is no "most comfortable shoe" for everyone. If there was there'd only be that one shoe manufacturer.

Your wife will have to go try on some shoes herself.

Pain in the ball of the foot may be due to having the cleats too far forward. Try moving them back 5-10 mm., or if they are all the way forward, to the midpoint of their travel. Keep the foot angle in mind... she will need to show up early to class and bring tools so she can set the cleat angle to where it is comfortable.

Soylent 

I'll have to check on the model number of her Shimanos. The injury was not secondary to cycling. As the foot ages the fat pad over the metatarsals thins. Due to a running injury she moved over to an eliptical machine. Overdoing that repetitive motion resulted in metatarsalgia. She will have to go in and try on several shoes no doubt. I was curious if anyone else had this problem and uses a shoe with specific (or better) protection for the metatarsals. Especially when standing during the class. She may have to go with an orthotic with a gel pad. Just wondering if anyone has had success with a particular shoe.

Dubbayoo

Does she supply her own pedals for the spin bike?

Hot Potato

I was thinking along the lines of shoes with less flex, but that would only help if metatarsalgia pain is similar to hot spots.

Soylent 

The Specialized Sonoma was the most comfortable shoe that she tried on. It has the BG footbed with the metatarsal button. We'll see how they work this week.

Tapeworm21

Looks like a soft sole though. Did she try it on and then walk around in it? A good bike shoe ain't meant for walkin'. Get the Motodiva, waaaaaaaay better. Even a Sprita or whatever they call it, just not that.

Soylent 

She walked in it and it was comfortable. Hopefully it will work out. A non-flexing sole would tend to put more pressure on the metatarsal area and may make her pain worse. She may require a custom footbed with a gel insert. I'll keep that shoe in mind if this one is a no-go.

Tapeworm21

Ummmmmmm...... no.

A) There's a 95% chance that a custom foot bed will be made for walking. Not cycling. Nobody makes a custom cycling footbed... Shimano "kinda" does it.
B) Nobody wears a stiffer sole on a bike and says "Ow, my feet!"
C) Anything with the word "Gel" in the bike world sucks. It's like "Organic" in the food world.

Here's whatcha do:

Buy her a cycling specific shoe. The shoe you posted is for walking and riding. Great shoe if it's going to be her main pair of shoes during the day. It's spin class so you don't have to get crazy, but $90 will get you a good shoe, $140 will get you a sweet shoe.

Otherwise you're saying, "My wife has a foot problem. She wants to ride a bike. I need the cheapest shoe I can find." Buy that Sonoma shoe and just flush that money down the toilet. She'll never wear them and never go back to spin class because her feet hurt. So NOW you're stuck with a $60 shoe nobody wears and a wife that's not in the gym. All for what, $30?

If the LBS said she needs a custom foot bed, that's his/her way of saying, "I don't know what you need.... but I'm sure someone else does."

Screw pedals, splurge on shoes.

Hot Potato

Actually, a non flexing sole tends to spread the force of pedaling over the entire foot. There isn't any way you can bend your foot to concentrate the force on one particular spot. If you keep your foot parallel to the floor, your whole foot pushes down. Unlike walking, No flex is needed to pedal. When I use a flexible shoe, I get pain in the same area your wife complains of, only in non medical terms it is called a hot spot. I don't know if metatarsalgia will respond to stiffer shoes. Every spin class I went to had dual sided pedals, toe strap on one side, spd on the other. Half the class clipped in, half used gym shoes.

Of course, walking in non flexing cycling shoes is like clomping around in wooden shoes. Still, I have walked miles like that without pain.

Soylent 

She has worn the shoes several times and they worked great. Very comfortable and no pain. There seems to be information scattered across the web. The most common points were:

1) Use a shoe that has a wide toe box.

2) Avoid socks that are too tight or those that are so loose that allow the foot to slide.

3) Ensure that there is a supportive foot bed.

4) There are no controlled studies that show any custom orthotic is helpful in improving metatarsalgia.

There was one controlled study that looked at forefoot pressure and pain between carbon soled cycling shoes and plastic soled cycling shoes. They were able to show that the stiffer carbon soled cycling shoes increased forefoot pressure almost 20% over plastic soled cycling shoes and that this could lead to worsening of forefoot pain.