zacster

I'm 62 years old and still riding a road bike. At 62 though all of the things that can go wrong with your body start going wrong. The thing that is the worst right now are my feet. I'm using Keo pedals and have Giro shoes (don't know the model at this point as they are getting old.) Anyway, I'm looking for new shoes, willing to spend some money on them, up to around $300. Sidi is my first choice, but I'm having trouble locating a shop that has sizes, in particular the Genius 7. Any others to try?

I just did a quick 10 mile ride to loosen up but I barely got going before my foot started to hurt around the outside.

deapee

I get pain in the outside of my foot if the shoe isn't a wide or isn't broken in. And my feet aren't wide. I have shimano rp3's in a wide and couldn't be happier.

Hunterdog

Think about Audax. I too was having foot issues and switched and happy I did so.

Steve B.

What exactly is hurting ?. A podiatrist told me that the feet get bigger when you age, due to the ligaments and tendons stretching after a lifetime of standing, walking, etc. I've gone from a 10.5 to 11.5 over 40 years. So maybe a different shoe ?.

I have a "hot foot" condition, which in my case is inflammation of the metatarsal of the small toe. I use wide Shimano mt bike shoes with a carbon sole (SH-XC7) which is very stiff and does a good job of supporting the foot. I also use a supportive pad under the toes to support the center of the foot and take the pressure off the small toe joint.

DougRNS

Cleat wedges and a metatarsal pad might help, shoes with a wider toe box will also help. Google mortons neuroma for YouTube videos on how to deal with these issues. I did this last year and am fine while cycling. I need metatarsal pads and arch supports in my regular shoes for comfort. My arches are falling so I also need support In the arch. Good luck.

jordanair45

Get a wide shoe. Mess around with the seat height, you could just be putting too much pressure on your foot while down stroking. Could also be your clear position. I highly recommend going to specialized and checking out their shoes. Specialized s works 6 road shoes are AMAZING.Specialized literally sells everything you need for any type of foot, or bike issue for that matter. I think the shoes run $400, however, a little out of your budget, but if you get fitted for them and do not need the wide version, you can get them on specialize clerence site for cheaper

derf36

feet are funny, and so are shoes.

My feet are sorta normal but a bit mismatched. My left is about 1/2 size bigger than my right. Shoes are always immediately comfortable on my right foot, but not the left.

Six months ago I was in the market for new road shoes. Knowing good shoes are important, I rationalized a reasonably healthy budget. I wanted Sidi's so bad, and the new offerings from Giant, or the S-Works....

Long story short, after an online purchase and return, I headed to three local shops. Tried all the big brands on and more. I wound up buying some Bontrager's that I found in the clearance bin. They fit me like Cinderella's slippers; so comfortable they disappear on the bike.

The point is not that Bontragers are the best, in fact they're probably not. But for me they're perfect because they fit me just right.

On the other hand, you may be a Sidi guy. If the shoe fits wear it.

zacster

I'm going out now to see if the shops are open yet. Maybe by 10am R&A will be open, maybe not. Anyway, I'll keep an open mind about the shoes. Also, I'm going to check positioning. It has been a long time since I adjusted things, always thinking I had it all dialed in. Maybe 10 years ago it was all dialed in, but I'm over 60 now and maybe things have changed.

I also commute on an MTB wearing gym shoes in toe clips and never have any pain. So maybe it is something about the whole road bike setup including the shoes. I needed new shoes anyway, the ratchets don't work like they used to, and for all I know that may be part of the problem too.

zacster

I ended up with Shimano RC-7 shoes. These have those new cobra gizmos for lacing. I took a ride this morning and I still have pain in a particular spot where I have some sort of foot problem. But generally it felt much better. These shoes are fairly wide, and the soles are stiff.

The Sidis I could find didn't fit, not that I could find many in my size. After trying the Shimanos, which were the very first pair I tried, nothing felt good. I ended up at 3 shops before I decided that the first pair were the best. $200 well spent. One thing I like is I can loosen/tighten while on the bike. Just twist the dial.

WhyFi

Those are nice looking shoes - I was thinking about them myself. It's also worth noting that, while they're moderately wide as-is, they also come in wide sizes, so if you need to, you might be able to order/swap them for a more roomy pair.

zacster

I don't think I need wider. These were much wider in the standard width than any other shoe I tried, most of which made me feel like I had a deformed foot. Do most people have feet that are that narrow?

JohnJ80

I'm a year younger than you but I've had perrenial foot pain until several years ago when I really went after the problem. FWIW, I also had to increase shoe size as I aged. Getting old is not for the timid.

Presuming your shoes now fit your feet properly, there are some other things you can work on.

The insoles that come in almost every shoe are pretty much garbage. So before you start with anything else, get high quality insoles that fit your feet/arches. If you don't support your feet well, when you pedal, your arches collapse and you foot will move around in the shoe. What worked for me were the Specialized Body Geometry insoles. They have a selection of main arch support (low medium and high) plus they have the best metarsal arch support that I could find (or at least the best that worked for me). I have high arches, so stabilizing those arches had a major impact on making sure the shoes fit properly, (any shoe feels good sitting at home) when under pressure on the bike.

I also wound up playing around with wedges under the cleat which helped. Turns out the problem was related to Q-factor (width between pedals). I wound up with a stock pedal with a 55mm spindle on the right and a pedal with a 59mm spindle on the left (non drive side). After this, I could remove the wedges. Speedplay offers a variety of spindle lengths. This had a major impact on foot comfort.

Also, and the thing worked and surprised me, was working on increasing my cadence. I made a concerted effort to increase my cadence from 75-80 rpm to 90rpm. That meant that in each pedal revolution to apply the same average power overall, I was doing it with less pressure on my feet on each stroke.

With all of those things, I eliminated my foot pain which would typically show up at pretty quickly, be hurting after 10 miles and be killing me after 30 miles.

J.

zacster

I had adjusted my saddle the day before I bought the shoes, in fact for riding around town looking at them. That did seem to help, but this being more a shopping expedition than a ride I may not have been stressing them as much. In any case it is now a bit more comfortable overall. I'm going to look at insoles next, and also a sorbothane pad for one spot over my foot. I need to see a podiatrist for that, and find out what this bump is, but in the meantime it pressed on the release button. Not terribly painful but I could feel it.

And for all the younger people on this forum some advice: Getting old sucks, don't do it.

JohnJ80

Good work on the saddle. If your saddle is too low, you tend to ride with your knees out. That is going to put pressure on the outside of your feet (think fully grown man riding a tricycle image).

I also have a background in ski boot fitting. It always amazes me how just a millimeter difference in the right place can make a huge difference to people (and me) when it comes to fitting feet. On a bike, everything in fit seems to impact everything else so getting a good pedal fit is important. That's how I learned about the whole pedal fit/Q-factor thing. Better Speedplay dealers have these fit kits that are made many sets of pedals that have varying spindle lengths. You can experiment with them and see what works better for you. I actually paid a fairly modest fee (I think it was $60 or so) and got a fit expert at this LBS to go through the whole process. They put your bike up on a trainer and then start playing with the pedal adjustments and spindle lengths etc.... Worked great - really helps to have someone who can watch what's going on biomechanically while you're on the bike.

J.