surgeonstone

colombo357

Long term solution: loosen up your hip flexors.

https://www.mensjournal.com/health-f...x-it-20150721/

This article isn't an exact parallel to cycling foot pain, but I think the concept is similar.

Before a ride, do a warp up routine with stretching as well as some walking lunges and body weight squats. Also stretch your feet and roll them out on a tennis ball. You can roll out your feet during your ride breaks with a golf ball.

Short Term Solution: Try different shoes. I have $400 Specialized S-works road shoes collecting dust because they were killing my feet. My previous shoes were Specialized Road Comp (cheaper, more flexy) shoes and had no foot pain for years. With the S-works, I tried SPD-SL and Speedplay cleats in all sorts of positions, along with cleat wedges, Body Geometry insoles, etc. Nothing worked.

Switched to my Sidi Dominator MTB shoes (which I also use for MTB) with MTB pedals and the problem more or less went away.

I suspect that as I gradually get more flexible over time, I'll be able to ride those S-works shoes one day.

berner

There is no assurance the hot spots in the past for me had the same cause as your hot spots. I once had hot spots in a pair of hiking boots in which I'd installed a new set of Superfeet foot beds. The hot spots went away with a new set of foot beds from Sole that had very high arch support. I've had the same problem with ski boots until installing food beds with good arch support with a metatarsal pad under the ball of foot.

Usually, performance shoes or boots are snug to begin so that the foot is not sloshing around. What seems to happen, according to an article by a ski boot fitter, is that such boots/shoes must be well supported by a good foot bed because there is no extra space. The foot bed is half the solution for those of us with a high arch. The other half is due to the geometry of the foot. Unless one is very flat footed, the ball of the foot has a bit of a hollow just as the palm of the hand does. With weight on the foot, that hollow is squished flat, making the foot wider in the shoe. With a performance fit in the shoe, that shoe is suddenly too narrow.

Clem von Jones

Are your cleats all the way back? That's what is required, then move your saddle forward by a corresponding measure.

DrIsotope

I might be missing something, but the Scott Ergo Logic is the name of the anatomic inserts-- what model of shoes are they in? SPD? SPD-SL?

Lazyass

Slide your cleats all the way back. And have your feet checked for pronation, you may need foot wedges.

canklecat

Same occasional problem with my Scott shoes and inserts. I just had to keep experimenting with various additional inserts, socks, and adding or removing the Velcro-attached supplemental doodads until I found the sweet spot. What works for one foot doesn't work for the other.

The hotspots occurred only during rides when I was hammering continually, notably on fast group rides but also on a couple of solo efforts at time trials of 5-10 miles. As soon as I eased back on the effort the problem cleared up.

Strap tension is another factor. My right foot is very picky about strap tension.

For me, I had to remove the Velcro-attachable doodads from the Scott-supplied insert only on the right foot. No problems on the left foot.

I added some very thin 3/4 sole Dr. Scholl's gel inserts, same ones I wear in all my shoes. But I had to remove the arch support stiffener from the right foot. Apparently there are significant differences between my feet.

Yesterday I bought a set of Profoot ultralight orthotics to try in my Scott shoes. Basically same shape as the Scott-supplied inserts, but without the detachable doodads. A little lighter than the Scott insert, a little softer, otherwise similarly shaped. No vents, so I may need to drill or poke those in later but the weather is cool enough at the moment.

And I prefer slightly cushy socks -- not too thick or thin. Made a significant difference in comfort. And I don't even care that the most comfortable socks I've found happen to be anklets. I ain't proud. To get similar comfort with thinner socks I had to combine very thin compression socks with equally thin anklets. But the single pair of sorta-cushy anklets was most comfortable. I think they're Hanes? Some sorta silly racing stripe graphics on them. Now I just need to remember where I bought 'em and get more -- I think it was at the Dollar General.

surgeonstone

surgeonstone

jwh20

Indeed! I too have had considerable pain when using the standard super-stiff soled road cycling shoes. I switched to some MTB shoes, which are nowhere near as stiff and that solved the problem. I also really like the Shimano SPD MTB cleats and the ability to walk normally when wearing them. Yes, they are not as stiff so you are going to lose a bit of efficiency but for us "mortal" cyclists that's of no consequence. I'll trade a bit of efficiency for pain-free riding any day of the week!

canklecat

I wouldn't swap my rigid sole road shoes. They've fixed my problem with painful arch cramps. Just needed to fiddle around with insoles and socks for each foot to find the sweet spot between support and comfort.

Psychocycles

On my first road bike I had cheap Giro road shoes & cheap road pedals (Forte something from Performance Bikes). When I upgraded bikes, I swapped to PD-M520 mountain bike pedals & mid-level mountain bike shoes (at the time I was biking to work & taking the train home, so recessed cleats were a requirement). My hot spots, which like you described, were awful & made it almost impossible to ride, went away immediately. May be worth looking at new shoes or pedals.

Fiery

For me, wider/larger shoes helped, insoles with metatarsal pads helped, less stiff soles helped, and moving the cleats back helped. I had to apply all of these to finally resolve hot spots and toe numbness.

Changing clipless systems didn't make a difference though.

evan326

What size?

colombo357

44 (about 90% sure). Will have to check again when I go home. I'm normally a 45, but Specialized changed their sizing over the years.

exime

too much moisture and/or movement. try a wool sock. maybe a touch thicker.

ThermionicScott 

There are a lot of possible contributors to hot spots. A big one for me is having the shoes too tight.

evan326

Thanks, had to ask. Agreed on specialized shoes, my first shoes were shimano 47's my sworks are 46 and fit like they were made just for me.
/thread derail

surgeonstone

surgeonstone

surgeonstone

jwh20

The ones I'm using right now are Giro similar to these:

https://www.performancebike.com/shop...lusive-11-2562

f4rrest

I have a pair of these, and they are the opposite of stiff, for sure.

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jwh20

Opposite of stiff would be this:


I find the Giro MTB shoes to be an acceptable compromise between the extreme stiffness of most road-oriented shoes and what I need to avoid cycling pain in my feet. YMMV.

Munk69

I was dealing with some severe hot spots and I switched from Lake Shoes to Sidi and I started using their crappy insole and my hot spots went away instantly. For me, less is better with just enough room in the shoe for minor swelling during the ride. It is definitely not the standard solution, but it worked for me.

FWIW - The Lakes were wide and I was using a heat mold sole.