woodcycl

I wore the SAME Shimano $110 shoes since 1992 ... believe it or not ... till last year!! Wow ... I'd say I had about 15k miles on them ... and, yes, they were falling apart. Just VERY comfortable and fit perfectly.

Now, I am wearing the new Shimano 151s (I think that is them ... the black ones with 3 velcro straps). They are more rigid, but have a good fit overall.

I have only 600 miles on them. For the past 200 miles or so I have noticed fairly extreme pain in the ball of my foot and up to my toes. This is on both feet. I bought some thin gel pads and installed them under the shoe insert in the toe-box area. It may help a bit ... possibly 10%.

This happens on nearly every ride ... and usually with the first 10 to 12 miles. Of course, the farther I ride, the more pain. I have focused on ensuring I'm riding with a level pedal stroke (i.e. NOT pointing my toes down) and I don't believe this is the problem. I'm using the entire pedal stroke (small circles) and my feet stay fairly parallel to the ground on the down-stroke.

My LBS thought the shoes may simply not be broken in yet. I guess that could be true. And, tonight on our 26 mile ride, I unclicked one foot at a time and stretched and moved my foot around for about 30 seconds each around the 20 mile mark ... and it did help some for the last 6 miles.

Thoughts?

Edited to add: I don't have flat feet - but not big arches either. I have narrow feet size 8 to 8.5 (40.5 euro) and use Look pedals/cleats. I do NOT keep the straps too tight ... as I've tried using various strap tightness to see if it would help.

tribe3

Feet tend to swell with very hot weather... try a thinner sock or no sock

woodcycl

bump ... any more ideas?

wagathon

It may be from wearing shoes that were too narrow, causing "transient paresthesia." Check it out on google (also, check out "Morton's Neuroma)." Hope this helps.

P.S., if it is the above (you probably can tell once you read up on it because you will learn where on the foot to press to see if you get any pain-feedback), and if buying wider shoes does not completely relieve the problem, there is an easy fix, but it may be hard to find it on the web (which is where I found it): assuming it is the nerve between the 3rd and 4th toes (as the literature indicates is the most frequent), try putting a small lump of something on the footpad, at the base of the those toes, as this will take the pressure off of the nerve, e.g., a thickness of ~5 thicknesses of moleskin, about 1/8-1/4" wide by about 1/2" long. Good luck.

woodcycl

Thanks wagathon! I'll check into it. Much appreciated.

Chef23

I have the same shoes and the same problem. I put some insoles in them (Superfeet) and it is better but still a problem. I am thinking of trying some different shoes.

woodcycl

Interesting Chef23! That's kind of scary given these shoes are not cheap! I have the SuperFeet in my hiking boots and love them ... they do the trick.

How many miles do you have in the shoes? This is just too strange.

What a shame ... otherwise great shoes!

Chef23

Probably 600-700 miles. It has bothered me all along.

Flynn

Same problem here........and.........same shoes! Not only do I get some pain, I also get some numbness. I think I am going to switch to a different shoe.

woodcycl

Wow, this is not good! Thanks for the feedback.

Anyone else with similar issues?

What shoes do you folks plan on trying (Chef23 & Flynn) who are currently riding the R151s?

woodcycl

Looks like eBay may be seeing my R151s up for auction in the near future! Uggh.

Flynn

I am not 100% sure what shoe I will go with. I do know that I will go for a shoe without a carbon fiber sole. Though the carbon fiber sole is stiff, and helps with the transfer of energy/power, I think it is too hard/stiff of a surface for my foot. I have narrow feet that do not have much padding on them. My LBS told me that a shoe without carbon fiber will be a lot more firgiving. And, because I am not a pro cyclist, the difference in weight should not be a factor. Also, I will most likely look for a shoe that has an adjustable buckle as well as straps. This allows the rider to easily adjust tension while riding. Hope this helps.

dno

I had the same problems with the R151's also - I think they were slightly narrow for me, although it took several rides to identify the issue etc. I changed to Specialized Pro Carbon Road Shoes and my feet are now much better - very confortable. The Specialized are not as stiff as the Shimano's and also the upper has much more forgiveness to it than the 151's so that may also be helping with the comfort, especially on 70 mile plus rides. I know lots of people love their R151's but it just didn't work for me!