I get hot spots on the bottom of my feet. I am looking for a new pair of cycling shoes. I bought some relatively inexpensive Bontrager shoes. They have proven to be horrible for my feet. My old pair were made by Specialized. They are heavier with a thicker base. Any suggestions from any of you? I plan to do a long ride in August. I am asking this especially to those of you who have trouble with foot pain.

My understanding is that hot spots can be caused by various types of shoe fit issues. Mine were due to the sole being too narrow. I'm not familiar with Bontrager, but I believe Specialized runs a tad wider than most other brands in the toe box area.

Try on as many shoes as you can and decide which fit the best. That's the only way to do it.

I get that too but hugely helped by a G8 insole and Shimano S-Phyre's; I don't get it at all now unless on a hot day and I keep my shoes tightened too long.

I have a pair of the new Specialized S-Works Torch since they claim to be good for dealing with hot spots but I haven't tried them yet.

Trying on shoes is good, but riding in them Is different. I’d go for a high end shoe and hope they work for you.

What kind of hotspots and where ?. I get them under the smallest toe in the joint. In my case it's an inflammation caused by lack of support to the middle of the foot, seems as you age (my podiatrist tells me) the ligaments and tendons in the middle of the foot where the toes meet the main foot, stretch and thus provide less support, thus the pressure migrates to the outer toe area. I found using a shoe with a carbon mid sole (or a full carbon sole) provides the support I needed and my inflammation went away mostly.

So one solution is a sole with better support as found on a carbon shoe. I use Shimano XC-7's, in wide, very comfortable. Not cheap but worth it.

I agree with urbanknight (there are many factors that can lead to hot spots, shoe fit being a big one, especially tightness in the toebox, instep and forefoot areas) and AlgarveCycling (some fit issues can be helped with a good quality footbed, most of the ones sold with cycling shoes are minimal at best - I am convinced that Sidi fully intends their footbeds to be replaced with a footbed that works for the purchaser).

Also, hot weather can make hotspots appear earlier in the ride, and can make them worse. My feet can swell during a hot ride, especially later in the day when the pavement heats up and you get heat radiating from the road affecting your feet. Pay attention during a hot ride and loosen shoe straps/buckles before your hotspots start.

Tight Socks will give a Hot Foot.

I've been watching too many bike fit videos lately so I was also going to bring up g8 insoles

On all my foot wear I use to ride, they're a bit more loose than snug, I removed the insoles, and use thin socks. No discomfort whatsoever on the feet on nonstop 6 hr rides.

The irony is I only get "hot spots" when there's too much cushion under my feet like a soft insole and thick socks.

Funny, I teste at least a dozen shoes and Bontrager made the only pair I liked. Ballista Knit fwiw, and I added professional insoles.

My suggestion would be to try as many as you can. Unlike saddles, you can go to store and put on the shoes. Go for a pair that is if anything a little too large, like me you can always add professional insoles that will have a bigger volume than the flimsy default ones. Also, always better to be too big than too narrow.

Yup. Many newbies don't believe it, but IME you're absolutely right, too much cushioning is worse, sometimes much worse, than too little. That goes for saddles, bibs/shorts, gloves, as well as shoes. For shoes, if the extra cushioning constricts your toes/forefoot/instep, then you're likely to be a hurting unit. Not only hotspots, but cramps (foot, calf) are also possible outcomes.

I have a stand-up desk at work, I stand on thin industrial carpet on a concrete slab. I tried a cushion pad to stand on, and I hated it. I have good shoes with a good after-market footbed, and with the cushion pad I was getting extra pressure on my arches. I gave the pad away, and my feet are much happier.

In my experience Steve B. nailed it. Both the sole and Wide version in my size.

Some shops have test saddles that you can borrow with a deposit. They're often wildly decorated with something like "test" emblazoned across them to make sure you bring them back, but it's a great way to try them out properly.

"Some".

In general I think it can be hard to find many saddles you can just test. Because the shops that do do this, won't have every model.

I did find an online retailer that said if there are no mounting marks, they take it back, if there are, they do but keep some of the money. So I will tape the crap out of those rails to test a few saddles.

I've found arch support to be helpful in alleviating "hot foot" issues.