I have the Pro Carbon shoes and they fit well. I the the fit generally well in that I have no knee pain, etc. As a result, I am hesitant in changing the cleat position, saddle, etc.

However, if my ride is over 25 miles the ball of my left foot starts to heat up and be sore. I don't have flat foot and I was reading Specialized website about how the blue and green footbeds will provide better arch support and I was wondering if anyone had been in similar situation.

I used to get "hotfoot" with my old shoes. First thing I did was to loosen the front-most strap on the shoe to give my foot a little more room--voila, no more hotfoot. New shoes have a wider toe box, so it's not an issue, but check that you don't have the front strap too tight.

I use custom "foot levelers" as the arch support is ~3/4" thick. Footbeds wouldn't do squat for me.

Another known help for hotfoot is to slide the cleat back (towards the middle of your foot). The specialized footbeds main difference is arch support, red is the flatest feet, blue the middle, green major arch support.

No, it won't help. Arch support has nothing to do with hotfoot.

Could be that shoes are too tight, pedals are wrong for you or in the wrong position, fit problems and/or pedalling technique puts uneven pressure on the forefoot, lots of stuff...

Thanks. That will save $50. I will try sliding the cleat back a bit.

It's funny that you posted this because I have the same shoes, the same question and got the same answer. I had some luck just using cycling specific socks for some reason- maybe because they're thinner?

Well I am already wearing the thin cycling socks (DeFeet.) I do have room to slide for the cleat so I will give it a shot.

Good luck! Do let us know how it goes.

I moved it down a notch and also didn't pull the straps as tight and things improved quite a bit. The bottom of my foot stills get hot but at least there is no pain on the ball of the foot.

Glad to hear it. FWIW, I set the two velcro straps on the forefoot so they're just right, and then leave them. I may have to adjust them in the winter when I ride with thicker socks, but try and leave them alone. It's pretty easy to get in and out just with the top foot strap.

Good advice. Thanks.

Before I picked up my (blue) Specialized footbeds, I still had some pain/discomfort on the ball of my foot and the outside of the foot. The insert corrected both issues after loosening straps and moving cleats did not entirely resolve the issue.

My wife is a physical therapist.

The Specialized foot beds are based upon real science and are a shim to correct forefoot varus problems. They essentially shim your big toe a couple of mills. These work for specific people. My wife prescribes another brand that are the same price, but not as comfortable.

Planta facitious is often the cause of your symptoms. It is usually treated by intensive manual therapy(massage) to the forefoot/ball area. You can do it yourself by stepping on a tennis ball. Roll it around and work out the stiff sore trigger points.

I use the Specialized foot beds in all of my shoes. They make a huge difference in my cycling/running. They keep your knee over your big toe when you squat or pedal.

My wife does not find that traditional orthotics are affective. They encourage weak feet. It is possible to encourage your feet to be stronger(ie fix collapsed arches). I broke a pair of expensive carbon fiber running specific orthotics about 10 years ago. They never helped. You end up weight bearing through the arches which is incorrect.

Get a tennis ball and hammer where it hurts.

I have the red blue and green footbeds with the spesh shoes and shims. Ive tried all combinations of bed and shim and found that one shim with the blue or green bed works very well for me.

The footbads are for arch support, they dont actually shim your feet but come in the pack with some plastic shims to fit in the shoe as well. I would say that its worth trying the blue bed and seeing what effect the shims have for you, they might help. I find I am way more comfortable for trying them and they were well worth the cost. I also find the blue bed helpsd with overall comfort on both feet - i have one flat foot and one normal but both feel better with the blue bed. The green beds are probably a little bit over the top for most people without a real specific foot problem they are trying to correct.

They will also help keep your knees aligned but if ypou have no knee pain now then be very wary of how you feel when you fit them as you could solve your foot problem but create a knee problem in the process which is really not wht you want to do.

I've pondered if I could make them work in a hiking boot, but had thought that the boot is not shaped correctly since it's wider than a cycling shoe....

Thank you guys/gals for the advice. I think what I am going to do is to find a shop that has the Specialized Arch-Ometer and see what it recommends. Hopefully the staff at the shop won't try to push me for a BG fit From what the site shows, the blue apply for both cases while the green one is good for extreme case. I have the red one in my shoes and they are for flat feet. And my feet are definitely not flat...

I read on the package for my Specialized footbeds that they only advise using them in cycling shoes only. Are they perhaps not meant to bear the load and absorb the shock that traditional inserts are made to?

My wife must be illiterate. I'm curious how she got through 5 years of physio school and 2 years of advanced training in bio mechanics and movement/gait.

Kinda like those cycling specific Pearl Izumi socks...

The actual shoe beds are canted. You can add the shims for more cant(double sided carpet tape works the best). All of the BG Specialized shoes have a builtin cant. Most people find that their leg is more stable when riding out of the saddle.

I ment all of my shoes :biking, hiking, cycling, walking.

I have a few pairs and swap them between the exercise shoes and my non-sweating shoes.

According to my wife she has seen & documented essentially the stats that Specialized and Posture Control Insoles claim. She finds that as much as half of her patients benefit. One quarter have "good" feet. The other quarter have other problems including the foot needing opposite shimming.

She also see's the left foot problem that bike fitters see all the rime. She believes its simple dominance caused by right handedness. It causes a whole body asymmetry. The majority of the population has this anatomical quirk.

"She also see's the left foot problem that bike fitters see all the rime. She believes its simple dominance caused by right handedness. It causes a whole body asymmetry. The majority of the population has this anatomical quirk."

Could you explain that more? I am not familiar with this "left foot problem".

https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...rically_120495

This is super common. Most people should adjust their cleat so the left foot is farther from the bike than the right one.

Everyone has a dominant arm. We also have a dominant foot. Your body is not symmetrical. It often has a twist. You can measure or feel it when you lie on the floor or stand against a wall. Bike fitters use either a 20mm(25.4mm=1 inch) pedal spindle extender or 1mm washers to move the foot farther from the frame.

If you ride a triple you should already have the right cleat as close to the crank arm as possible. This is because of the extra chain ring.

Close to 95% of leg length discrepancies are apparent. Meaning if you measure the bones they are exactly the same. Typically the hips are twisted up/down or fore/aft. This shows up at the foot with one collapsing and one not. The determining factor is your eyes. Your body will acclimate to injury or asymmetric parts(stronger legs/arms) by dropping one leg to keep your eyes perfectly level. Many people who break a leg will have an asymmetry. Not from the broken bone. Instead it comes from the 8 weeks you were in a full leg cast. One of my friends looks like he's still wearing a cast after 25 years.

My wife is one of those special health care practitioners who takes the time to actual figure out why people are in pain rather than applying a band aid and hoping the problem fixes itself. She does 1 1/2 hr initial evaluations and 1 hr hands on treatment(no machines or gadgets).

Thats interesting, ive never heard of the left foot problem before but i deffinately have it. I use speedplay +0.5 inch on my bike with the left foot out on the cleat and the right foot in. I thought i was just wierd......