Pain in my foot - ouch!

[Danny]

I have suddenly started getting quite bad pains in my right foot, which I have never had before in years of cycling. The area of pain goes from the ball of my foot, about the cleats, to my third and fourth toes, and tends to start after about 40 miles.

The only obvious thing that has changed is that at the start of the year I started wearing a new pair of cycling shoes - Specialized Tahoe's. I went for these as they are wide fitting, and on the advice of my LBS I got these a size bigger than my old Shimano shoes which were very tight fitting (but had stretched a bit over the years).

My foot does move around a little bit in the shoes so I am wondering whether it is possibly caused by my toes banging against the front of the shoe. The problem seems to have really started after the weather warmed up and I started wearing thinner socks thus allowing my foot to move around a bit more.

Alternatively I am wondering whether it could be to do with the position of the cleat, which I fitted so that it was the same distance from the tip of the shoes as the cleat on my old Shimano shoe.

Any suggestions?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Between your 3rd & 4th toe sounds like Morton's neuroma (something I suffer from in both feet). Mine was caused by my shoes being too tight and I didn't pick up on the early warning signs that you have possibly picked up on. Can I please suggest you speak with your GP/see a podiatrist as soon as possible. you don't want this condition.

Also
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/mortons-neuroma.101405/#navigation
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/any-mortons-neuroma-sufferers-here.117523/

are just a couple of the cc threads on the matter.

 

[Rooster1]

If you still have the old shoes (however stinky and knackered they are), put the cleats back on and try them for an hour - see what happens. Then you will know either way if it is you or the shoes.

 

[Danny]

If you still have the old shoes (however stinky and knackered they are), put the cleats back on and try them for an hour - see what happens. Then you will know either way if it is you or the shoes.

I was thinking of that - but as the pain kicks in after cycling about 40 miles I'll need to wear them for more than an hour as I am not that fast!

 

[Rooster1]

I was thinking of that - but as the pain kicks in after cycling about 40 miles I'll need to wear them for more than an hour as I am not that fast!

Sorry, I misread: 40 miles, OK so after say 3 hours. I can't do 40 miles an hour either!

 

[Danny]

Between your 3rd & 4th toe sounds like Morton's neuroma (something I suffer from in both feet). Mine was caused by my shoes being too tight and I didn't pick up on the early warning signs that you have possibly picked up on. Can I please suggest you speak with your GP/see a podiatrist as soon as possible. you don't want this condition.

Also
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/mortons-neuroma.101405/#navigation
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/any-mortons-neuroma-sufferers-here.117523/

are just a couple of the cc threads on the matter.

Hmm...doesn't sound like a very good thing to have

The pain actually goes away as soon as I stop cycling, and doesn't happen when I am walking, running, or hiking. Would that that still be consistent with Morton's neuroma?

 

[vickster]

My Tahoe shoes make my feet hurt too

Try adding some Specialized footbeds - there are 3 types depending on the pronation of your feeties

 

[Crackle]

I get hotspots with Taho's, it could well be the shoe.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Hmm...doesn't sound like a very good thing to have

The pain actually goes away as soon as I stop cycling, and doesn't happen when I am walking, running, or hiking. Would that that still be consistent with Morton's neuroma?

yes, if there is not yet too much damage done to the nerve

 

[clid61]

dont do 40 miles?

 

[Dragonwight]

I have a set of older Tahoe`s too sounds like whatever the issue its a minor adjustment if its happening after 40 miles. I switched from them recently to a pair of Spesh Experts and had a similar issue. I loosened the shoes a bit and checked the cleat position, turned out that even though it was in the same position as on the old Tahoe`s the actual position on the shoe was different when measured with a ruler from the heel to the cleat. I had assumed the actual fitting would be the same for all spesh shoes. Might be worth a check with a ruler rather than just by eye. I also replaced the insoles with my old ones as new Spesh shoes have that silly metatarsal button which is a real pain.

 

[Danny]

OK - since I first posted I have been experimenting with doing alternate long rides in my old shoes, and the newish Tahoe's, and I am definitely getting a lot more pain with the Tahoe's. However I am a bit confused about the advice here about the Specialized inserts

My Tahoe shoes make my feet hurt too

Try adding some Specialized footbeds - there are 3 types depending on the pronation of your feeties

This is probably a stupid question but I assume you mean replacing the original innersoles with the Specialized footbeds, rather than putting the new the footbeds on top of the original innersoles.

My bigger question is whether the separate footbeds you can buy actually provide that much extra support compared to the standard "Body geometry" innersoles that come with the shoe. The main difference, apart from the extra arch support, seems to be the "metatarsal button".

I can see that the "metatarsal button" offers a bit of extra support and stiffness but it doesn't look that substantial to me. Even the guy in the Edinburgh Bike Co-op shop who I spoke to about certainly wasn't convinced that it would make a major difference - he suggested investing in a good pair of cushioned innersoles designed for running shoes instead.

I would also be interested to know why @Dragonwight thinks that the matatarsal button "is a real pain".

Anyway, in summary, I am more than happy to fork out for some footbeds if they are likely to make a difference but would first be interested in knowing what other people's experience is of using them.

 

[vickster]

I think I just put them on top in my Sonomas as the shoes were a bit big

I can't remember when I last wore the tahoes as the cleats are in the wrong place but have rounded off the bolt heads while trying to remove some skank's chewing gum from the holes

 

[Danny]

I have a set of older Tahoe`s too sounds like whatever the issue its a minor adjustment if its happening after 40 miles. I switched from them recently to a pair of Spesh Experts and had a similar issue. I loosened the shoes a bit and checked the cleat position, turned out that even though it was in the same position as on the old Tahoe`s the actual position on the shoe was different when measured with a ruler from the heel to the cleat. I had assumed the actual fitting would be the same for all spesh shoes.

Getting the cleat position right has been more of a challenge than I expected.

My old shoes were Shimanos and a size smaller, so I was expecting to have to do a few adjustments before I got it right. However I have been trying to calculate the cleat position by measuring the distance from the toes of the old shoes, rather than from the heels (as you did). Was this the wrong thing to do, or should I not even be trying to use the old shoes as a baseline as they were so different?

 

[Danny]

I can't remember when I last wore the tahoes as the cleats are in the wrong place but have rounded off the bolt heads while trying to remove some skank's chewing gum from the holes

Oops - that must have been annoying.