Anyone played around much with this sort of thing? What were you trying to resolve and did it work? Thanks.

Yes had them done for me by njd sport as part of my bike fit.

Worked a treat, makes my bow legs straighter and feels more efficient.

Less knee pain too I think.

Yes, had some pretty nasty hotspots on my road bike caused my a quite big forefoot varus (apparently…) and these sorted them out a treat.

I’d second NJD in Clitheroe. Not cheap but sorted me out 3-4 years ago and been great since. Not measured power output before and after but it felt like a considerable increase (both insole wedges and shims under the cleats). Knees track much straighter – would recommend seeing someone.

use them to keep knee tracking straight, wedge (specialised) inside shoe under a Sidas custom footbed and a cleat shim on each cleat. cant really ride without them as knee will brush top tube and i get itb issues. they do exactly what they were prescribed to do.

NJD is excellent, it’s true but… after seeing him I messed around for ages with wedges and ended up buying some better shoes, which are supremely comfortable and close-fitting. Last week I picked up the old shoes by mistake and only realised when I reached my buddy’s place, so had to wear them. Lo and behold, the old outer-foot discomfort came back. My conclusion? It was the fault of the shoes.

I put an extra washer on the inside bolts of my road shoes (KEO cleats). It canted my knees out appropriately. Felt no difference. Fore-aft cleat position made more difference, as did angle (neutral). My legs are the same length and my feet point at a classic ten-to-two, so shimming might have been useful, but wasn’t. My knees don’t quite brush the top tube though.

Off-road I wear Specialized and Shimano shoes with spds, not noticed the difference in canting there either!

Thanks all. Got about a 1cm leg length discrepancy and it’s been suggested I should try a shim. Had a quick spin lunchtime with one. Didn’t feel much difference with just 3mm in there but I did notice the power balance seemed to be a lot more even than usual. Shall stick with it for a while and do some more testing.

I use them from the other side- as a bike fitter, and as a rider (in road shoes). Seem to work well for lots of people, however not everyone. It can depend on if the lateral movement comes from the shape of the foot, or movement higher up the leg.

Some people (myself included) feel more benefit from a well made custom footbed (sidas are excellent as Mr Smith says) the from external wedges etc.

With leg length the advice is generally to shim half of the difference as your body will be so used to compensating for it shimming the whole 1cm will likely throw you off the other way.

Finally I also think that some people are surprised by how much difference fore/aft and lateral adjustment of cleats makes, especially if you have something like speedplay pedals with lots of adjustability.

Road or mtb?

I have tapered shims on my road shoes to counteract my flat arches (knee pain went pretty much straight away) – definitely worth it, but difficult to get right without a full bike fit.

Didn’t have so much of a problem on the mtb, but as for the smaller cleat the problem from what I’ve seen is fixed through custom insoles.

+1 for custom footbeds.Can’t ride without them.Including on flats!