Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • talk to me about cleat wedges
  • muddydwarf
    Free Member

    Specifically ones for Shimano SPD-SL systems.
    I have some Diadora road shoes fitted with the above, i have a dodgy ankle/upper instep due to some tendon damage & i want to try to lift the outside edge of my right foot a little.
    How do they work, how are they fitted & where can i find them?

    Ta.

    crikey
    Free Member

    Might be better to try a bit of packing under the insole in your shoe first; less messing and easier to reverse?

    muddydwarf
    Free Member

    Ive got some padded insoles that are shaped to do that, will give them a spin tomorrow night. My problem is having Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome which has given me some really odd shaped feet, high arches, hammer toes, weak ankles and muscle wastage.

    kcr
    Free Member

    Try self adhesive shoe felt (from Boots etc) cut to shape and layered up under your insoles to give the desired lift.

    crikey
    Free Member

    Mountain Feet in Marsden do custom moulded insoles, might be worth a chat with Simon?

    Otherwise, try making a wedge or a number of wedges; just copy the shape of the cleat and slice it a bit wonky like a slice of bread that my daughter manages to cut…Grrr.

    You’ll need longer bolts, maybe.

    muddydwarf
    Free Member

    Mountain Feet sounds like a good idea, perhaps some custom orthotics are the way forward, good idea!
    I’ll have a look for that felt as well kcr 🙂

    crikey
    Free Member

    You could say that bloke who works with the bloke you used to have a shop with suggested it. 😆

    fubar
    Free Member

    I’ve not tried him myself yet but this guy is just over the hill in Ripponden:
    http://www.fit2ride.cc/

    He is on this forum sometimes too.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    I used to use specialized bg shoes with a combination of ITS wedges (in the shoe) and cleat wedges. Worked perfectly when set up as part of a dynamic bike fit that tracked the knee.

    Then I saw a biomechanist who made some hard nylon orthotics and prescribed certain core exercises. I’ve since been back for a fit with the same guy and no longer need wedges inside or outside the shoe.

    My conclusion? They’re great for compensating around a problem but it’s still better to address the root cause if you can. (problem is, a lot of the time, the medical profession think naming a problem is the end of the job instead of working to correct alignment and muscle imbalance.)

    muddydwarf
    Free Member

    To be fair, my problems are a hereditary condition that has been ‘stabilised’ – it cant be corrected – with some ankle/arch tendon damage on top. Whilst i can eventually heal the tendon, the foot shape & Peroneal muscle wastage is a genetic thing & i just have to deal with it.
    On MTB’s with SPD pedals its not so much a problem getting a good fit as long as i replace cleats fairly often.
    SPD-SL seems to be very position sensitive & i need to get as close as i can to there being little to no pain. That’s relative of course, my feet hurt pretty much all the time but its background noise unless i get the positioning wrong.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    Got mine from cyclefit in London. I fitted them myself and use them with both a wedge inside the shoe (specialized BG ones) and a sidas custom footbed in one pair and specialized BG footbeds in another. They are 3 point ones for Look keo’s so I presume they are the same as spd-sl?

    TiRed
    Full Member

    I put an extra washer between the sole of the shoe and the cleat. Cheap, fast and easy to test. This was on the insides to correct for my feet sticking out (a lot). In the event, the effect was modest but I felt pedal action was better – my knees tracked vertically.

    You could try the same with a waher on the outside instead. The shims looked like overkill to achieve the same effect.

Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

The topic ‘talk to me about cleat wedges’ is closed to new replies.