Due to childhood cerebral palsy, my left foot tends to over pronate quite a lot, which causes my knee to point inwards. I get a painful pressure point on the ball of my foot if I ride in SPDs for any length of time and as I usually wear kneepads (I have ropey balance because of the same thing), I’ve taken a strip of paint about a foot and a half long off of my top tube as well as destroying my knee pads. I’d be interested to hear if anyone has had any joy with cycling specific insoles to support their arches and any recommendations would be appreciated.

Fizik Moulded Insoles

these are amazing

Specialized Footbeds ,they come in different levels of height to suit how much your foot turns in

I like my Specialized BG insoles – use them in my Vans and Shimano flat pedal shoes as well. However in your case with that major an issue and that much correction needed I’d have thought you’d be better off getting a proper assessment and fitting with custom orthotic insoles and/or cants fitted between shoe and cleat. Not all that cheap to get custom orthotics, but I’d argue they’re well worth the money in the difference they make to your performance and enjoyment (my running ones are only semi-custom and set me back £50 every couple of years, but without them I couldn’t run without injury).

I’ve got some of the Shimano road shoes with the heat-moulded insoles and they are superbly comfortable. They can be altered for fit prior to the moulding so might be worth looking into.

The Fizik ones work very similarly too

Does it just impact on cycling or everything else? Where in the country are you?

I use specialised footbeds for the bike and have custom orthotics for walking

I wear insoles when cycling however they are not cycling specific. They were from Boots. I started wearing them after I ruptured my achilles tendon playing football. If you suffer from pronated feet it could be something to watch.

Thanks for the feedback. I’d seen the Spesh ones, I’ll need to look to see if anyone near me does fitting. Hadn’t come across the Fizik stuff, I’ll have a look at them, too.

Onzadog, yeah I have a bit of a limp and tend to be pretty inflexible, especially my achilles tendon. I had a couple of operations when I was a kid so it’s a lot better than it would have been otherwise. Doesn’t actually stop me doing anything, I just do it at a slightly more methodical pace. I’m in Glasgow incidentally, why?

There are bike fit specialists all over the country.

I use Specialized BG footbeds and find them excellent in road and mountain bike shoes.

rj – surely this is a job for a trip to a specialist – on the NHS?
Can i suggest you get an appt. with your gp and see if they’ll refer you to the podiatrist – I only say this because my foot has been playing up (plantar probs, I think), on and off, for the last 6 months. GP referred me to the podiatrist, i’ve an appt. in 4 weeks time…
I already use stock Superfeet (black ones) in my cycling shoes.

Spesh user here too.

I have very flat feet and have NHS-provided orthotics that I use in all of my footwear.

Can i suggest you get an appt. with your gp and see if they’ll refer you to the podiatrist – I only say this because my foot has been playing up (plantar probs, I think), on and off, for the last 6 months. GP referred me to the podiatrist, i’ve an appt. in 4 weeks time…

Or just pay to see one privately a bit sooner. As I said above, it’s really not all that expensive in the grand scheme of things (and I can’t really see why the NHS should pay for me to be able to run when I can still do lots of other sports without them).

i use orthotics in everyday use and also in my cycling shoes as i over pronate due to having a pelvis thats not quite right due to a car crash..

Rj, I wondered where you were because I was going to suggest my biomechanist. He’s not cycling specific but some of the stuff he’s done for other people with serious issues or restrictions is most impressive. However, he’s in Loughborough.

Another for spesh over here, if you go to a concept store they can analyse your pedal stroke and use shims to help correct it as well.

Just got my NHS custom made orthotics – 18 months after first visiting GP with knee pain. Enquired privately and was quoted “up to £250”

started off with specialized bg ones then went to custom formed Sidas ones which are great, i also use a cleat shim and a BG wedge under the insole