Getting into the gritty end of the Zwift build me up training plan, with several 90 min and 120 min sessions to look forward to, I’ve worked out I’m suffering from severe ‘hot foot’ – the pads on the balls of my feet swelling up – if you’ve suffered this you’ll know it means absolute agony when it kicks in proper, it’s stopping me from completing the harder sessions.

I’ve never had the problem riding normally but I also haven’t used clips much outside for a while, my shoes are a bit too tight and this combined with the solid, constant pressure through the pedals that a zwift workout requires is bringing it on big time.

I’m going to try my other more worn in shoes but have realised I probably need to buy some looser fitting shoes. Loosening them to the point of my foot moving in the shoes isn’t helping, and I’ve moved the cleats right back.

But, should I be going for stiff soles, or softer soles? There’s contradictory advise out there, some places say a softer shoe allows pressure over the entire foot rather than just on the balls. Others say a stiffer shoe is better.

If I need a softer shoes, recommendations for a wide fitting clipless MTB type shoe and wide platform spd pedal? I can then use these on the MTB as although I normally ride flats, being on clips would be handy on big rides and rough stuff on my hardtail.

Cheers – help me sort of this pain!! 😩

road shoes & pedals, unless that’s what you have – or REALLY stiff mtb shoes if you want to keep yr mtb pedals

Lake wide fit shoes with carbon soles solved my problem of numbness which felt like the SPD (m520) pedal was imprinted into my foot. And I went for spesh body geometry high arch insoles at the same time. Still have the small pedals but haven’t had the numbness since.

I’m using m540 pedals and northwave xc shoes which are up there with the stiffest xc MTB shoes.

So are you saying this advice:

Shoe Sole:

Plastic vs Carbon? A stiffer shoe sole is more efficient but may contribute to the pressure on the balls of your feet. A sole that flexes, in theory, is less efficient but may provide some relief in terms of foot pressure. If the hot spot is across the entire ball of the foot, a more flexible sole will help spread the pressure to other areas of the foot. If the hot spot is centralized to one location of your foot, a stiffer sole may be the answer because the pedal may be causing pressure in that one location.

Is rubbish? https://www.trifind.com/blog/cycling-hot-foot/

My pain is across the whole ball of my foot, however it could just be due to the shoes being too tight. I’ve taken the insole out, and with my full weight on it my balls of my feet do overhang by a bit. So wider shoes may fix it, however I’d rather not fix one thing then cause another by getting too stiff/too soft shoes.

Just found these https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Lake/CX176-Wide-Fit-Road-Shoes/L2FB?

And measuring my feet they’re 290mm long X 111mm wide, which puts me (+5mm length and allowing for thin socks) at a 46 or 46.5 😬

I’m a 45/11 in all my other shoes!

So are you saying this advice:

Shoe Sole:

Plastic vs Carbon? A stiffer shoe sole is more efficient but may contribute to the pressure on the balls of your feet. A sole that flexes, in theory, is less efficient but may provide some relief in terms of foot pressure. If the hot spot is across the entire ball of the foot, a more flexible sole will help spread the pressure to other areas of the foot. If the hot spot is centralized to one location of your foot, a stiffer sole may be the answer because the pedal may be causing pressure in that one location.

Is rubbish?

IANAShoeFitter but it sho’ sounds like kack to me – stiff sole & decent insole is what I’d be looking for if I was on MTB pedals
(road pedals reduce the need for ded stiff soles to an extent because the contact patch for the shoe on pedal is a bit/lot bigger depending what you buy (shimano are big))

(did you draw round your feet? – plenty of opportunity for error there, in the margin your pen/pencil creates.  Better to use heel against wall and then book or piece of wood at your toe tip and then measure book<–>wall

I think

(did you draw round your feet? – plenty of opportunity for error there, in the margin your pen/pencil creates. Better to use heel against wall and then book or piece of wood at your toe tip and then measure book<–>wall

I think

I did that for the length, just did the width again and I’m coming out at 106mm, my feet were still swollen from the ride when I measured before, although it was about an hour after the ride, and they weren’t the worst I’ve had them.

My 2x pairs of spd shoes say 29cm in them so I’m confident the length is correct. Width wise I think I’d rather go bigger and allow for growth, I can always wear slightly thicker socks.

but it sho’ sounds like kack to me – stiff sole & decent insole is what I’d be looking for if I was on MTB pedals
(road pedals reduce the need for ded stiff soles to an extent because the contact patch for the shoe on pedal is a bit/lot bigger depending what you buy (shimano are big))

Yeah it does a bit, MTB shoes and wide pedals are looking to be the best part of 200 quid, I don’t mind spending money to be comfortable as I’ve already done 1700km on zwift this year and that’s not going to stop any time soon, but on the other hand if rather not spend hundreds on a theory.

Road shoes and pedals seem to be £120 or so all in.

Are your feet at the right angle on the pedals?

I initially used Shimano road clipless on my turbo, with some super stiff lovely Sidi carbon shoes that fit perfectly. Suffered from pain and realised it was because I’d set them up square and my left foot actually is angled heel in a bit when left to hang naturally.

Tweaked the cleat position a bit and it felt a load better although I did end up moving to mtb spds and using my normal outdoor shoes in the end, just to keep the feel the same.

Move the cleats back a few mm. as a long term roadie, I’d changed shoes and realised I got the measurement’s wrong on sme new shoes – ball of foot was too far forward. It’s really specific being clipped in – I only ride clipped in these days) but a small mis-adjustment can cause issues – really important on clipless.
The shoes I messed up on were really expensive Spesh Pro Carbon shoes, so not a cheap mistake – I got it sorted, and they are super comfy now, but it was like 3mm difference on where the cleat was.

I’m proper duck footed so I’m always heel in on the bike, my cleats are adjusted to allow for this mind you.

And I’ve moved my cleats back from the front holes to the rear, so about 7mm rearwards. Didn’t help at all, I could feel the pain starting after about 45 mins on a (relatively) easy session tonight.

I was getting it with my old Shimano spd shoes too, worse then with the new shoes, so the stiffer soles have helped.

Tempted to get a pair of Lake wide fit and some Look Keo 3 classic pedals. I’m fairly sure it’s mostly down do my shoes not being wide enough.

I’ve suffered hot foot a couple of times in my life, always with budget shoes.
Cured with stiffer shoes/boots. I absolutely believe it’s caused mostly by the sole flexing if it’s one spot, or too tight if it’s more general all over the foot.
It is easy for me though, shimano shoes fit me well, so i stick with them.

Yeah my old shoes were shimanos… 🤣

I can physically see the swelling after a ride, it’s very very obvious – it’s not a specific spot, it’s the entire ball of my foot area that’s affected. Worst in my right foot, which is very slightly bigger than the left, and I’m sure I’m imbalanced and put more power out on my right leg.

I thought northwave shoes fitted me well, but zwift is so different to my normal riding it seems to require specific kit. I’ve already gone to a channel/cut out saddle due to numbness ‘down there’ which I’ve never experienced even on 6-8hr MTB rides.

Just checked the northwave site and my shoes are ‘pro’ fit aka the narrowest.

Size 45 – 28.7cm long and 23.8-24.8cm circumference at the widest point. My feet are 26cm circumference at the widest point. Without allowing for any swelling up.

I suffer from this in the hottest days of summer…the answer I found was mesh shoes..I went with the Rapha version and I haven’t suffered since.
My record time on zwift is 3x AdZ took me about 4hrs somthing but to be fair I’ve never suffered from hot foot on the turbo, mind you I do have a big ass gym fan blasting me to keep cooling my garage.
Ventilation my friend is the key

I used to get this outdoors with my old 2-bolt shoes on longer rides, don’t recall ever having issue with my 3-bolt DHB Dorika Carbons.

https://www.facebook.com/philburtinnov/videos/how-to-solve-numb-feet-hot-foot-while-cycling/387720489552302/

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bike_Fit/VMkEBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=phil+burt+shoes+hot+foot+bike+fit&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover

Watched that video last night, some good points in it.

I’ve ordered a pair of Lake CX1C shoes, they have the CX Competition last: A more curved profile than the Sport last, designed for very high-cadence riding and higher pedalling pressure. and are nice and wide, 45.5 would be correct for my foot length so I’ve gone up to a 46 to allow a bit of expansion space. 118mm wide which is a little too wide as normal but allowing for feet swelling up, and socks they should be just fine. Carbon soles, and lace ups so no mid ride adjusting but there’s nothing with dual BOA at the same price point and with laces I can have the upper tight and the lower loose if needed.

Also ordered some Look Keo classic 3 pedals.

Fingers crossed this sorts out the issue!

A few people have mentioned footbeds or insoles. They can make a huge difference. If you don’t have sufficient support for your arches, your feet can spread over time, increasing any constriction. Many cycling shoes come with insoles that are not much better than cardboard.

I recently bought some lake 241 endurance, which have a fantastic fitting system, they are a bit spendy though.

Another (or additional option) is to try an insole with a metatarsal pad, I think specialized insoles have them. But IMO the king of insoles is sole, which are heat mouldable and come in three thicknesses to customise the fit.

https://yoursole.com/us/shop/mens/footbeds/performance-medium-met

Yeah I’ll look at insoles too if I need further help, hopefully proper width shoes and road pedals do the job.

You should be looking at something like Bont as they actually make shoes which are the shape of feet, not the pointy crap that most manufactures make.
People have been conditioned to buy shoes that supposedly look good, but are not really suitable for 99% of the population.
Or, as said above, you could get mesh shoes so that the mesh can stretch with your feet instead of being restricted like most shoes.
You could also just get the Stanley knife out and cut holes/slits in you shoes where you are feeling it tight, Im sure it was Sean Yates who used to cut holes around his toes to make them comfy.

Also, mid sole cleats is something you may want to try, as that splits all the pressure between the ball and heal.
My latest pair of mid soles were made out of track sprint shoes with mesh upper and they are the comfiest shoes I own now. I can either wear thin summer socks or the thickest pair of winter woolly socks and they’re only as tight as I decide to make them with the laces.
Here is a link to how I made them – https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=164289&p=1632893#p1632893

A company now sell adaptors for mid soles cleats if you want to try – https://mid-foot-cycling.com