I use a pair of Spesh MTB shoes with Sole mouldable insoles and Time SPDs on all my bikes. I was out on the roady last night and noticed that I tend to bunch my toes on my right foot (which is the dominant leg/foot too I reckon) which causes a bit of a hotspot under the toes and the ball of the foot. I’ve noticed it before to be honest but got thinking about it yesterday.

Could it be a sign that my cleats are too far forward/back, and that I’m trying to ‘claw’ over the top of the pedal? And/or something else?

I’d love some custom moulded shoes cos I have very thin, very flat feet and finding shoes to fit is a nightmare, but crikey blimey they’re expensive.

👋 from the valleys 👋

I’ve just been through what I think is a ball ache with my Time pedals.

To exclude it for you, just check to see if your shoe sole is worn from the Time sprung bars & your cleat wear.

Mine wore slowly & in the end I could rock my clipped in shoe side to side an unhealthy (for my knees) amount.

I did my first off road ride on Shimano pedals yesterday, and the best way to describe the difference is to say that pedaling with the (worn shoes & cleats) Times was akin to pushing down on a knitting needle point, pushing down on the Shimanos (same shoes but new pedals & cleats) was akin to pushing down on the end of a can of baked beans!!!

I was a lot more planted, had more stability, confidence, power & security.

I think the Times slowly wore my shoe soles, the cleats were worn & my knees suffered. 🤞 the Shimanos are the answer.

Oh – I popped into Leisure Lakes in Cheltenham with my shoes for some impartial advice (tall skinny roadie looking fella) and he was great. I don’t think he was keen on the Time system, but gave some great impartial advice, which lead to me trying the big S’s offerings. One thing he was happy to see was having my cleat set slightly rearward of ball of the foot.

👋 from the land of electric light and indoor plumbing 😉 👋

To be fair, I have had the shoes for years, I will see what state the soles are in. I’m pretty sure they’re fine though.

The cleats will be pretty worn (not sure they’ve ever been changed), can’t see how that would make a difference though?

Yeah, on the cleat position, just having a quick Google the British Cycling lot suggest moving the cleats back a couple of mm.

I “think” that a worn cleat may make your point of contact less stable, this may or may not cause an issue.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VB_kAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92&dq=phil+burt+shoes+too+big+toes+foot+pain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj62pbzt9DjAhUKIsAKHQMiCmoQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=phil%20burt%20shoes%20too%20big%20toes%20foot%20pain&f=false