Special Footing

[rcannon100]

Buddy in my office has nerve damage in his leg. Wants to bike to work, but is uncomfortable with the pedals. He has clipless shoes, but he cant feel his toes – the front of his foot. What he wants is to bring the clip back – bring the pedal back – to the center of his foot – where he can feel. But of course the cleat is in the toe area.

So…. beyond “Go to Fresh Bikes” – are there recommendations of how to approach a guy who has nerve damage in his foot and wants a special arrangement with how his shoe meets the pedal?

B

Topic

[Vicegrip]

Make an adaptor or drill new cleat mounting holes and use T nuts set from inside the shoe? I seem to remember reading on a website of a pro coach who found many made better power with a set back cleat. I wonder if his site has some recommendations.

[KLizotte]

There are cobblers that specialize in altering/making shoes for people with disabilities or major foot problems. One of them should have the equipment necessary to make new shoes and incorporate the cleats or else modify the existing ones. Unfortunately I do not know how to go about finding one of them.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Vicegrip 53482 wrote:

Make an adaptor or drill new cleat mounting holes and use T nuts set from inside the shoe? I seem to remember reading on a website of a pro coach who found many made better power with a set back cleat. I wonder if his site has some recommendations.

That would be triathlon/cycling coach Joe Friel. His blog post about mid-foot cleat positioning remains one of the most popular posts on his website ever (according to the tracking stats that he posts every year).

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/12/how-to-modify-shoes-for-midsole-cleat.html

[PotomacCyclist]

You can also browse through other posts from December 2009 to see examples of DIY midsole cleats.

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009_12_01_archive.html

[dasgeh]

You may suggest that he find some old (dead) cycling shoes to test run these ideas, before he invests. If you/he posts his size, we might have something that could work…

[Dickie]

@Vicegrip 53482 wrote:

Make an adaptor or drill new cleat mounting holes and use T nuts set from inside the shoe? I seem to remember reading on a website of a pro coach who found many made better power with a set back cleat. I wonder if his site has some recommendations.

You might be talking about Steve Hogg, his article on mid-foot cleat position is really interesting and makes a lot of sense. His only real cons against it are foot/front wheel overlap, and the need for custom or modified shoes. Since Steve sells many custom fitting items on his website but has nothing to help with this issue I tend to assume your friend will need to do some drilling in his cleats.

BTW, I used his set-back recommendations and have not had knee pain since, pretty awesome.

[Vicegrip]

Thanks for the links. I was on a well blocked computer and was google tied.

If your friend gets nowhere let me know. I fabricate all kinds of stuff and looking at a standard road shoe with a hard sole I don’t think it would be too hard to adapt.

[Rootchopper]

I have a neuroma in my left foot that got very painful when I ride my recumbent. I put large Powergrips on my pedals which allow my foot to move forward so that the pedal axle is closer to my arch. Seems to have solved the problem.

[Author]

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