Insoles, cycling shoes?
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jeffy wrote:i had same issue with Spesh (blue). g8's are very thin (and much better).
and much more expensive
I have an high arch but to be honest I have no clue if I really need the support. I tried the green Specialized since my blue Sidis insoles was coloring my socks and I tested if I had a high arch which my footprint said yes. I have been riding Sidis for years. Now I had some ankle issues so I thought it could be it. And yes I know I need to go to the physiotherapist, have tried that and will continue doing it.
I spent years going through every. single. brand. Even custom.
What I found was the most sustainable option are the newer, more dense Specialized and then using a dense foam (like fizik or Lizard Skins) bar tape and/or velcro dots to build up each individual arch in the shoe. I used to use eSoles, which basically do the same thing, but they ended up being less firm than I liked. With the custom route they were extremely expensive to replace once they wore out and/or smelled terrible, and if I changed even type of shoes (S-Works XC to S-Works 6 road) they seemed to feel different.
With this method it's easier to test and tune and they're cheap enough that you can replace them often.
I also tried the SOF insoles, which have a much more firm arch support. I trimmed quite a bit of material off of the heel to move it more rearward and they worked equally well, but for some reason in my MTB shoes the carbon instep would squeak and drive me insane. I got annoyed having to baby powder my shoes constantly so once they smelled bad from rain riding I moved on.
What I found was the most sustainable option are the newer, more dense Specialized and then using a dense foam (like fizik or Lizard Skins) bar tape and/or velcro dots to build up each individual arch in the shoe. I used to use eSoles, which basically do the same thing, but they ended up being less firm than I liked. With the custom route they were extremely expensive to replace once they wore out and/or smelled terrible, and if I changed even type of shoes (S-Works XC to S-Works 6 road) they seemed to feel different.
With this method it's easier to test and tune and they're cheap enough that you can replace them often.
I also tried the SOF insoles, which have a much more firm arch support. I trimmed quite a bit of material off of the heel to move it more rearward and they worked equally well, but for some reason in my MTB shoes the carbon instep would squeak and drive me insane. I got annoyed having to baby powder my shoes constantly so once they smelled bad from rain riding I moved on.
KWalker wrote:I spent years going through every. single. brand. Even custom.
What I found was the most sustainable option are the newer, more dense Specialized and then using a dense foam (like fizik or Lizard Skins) bar tape and/or velcro dots to build up each individual arch in the shoe. I used to use eSoles, which basically do the same thing, but they ended up being less firm than I liked. With the custom route they were extremely expensive to replace once they wore out and/or smelled terrible, and if I changed even type of shoes (S-Works XC to S-Works 6 road) they seemed to feel different.
With this method it's easier to test and tune and they're cheap enough that you can replace them often.
I also tried the SOF insoles, which have a much more firm arch support. I trimmed quite a bit of material off of the heel to move it more rearward and they worked equally well, but for some reason in my MTB shoes the carbon instep would squeak and drive me insane. I got annoyed having to baby powder my shoes constantly so once they smelled bad from rain riding I moved on.
which specific insole from Specialized are we talking about here?
I use the greens personally. The others IMO are too low and I have fairly flat arches. People are not used to arch support and often pick something that is too low because it feels weird/unfamiliar the first few rides.
Steve Hogg's take (post above I believe) is that you want more arch in a cycling insole than you'd want in a walking shoe. If you read a lot of his blog posts, he's big on proprioception. The idea is that you can to give your foot more surface area to feel and push against so you get more neuro-muscular feedback.
(I think I have that right, or at least the gist. I can't say that full understand all of his proprioception ideas. And yes, I know some of his ideas sound crazy but I've had great luck with many of his fitting methods.)
(I think I have that right, or at least the gist. I can't say that full understand all of his proprioception ideas. And yes, I know some of his ideas sound crazy but I've had great luck with many of his fitting methods.)
KWalker wrote:I use the greens personally. The others IMO are too low and I have fairly flat arches. People are not used to arch support and often pick something that is too low because it feels weird/unfamiliar the first few rides.
The issue being that my shoes are to small when putting the specialized in. My big toe is hitting the front. I really dont want to buy a new pair of shoes when I'm not sure if will help
Just get an insole with less volume. Specialized insoles are not very thin and slim and not a good fit for Sidis (I think you said you had Sidi shoes).
AJS914 wrote:Just get an insole with less volume. Specialized insoles are not very thin and slim and not a good fit for Sidis (I think you said you had Sidi shoes).
Yes I have Sidi's. I tried to read this thread and found that Specialized was a relative cheap good option. I realized that apparently not for Sidi's when I received them
. Looks like G8 is thinner but they are damn costly.I found the G8's horrible so did basically everyone I know. I don't know why Hogg loves them because the arches are fairly flexible and in the past he stated that he didn't like anything that had any give.
The Speci are pretty normal for aftermarket. Only my custom insoles were noticeably thinner.
The Speci are pretty normal for aftermarket. Only my custom insoles were noticeably thinner.
AJS914 wrote:Just get an insole with less volume. Specialized insoles are not very thin and slim and not a good fit for Sidis (I think you said you had Sidi shoes).
The difference is 1-2mm and honestly that's about the difference between summer and winter socks. Sounds like the shoes do not have enough toebox volume
spliid wrote:The issue being that my shoes are to small when putting the specialized in. My big toe is hitting the front. I really dont want to buy a new pair of shoes when I'm not sure if will help
If you are saying that your big toe is hitting the top of the toebox, due to the upward boost from a thicker insole, then you can simply trim the front portion of the insole off. The corrective action of the insole runs from the metatarsal heads (ball of the foot) backward, and the section under the toes is just foam, so you can simply trim the portion from the front edge of the ball of the foot forward. This will actually give your toes more room than with the stock Sidi insole provided, as they will run directly on the shoe midsole.
If you are saying that the insole is pushing your foot forward into the front of the toebox, so your big toe is hitting the front edge, then that would generally be caused by a differently shaped heelcup. Some insoles have a completely flat heel, and others are very cupped, such that they come up the back side of the shoe quite a bit, which can effectively shorten the internal heel to toe length of the shoe. In these cases, you can trim the "cup" portion that resides behind your heel, allowing your foot to sit back into the shoe slightly further, as it would without an insole, but preserving the arch corrections.
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KWalker wrote:I found the G8's horrible so did basically everyone I know. I don't know why Hogg loves them because the arches are fairly flexible and in the past he stated that he didn't like anything that had any give.
Same here on the flexibility issue, and I think they soften up and sag further with a little use. I'm currently running the high and medium inserts doubled up, to help counter this. If you dig those specialized ones, I may need to give those a shot for the next pair of shoes.
