Cycling Shoes, again. Flat-ish Feet edition?

[rothwem]

I've noticed a trend lately where road shoes have been integrating arch support into the carbon sole. This isn't a fundamentally terrible idea, except for the fact that its not at all adjustable, and for the me, the shape just ins't right. I recently got a set of closeout Giro Trans E70s, and the whole sole is bowed, see my attachment below, and while the arch height is fine on the medial side of my foot, the lateral side is severely uncomfortable. It feels like I'm standing on a 3" PVC pipe.

So those are going back, but what to replace them with? I was able to make my last set of road shoes, a set of Body Geometry Pro road shoes from 2010 by replacing the velcro, but they're absolutely unrideable now due to fraying carbon on the heel. I've been scoping out a lot of road shoes, and it appears that the bowed sole has made it onto a lot of models, at least by looking at the internet photos.

My strategy is to maybe look for shoes that work well for flat footed people, and then put an arch support insole in for my actually average height arch.

So, any suggestions? I'm looking at Lake, though they're hard to find a dealer for to try on near me, so I'd likely have to order from backcountry or something and return them if I don't like them.

[dim]

I had a proper bike fit yesterday for my touring bike ...

done on a computer with 3D ...it's called STT 3DMA

part of the bike fit was to set the cleats properly .... The bike fitter said that I needed insoles to raise my arches .... he had the correct ones in stock and they cost £11.00 for the pair

so check with a podiatrist or bike fitter if they have insoles

[zefs]

Try Shimano RC701 (replaced the RC7 model) they work nicely for flat feet and come in wide sizes as well.
Giro are a bit narrow on the front compared to Shimano.

[jih]

Maybe a heat-mouldable sole, and push the arches down until confortable?

[cajer]

The bont shoes have a flat footed version. I have feet feet and it works great for me. But you need to order direct from bont

[RocketRacing]

I like the high end giro shoes for the ability to swap one of 3 levels of arch support.

[rothwem]

Maybe a heat-mouldable sole, and push the arches down until comfortable?

Yeah, I have a set of the "SOLE" ones, and the foam doesn't compress enough to make the shoe comfortable.

I like the high end giro shoes for the ability to swap one of 3 levels of arch support.

These came with the adjustable arch support, but it only adjusts the medial side arch. Where I'm having issues is on the lateral side (outside) of my foot, it doesn't have nearly the amount of arch that the shoe has molded into the sole.

[JohnHinMD]

I have wide and flat feet and have experienced the same issue, pain on the outside of the mid-foot due to intrusive arch support that spans the width of the mid-foot. Your description of “standing on a pipe” is spot-on. Particularly shoes where the arch is carbon and raised. Lake CX237 and CX241 have been terrific. Giro, Bont, and Lake 402 not so much. I use the variable insert Giro insoles with the least height.

[integration]

I have DMT Radial 2.0 and Sidi Wires, they are both comfy and don't cause any pain in the foot arch. Sidi Wires obviously offer more adjustment.

[integration]

(duplicate post)

[Sjazzzzy]

I have wide and flat feet. I have a pair of the wide shimano road shoes. The fitter I saw added wedges to my road and mountain (Sidi Wides) shoes. Previously I’d used superfeet inserts. The wedges in the shoes are more comfortable and I can feel the difference in alignment.

[tabl10s]

If you can make it to NAHBS or Sea Otter there are a couple of vendors who do custom shoes on the spot.

[TobinHatesYou]

Giros are great because the actual shoes have no arch support at all. For a while I just used Specialized BG Fit footbeds in them before going fully custom molded.

[rothwem]

I have wide and flat feet and have experienced the same issue, pain on the outside of the mid-foot due to intrusive arch support that spans the width of the mid-foot. Your description of “standing on a pipe” is spot-on. Particularly shoes where the arch is carbon and raised. Lake CX237 and CX241 have been terrific. Giro, Bont, and Lake 402 not so much. I use the variable insert Giro insoles with the least height.

Ah awesome, finally someone who understands what I'm talking about. It seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon, I don't recall having this issue until recently.

I've got lake CX237 and Shimano RP7's on the list to try on now. Any thoughts on the Specialized "Torch 2.0 or 3.0" shoes? I really liked my BG pros, but their shoes got stupid pricey for a while so I hadn't really paid attention to them much. The Torch shoes are not so bad though.

If you can make it to NAHBS or Sea Otter there are a couple of vendors who do custom shoes on the spot.

Wow, that sounds awesome, but incredibly pricey. While it would be awsome to have a $1000 shoe budget, I'm still a working stiff here. $250-300 is about the top of my budget.

[tabl10s]

I have wide and flat feet and have experienced the same issue, pain on the outside of the mid-foot due to intrusive arch support that spans the width of the mid-foot. Your description of “standing on a pipe” is spot-on. Particularly shoes where the arch is carbon and raised. Lake CX237 and CX241 have been terrific. Giro, Bont, and Lake 402 not so much. I use the variable insert Giro insoles with the least height.

Ah awesome, finally someone who understands what I'm talking about. It seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon, I don't recall having this issue until recently.

I've got lake CX237 and Shimano RP7's on the list to try on now. Any thoughts on the Specialized "Torch 2.0 or 3.0" shoes? I really liked my BG pros, but their shoes got stupid pricey for a while so I hadn't really paid attention to them much. The Torch shoes are not so bad though.

If you can make it to NAHBS or Sea Otter there are a couple of vendors who do custom shoes on the spot.

Wow, that sounds awesome, but incredibly pricey. While it would be awsome to have a $1000 shoe budget, I'm still a working stiff here. $250-300 is about the top of my budget.

You have a whole year to save, Sir.