Forefoot Pain in Cyclists

Foot pain is incredibly common in cyclists for a wide variety of reasons.
This video series looks at the basic anatomy and reasons behind this and then explores some of the solutions you can try!
For further reading please visit my blog on the topic:
www.thebikethebody.com/post/m...
For questions email [e-mail]

[@snowbike8032]

I live in Alaska and bike year round. I recently did a winter fat bike race and two days later after another snow bike ride I felt a lump under my forefoot like a bunched up sock after I got home. I have pushed in between the metatarsals and cannot elicit pain, however, when I get home from walking or riding I feel like I'm standing on a wet sponge. I've seen three doctors who all gave guesses, but no answers. An Ultrasound showed "no findings" and I'm having an MRI next week. I have mountain bike shoes and road bike shoes. The MTB shoes are wider but both are fairly hard on the bottom. Is there a good brand that makes wider cycling shoes? Any advice would be appreciated as I'm pretty concerned. BTW I have a size 5.5 women's foot with a very high arch.

[@thebikethebody]

Hi there, on the basis that you seem to be having this problem after both walking and riding I would continue to follow up on the matter with your doctor / physical therapist. In terms of shoes, I would suggest the Lake MX 241 which is a wider fitting high volume shoe (there is also a road version, CX 241). Lake also do more heavily insulated winter style boots if you need something for more extreme conditions

[@tyren818]

I've been having foot pain for a month now, 20km in and I really start to feel it. Weird thing is it only happens on one foot, right side and idk if it's the shoes being too tight or something, else, have tried moving the saddle up and down, and moving the cleats all the way back but still no help.

[@thebikethebody]

hi, foot pain is most commonly felt either in one foot or at least more severely in one foot relative to the other. saddle height (too high) is often part of the problem. given you have tried to lower your saddle and move your cleats back I would suggest you measure your feet - length and width and compare this to your shoes to see whether they may be too tight, it is quite common for feet to not only be different lengths but also widths - hope that helps

[@tyren818]

@@thebikethebody I've already done this too, i've taken the insole out and placed it over the outline of my feet that I drew on paper, and seems that my feet at widest part of the foot are 10.1 cm's while my insole is 9.2cm. Is that normal?

[@thebikethebody]

@@tyren818 for some this might be absolutely fine but for others this can certainly cause issues. it's quite likely you would benefit from a wider fitting shoe - Lake are the best to cater for a wide range of foot shapes and excellent quality. check out their sizing matrix to find the right fit for you

[@tyren818]

@@thebikethebody Thank you so much for you input. Time to spend more money I guess, I made the mistake of buying shoes, specialized recon 3.0 to be exact without even considering wide feet because I wouldn't think I have wide feet, from what I've learned is that most people need to buy wide feet shoes, that is the normal foot shape but the industry has designed shoes that are abnormal cylinder shape and call them normal.

[@thebikethebody]

@@tyren818 you're welcome. yep, cycling shoes are generally notoriously narrow. good luck! email me if you need more support

[@vanjasomodi]

Hi, what about having pain on outside of the foot after an hour and mainly in summer? I have really wide feet and shoes feels comfortable but in Summer I get so much pain after an hour of riding...

[@thebikethebody]

yes this is also quite common. in summer / warmer weather one can tend to suffer from more foot swelling during a ride which can exacerbate any pressure areas. make sure you have some good quality insoles that allow you to spread force around the whole foot more evenly, re-visit the size and width of your shoe, enusre you don't have the upper closed down too tightly - after that, visit a good fitter to check for any other soures for the issue coming from elsewhere

[@javiikiller]

Is it possible that just one of my road shoes is "the wrong size"? My left shoe fits great, feel fine, no pain, but last week I started to feel pain in my right feet, exactly in the joint of the fourth metatarsal (not between them). I ignored the pain while riding, because it was tolerable, but now it pains even when I walk. I'v been using mtb shoes in my road bike and never had any discomfort, but one month ago I moved to road shoes and even when at the beginning I felt my right shoe too narrow, I got comfortable quick, but suddenly the pain came from nowhere (literally I rode 100km on Sunday, everything during that day, even the hours after the ride, but the Monday the pain started). I've assuming that this also has to see with the cleat position so I put them a little back, I'll tell you if this works.

[@thebikethebody]

it’s not just possible, it’s highly likely, most people’s feet are slightly different sizes. more often than not this does not cause issues. foot widths are also often different. there’s probably a few factors to consider: the size itself needs to fit the bigger foot, width needs to be adequate (take insole out of shoe and step on it to get an idea if it matches your foot shape or not), the cleat position is likey more forward in your road shoe, difference in sole stiffness from MTB to road shoe, depends how quickly you built up to 100km in the road shoe. So firstly, check the shoe actually fits your larger foot well. If so try to move the cleats back a bit, ideally so that the big toe joint is just beyond the pedal axle.

[@ThePremium555]

same problem moved from mtb to road carbon shoes (shimano rc7) and i have a lot of pain metatarsalgia, pain start at 30min of riding

[@31.8mm]

i think most shoes came with built it tilt for forefoot varus or neutral, while i got forefoot valgus especially my left foot, plus high arch it's high that if i step my wet foot on cardboard it's like an islands no bridge, recently i experience forefoot numbness that occur after about 30min or riding, or constant pressure like when on long climb or descent in attack position (mtb)

[@thebikethebody]

Hi, an extreme forefoot valgus and high arch is a more unusual combination but none the less we do see it. with really hight arches it is really important to have some kind of 'arch support' or continuity of contact through the foot - this helps to spread and dissipate load more evenly through the foot and prevent some of the symptoms you mention - I tend to use G8 insoles in my bike fitting sessions as they are fully customisable and far more cost effective than a custom moulded insole

[@31.8mm]

@@thebikethebody thanks for the reply, yes i know G8 but k can't find any on local store or anyone who sell it online in my country, if i want to buy it then it could cost me much more cause it's far away, im trying to make my own arch support using a stack of mastic tapes that i cut accordingly, start from adding about 2mm up until the symptoms gets better.. the problem is with my valgus i feel my first metatarsal do much of the work getting hi pressure, but if i were tilt the cleat which a spd system then the cleat surface will contact the ground first and that's worrying on rocky terrain.. maybe i need to add mastic tape but wonder how to shape it correctly.

[@thebikethebody]

@@31.8mm yes, that's quite a challenge. you can only really get one external wedge under an SPD cleat before they start to contact the ground which is frustrating. there are options out there (again online) that allow leg length shim / wedge with extra tread to stop the cleat hitting the ground - Form bike fit makes some nice ones

[@31.8mm]

@@thebikethebody that's sounds nice, may i know what's it called?

[@thebikethebody]

@@31.8mm i'll put the link in here - as I said, these are for leg length discrepancies primarily so may not be quite what you are looking for but it's worth you measuring this - www.form-bikefit.co.uk/products/shim-mtb-walkable . the other option is to consider internal shoe shims which go under the insole which can help better spread contact pressure in the shoe (can get them as varus or valgus) - www.sigmasports.com/item/Specialized/Body-Geometry-Internal-Wedges-Two-Pack-Varus/DF6F?co=GBR&cu=GBP&glCountry=GB&id=626229&ds_eid=700000001845766&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=UK_EN_Profit_Google_Shopping_All+Users_Brand_All+Products_Desktop&ds_cid=71700000047514192&ds_ag=AA_B_626199_Specialized_Body+Geometry+Internal+Wedges+Two+Pack+Varus_Footbed_7+GBP&ds_agid=58700004769262712&ds_k=PRODUCT_GROUP&ds_kid=92700040703527570&ds_kids=p40703527570&gclid=Cj0KCQiArvX_BRCyARIsAKsnTxPnY8u-Itz06plR9T1_HadMiCSKIZAQub2_JyxVYQZGr5EnI5ZemisaAruBEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds