spd pedals and sore toes

Question
Jerry - I am having problems with SPD cleats on both road and mountain bike shoes. I bought new road shoes 400 miles ago. Getting numbness in toes and toes hurting. I went to bike shop for 2 adjustments and now they are saying it is common to get sore toes, etc on SPD pedals at 40-50 miles. That is what I am getting. I have it narrowed down to the right foot only getting sore toes.I have had the mountain bike shoes for 15 years but always got sore toes in both feet after 40 miles. Several this spring suggusted the road shoes with stiffer platform would help eliminate the problem.

The bike shop is also saying the SPD pedals have less float than other pedals. I was trying to eliminate the sore toes with the new shoes, and not doing new pedals yet.
I will be riding in the next few days 40 plus miles so we will see if the second adjustment helps.

FYI the cleats in the new Forte road shoes were almost all the way forward, then moved back almost 1 inch.

Any ideas?

Doug Tenney

Answer
Hi Doug,

I would guess that your shoes are just a little too tight. The stiffer soles may indeed help, but you may have to get a slightly wider shoe or go up 1/2 size. It is not at all unusual for one foot to be slightly larger than the other. 1/2 size should make a big difference, so while one shoe fits good and is not causing any problem the other is just slightly too tight

You may not be able to eliminate the problem completely, but you should be able to alleviate most of it. The shop people are right though, SPD Pedals or any thing that locks the foot into a specific place for long periods can cause some soreness. Toes being a joint and being kept from really moving.

The positioning of the cleats may also have a great deal to do with it, since hey would put your foot in a different position.

You are really doing pretty much all you can at this point, which is to try different things until you find the right combination, that is going to be a slightly different combination for each and every rider.