THE BEST CYCLING SPECIFIC INSOLE? PART II

The picture to the right shows the bottom of a right foot looking upward. The area in Green shows where a good arch support contacts the foot. The area in Yellow shows where a good metatarsal pad supports the center of the Metatarsals. Together, these act to support the foot and alleviate over pressure of the Metatarsals and sesamoid bones.

The areas in red show where over pressure occurs when cycling. This over pressure can be even greater/more concentrated along the 1st Metatarsal head/sesamoid bones if the cyclist’s feet pronate (arches pointing towards the ground), or more concentrated along the 5th Metatarsal head if the cyclists foot supinates (outside of foot is lower than the arches).

Adding the correct amount of arch support along with the use of a Metatarsal pad will greatly decrease the concentrated over pressure by more evenly distributing the pressure forces along a wider surface area.

In addition, the addition of cleat wedges during a professional bike fit can add more pronation or supination to the foot which will also allow more even pressure along the metatarsal heads. Make sure you see a qualified bike fitter who is certified and specializes in cleat adjustments.

To summarize my experience, at 90 rpm, I am rotating the cranks 5,400 strokes per hour. When I cycle with an insole without a Metatarsal Pad, my 1st Metatarsal Heads and sesamoid bones start hurting after only 20 miles. On the other hand, I have no pain when using a quality insole with a high arch support and Metatarsal pad.

So, looking for an insole with (a) the correct arch height for your feet and (b) a metatarsal pad of the correct height might be the best thing you can do for your cycling feet.

SUMMARY: A|Line has invented a most comfortable insole with great support. They have designed this insole with several layers of different densities of foam and plastic allowing for a ‘cycling-specific tuned’ level of comfort, support and functionality. As can be seen in the photo, the arch support extends forward and to the outside creating a unique combination of both arch support and metatarsal pad.

This hard plastic base support layer is coupled to the main footbed which is comprised of medium soft rubber with a thin ventilated top layer. Also included is a softer gel-infused foam forefoot as well as a true ultra-soft gel heel cup. These are integrated to make this insole one of the most comfortable of those tested.

Sizing runs true and I needed to trim only about 1/8″ from the very front. These insoles easily snapped into the shoes and there was plenty of room for my feet.

There is no metatarsal bump, but there is a rebounding pad that is integrated under the metatarsals. The picture above tries to illustrate that not only does this pad provide cushioning, but, provides rebounding at the same time. Why is this important?

Because if the insole incorporates only a foam-type cushioning pad, some of your pedaling power will get absorbed by the foam pad.

Kind of like why a cyclist shouldn’t wear running shoes when riding a bicycle. After the power phase of the pedal stroke, the PROPO+ material is deformed slightly, and when pressure is slightly backed-off, will help to rebound the cyclists’ foot. Theoretically, this assists with the dead-spot and initial pedaling back-stroke.

SUMMARY: Icebug is a Swedish footwear manufacturer specializing in shoes and boots for the outdoors. They make trail shoes for walking as well as running, boots for snow and ice, as well as insoles. Their current insole line consists of two high-quality and well thought out products; FAT and SLIM.

Each of these two styles are available in three different arch shapes; low, medium, high. The FAT offers maximum cushioning and shock absorption ideal for hiking, running, walking, work boots, any other high-volume shoes and they work especially well for those who are on their feet all day.

The SLIM is recommended for low-volume shoes such as cycling, cleated sport shoes, minimalist running shoes and all other low volume shoes.

As shown in the picture, the main support for this insole comes from the pre-molded thin hard plastic base which supports the heel cup, arch support, outer foot support, forefoot support as well as a fairly large embedded metatarsal bump.

The arch support is ribbed for additional strength and, with respect to the SLIM/FAT HIGH, Icebug claims to have the tallest arch support of the out of the box insoles. So, unless you have very high arches like I do, the LOW, or MEDIUM should work perfectly for you. But if you do have tall arches, then this is your insole.

For the insole, Icebug uses a low friction nylon top cover which is coupled to a shock absorbing EVA foam base layer. This EVA foam layer is very similar to that used in the forefoot and under the toes of the A|LINE GURU and one of several main reasons why this insole is so comfortable.

The other main reason is their use and placement of a fairly large metatarsal bump. On the initial ride, the metatarsal bump felt like it was too big and too tall, but, after 30 seconds, it felt natural. Yes, this turned out to be an extremely comfortable insole.

I first tried the LEAN and it felt like there was no padding at all. After 20 miles, the balls of my feet started hurting. It was as if I was pushing down directly on the hard Carbon Fiber of the bottom of the shoe. I tried the MULTISPORT next.

With 1mm of extra padding, this insole should feel similar to Foot Balance’s PERFORMANCE. In reality, this insole was still too hard for my liking. I pulled the insoles out of the shoes and started comparing them to the Foot Balance. Only one major difference I could find is that there is no metatarsal bump in these where there is in the Foot Balance insoles.

And that is what appears to make all of the difference for me. The solution is that I could make my own metatarsal bump by (a) heating the insoles then (b) taping a small piece of plastic to the bottom of the insole then (c) place back in the shoes and stand up on each shoe one at a time. Theoretically, this should produce a bump in just the right place and should solve the problem of 1st metatarsal soreness.

I am guessing that for most cyclists, this will not be an issue. These have the same cloth top layer as Foot Balance and look to be a very durable insole. They look to be made of the same heat moldable materials as Foot Balance.

They come pre-shaped and can be worn right out of the box. They have a low weight and are very reasonably priced. I’m not knocking this fine product; they just didn’t fit ME very well.

SIDAS CUSTOM BIKE+

SIDAS CUSTOM BIKE C Insoles

In researching their website, I decided to test either the BLK or the ROAD. On each insoles’ detailed product page, I noticed their corresponding Sizing Chart.

This is great for the customer since it tells you which size insole to purchase based on your shoe brand. For example, if you wear Specialized shoes, choose the insole that is identical to your shoe size. If you wear Fizik shoes, choose an insole one size larger than your shoe size.

If you have Shimano SH-R320 or SH-R321, then … they don’t fit? What!?!How can that be? So I emailed them directly and the next morning a reply came stating that “over the past couple of years, Shimano has been changing the shape of the front of their high-end shoes by putting in more of a curve as well as giving them a wider toe box.”

Solestar continued “based on the shoe size and insole size chosen, there might be a slight gap between the insole and shoe. Some shoe/insole combinations won’t have it, others will, some might notice it, others won’t”, so, they elected for now just to say don’t use these insoles for the SH-R320 or SH-R321 shoes. I also asked about trimming a slightly larger insole and their reply was “we use very tough materials in our insoles, [i.e., a lot of carbon fiber] so you can’t easily trim but you can grind them”. I opted to see if I could make them fit.

The bottom/base layer appears to be a heat moldable material and is pre-shaped to include a generous arch, metatarsal bump and small heel cup (this insole has the shallowest heel cup in the group and was so small that several times, my heel felt like it might pop out the back. I definitely would like to see a much larger heel cup). The bottom of the heel cup does have 2 ‘wings’ which give a lot of support to the rear of the insole keeping it from moving around in the shoe.

The next layer is a large carbon fiber anatomical formed piece that runs from the heel all the way to the toe area giving unparalleled rigidity – in fact, none of the other insoles were even close to being as rigid. The next higher layer is the upper that the foot rests on and appears to be an EVA-type foam that is very comfortable, but, for cycling in SoCal, is also very hot. There are some cooling vents underneath the tips of the toes, but that’s it. These insoles felt VERY HOT.

I placed the trimmed insoles into my Shimano SH-R321 shoes and they fit perfectly. Even though they measure 3.7mm in the forefoot, I could tell that they took up a lot of the real estate in the shoes, so much that I had to loosen the Velcro straps so my feet would fit comfortably.

They felt very stiff yet, there was the perfect amount of padding on the foot. A small metatarsal pad was just high enough to remove any pressure on my forefoot. Doing several high-wattage pulls at the front, I again noticed that the shallow heel cup made the back of my foot feel like it might slip out. The Solestar has the shallowest heel cup of all those tested.

They have great support along the arch and metatarsal pad. But they didn’t feel right. After spending 3 hours with them, I got back and took them out of my shoes, placed them on the ground and stood on them. Even though these were the Green+++, I could easily run a couple fingers between the arch of the insole and the arch of my foot.

Again, I need an insole with more of an arch than these have to offer. But, I believe the 3 heights offered by Specialized are perfect for 90% of the cyclists out there.

The other thing I had noticed was the material chosen for the arch and metatarsal support. Instead of being a piece of rigid formed plastic, it is a dense foam. It will give under pressure where a piece of plastic will not.

For crit racing, I believe these will be too spongy, but, for long days in the saddle of grand tour racing, touring long hours over many days or for those who are looking for pure comfort, these are the ones for you … no and’s, if’s or but’s.