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Best pedals/cleats for arthritic toe

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Best pedals/cleats for arthritic toe

Old 08-29-20, 11:07 AM
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banjaboy
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Best pedals/cleats for arthritic toe

Im 70 this year, ridden all my life, bike riding is the way I keep in shape mentally as well as physically. I have had my share of issues riding. Had both knees replaced, full recovery and no issues at all with them, just like new. The issue I have now id arthritis in my big toe, left foot. A permanent "fix" is to get the toe fused but recovery is quite long......Im thinking maybe a switch of pedal systems. I ride road, trail and a fitness bike. I use SPD 2 screw cleats and shoes. Im wonderinmg if anyone has had my sieeue and found a switch of pedal systems helped at all? Im thinking Look? Im wondering if the bigger cleat, bigger support area might help me on my road bike.
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Old 08-29-20, 12:44 PM
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flat pedals, no cleats. (My option) 72, I still have my original 'birth knees' ..
Or how about Mag Peds ? pedals have a magnet, the shoe recess has a piece of steel.

pedal is flat.. use any shoe. without the steel piece no problem..







...

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Old 08-30-20, 01:10 PM
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I agree - flat pedals give me the ability to move foot to wherever it doesn't hurt which has been the solution to my knee pain (arthritis, but not bad enough to go through TKR). Five Ten shoes or similar shoes provide more than adequate stability on the pedal.
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Old 08-30-20, 01:22 PM
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I don't know about the toe but I use the old Look Delta pedals on my road bikes and SPDs on the mtb. I used SPDs on the road for a few years and started having pain in my feet behind the toes. The Look pedals along with Shimano shoes help quite a bit.

I've never tried flat pedals.
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Old 08-30-20, 02:16 PM
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Small moves.

Talk to your doctor/physical therapist.

They may suggest you first try moving your cleat back a few mm, see if that helps. Repeat if necessary.

(Note possible toe overlap with front wheel.)

They may suggest spd shoes with stiffer soles.

-mr. bill
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Old 09-02-20, 06:54 PM
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If it's your big toe and nothing else, make sure your cycling shoes are really stiff. It is either motion or an arthritic boney bump pressing up against the shoe that would cause pain in an arthritic toe joint. So make sure your cycling shoe does not rub much against any prominent boney bumps. Make sure the shoe is stiff, which will prevent that joint from flexing/extending. An alternative is an inexpensive thin flat graphite plate to put in the shoe. It will render a flexible shoe stiff, but it will also add a little bulk to the inside of the shoe. There's a bit of a trade off there.
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Old 09-09-20, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Bassmanbob
If it's your big toe and nothing else, make sure your cycling shoes are really stiff. It is either motion or an arthritic boney bump pressing up against the shoe that would cause pain in an arthritic toe joint. So make sure your cycling shoe does not rub much against any prominent boney bumps. Make sure the shoe is stiff, which will prevent that joint from flexing/extending. An alternative is an inexpensive thin flat graphite plate to put in the shoe. It will render a flexible shoe stiff, but it will also add a little bulk to the inside of the shoe. There's a bit of a trade off there.
^this.

Get a carbon soled shoe. They’re so stiff they simply won’t bend. If they don’t bend, then the arthritic toe can’t bend and the joint won’t hurt.

I have some shoes that are for touring that take a cleat but are also more flexible in the toes than my standard road and carbon soled MTB shoes that I use for most of my riding. My feet are distinctly more tired after a ride in the more flexible soled shoes than in the carbon ones.

The second really big thing you can do for foot comfort while cycling is to work on getting your cadence up and the pressure on the pedal down. You can increase your power to the wheel a lot faster by pedaling faster than you can by pushing harder. In the process, you also get better cardio conditioning out of it and you won’t beat up your knees, ankles and feet. I had big foot problems with a cadence of about 75 rpm. I brought that up to 85rpm and now 90rpm about 10 years ago and all those problems went away.

Once you have that stiff sole in place, make sure you have a top quality footbed in place. This is most important if you high or medium arches. Most cycling shoes come with insoles that could charitably be described as “garbage” and typically provide little to no arch support in either your main foot arch or your metatarsal arch. Get the right ones for your feet and you prevent the foot arches from collapsing as you pressure the pedals. As they collapse, they work the joints in your toes from tip of your toe to heel. With the insole in place, your arch doesn’t collapse and those arthritic joints in your feet won’t get flexed either.

J.
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Old 09-10-20, 12:31 PM
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I am nearly 70 and have had both knees replaced AND have arthritis to both big toes. Have been this way for many years. After much research, discussion and experimentation my best solution was to get cortisone injections in the toes about every 6-12 months and finding the correct shoes. The shoe point is extremely important. You want a very supportive shoe (no flip-flops or loose sandals) with a first-grade orthotic to best fit your need. Furthermore, the single best item I got was a carbon steel plate to place in the insole. They are very thin, lightweight and expensive but make all the difference in the world. I am also an avid hiker and have spent 5 years pre-covid traveling the world and hiking in very remote spots and the combination of orthotic and carbon plate was the only thing that worked. As to cycling I have stopped MTB but when I did I always used flat pedals with stiff sole shoe. I still road bike and although my orthopedist (knees) recommends I do not clip in I still use SPD-SL Shimano pedals and cleats. My shoes (Specialized) have a very stiff carbon sole and work well. I have some toe pain but so far it is manageable. Also for everyday and outdoor use try and wear shoes with zero drop, takes the pressure off those toes. Someday I will have to probably get the toes surgically repaired or fused but I want to delay that as long as possible because recovery time can be years. I am now working on shoulder relief when I ride as both shoulders are torn RC's can tears in the muscle. Getting old can be challenging to keep doing the things you like but you just have to find ways around it as long as you can. Keep riding..........
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Old 09-14-20, 07:39 AM
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Wow guys, thank you so much for all your comments and suggestions, especially from those of you who are like me. I just sold the farm and got a top class pair of road shoes, Fizik R5 Artica. cost me almost as much as my first car lol!!!!! But they fit like nothing I had ever put on my feet before. The suggestions for a stiff sole seem excellent. The soles of these are full carbon. The new cleat system is taking a little getting used to, going from SPD to these new road cleats is a learning curve for sure. So that sorts out my Road bike. My "fitness" bike is a Specialized Sirrus 6.0, amazing machine! For that bike Im going to try the raod cleats with the new shoes. As for the trail bike, Im VERY low risk on that, its more for a scenery watching so flat pedals and Stiff soled MTB shoes will be a start. I do have orthotics for my street shoes but the cycling issue is strictly the toe flex and I tried my orthotics in my biking shoes but no effect one way of the other. Yup, getting older sucks!!!!!!!!
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