A foot question to all riders

Since I have built up my hardtail earlier this year, for the most part it is the only bike I ride on the shore anymore as I just love it.

That being said I have noticed the last few weeks riding some serious pain in my feet. It feels like serious cramping in the middle of my foot and I have to stop every 5 minutes to give my feet a rest.

The pain is gone when I stop riding and only happens when I ride.

Has anyone had this problem?

Is it my shoes?
Riding ability or lack of picking a good line and taking to many hard hits on a hardtail?
Posture on the bike?

Any advise would be good.

What kind of pedals? flats (most likely) or clipless?

How stiff are your shoes? flexy shoes and flat pedals could cause pain because your foot would be bending around the pedal in a way it isn't supposed to move?

Platforms. I commute with clipless and I do not have the pain.

i had the same problem. i just cut my feet off and the pain went away.

i get this too if I switch back to flats. I ride Mallets with 661s on both MTbikes most of the time, I switched back to Roadgaps with shimano DX shoes for a bit, and my feet would hurt sometimes.. I think it's just a foot position thing. when I move my feet around a bit it seems to go away. My pedals are missing a few pins too, so maybe some are creating pressure points.

i had the same problem. i just cut my feet off and the pain went away.

I thought you did that so you would not have to bend over when giving Rat a hummer…

I have to use shoes that have some support, I had a pair of 661s that I used for a while, they have very thin soles and rough stuters at whistler would cause my feet to hurt. Now I ride with 5-10s and when I climb I make sure that the balls of my feet are over the spindle, and when I descend I move my feet forwards a bit.
Do you have high arches? Maybe you need an insert? I know that if I ski without arch support I can barely stand after two runs.

Ok we have looked at the pedal issue, let's look at the foot issue.

Use both flats and clips. Have some cramping at the bottom of my foot when I haven't ridden flats for awhile. Aside from re adapting to the pedals there is one other thing to look at.

Joely who rides flats only and is in her first year MTBing has had a similar problem. We figured out that it was the fascia at on the sole of her foot. It took to things to deal with and remove the problem. First was massaging the soles of her feet. This can be very painfull if done right.

The second thing was to stratch the area out all the time. Plus taught Joely how to do the cyclists calf stretch, you know the one we do while still on the pedals.

find the stiffest, thickest sole shoes/boots for the shore hardtail action.

most skate/bmx and biking shoes are really not that stiff and thick soled as you might like for HT riding on the shore.

i recommend some lower-cut hiking or work boots with stiff thick soles. these will not have quite the same grip on flats, but trust me, foot pain is much, much less. Mark's has some good cheap options.

I thought you did that so you would not have to bend over when giving Rat a hummer…

in that case i would have had to cut off my legs - try again

i think it's your shoes. i've ridden with skate/bmx shoes, and hiking boots (stiff sole) and the boots are way better, my feet hurt with the bmx shoes.

It could also be the support of the arch of his foot. Clipless forces you to ride on the "ball" of your foot… but with shoes sometimes we get lazy and your has less support. Trying buying a pair of those Sole things… I have heard great things about them.

Hope it works…my feet are too wide for clipless shoes, although my Specs.. both Road and Mountain are super comfy outside of that!

Dan

I get something similar in my right foot with those Shimano DMX clipless shoes on their clipless DH pedals. I don't have the problem with my XC shoes on the same pedals though. I use the carbon soled shoes for XC. I cannot use mushy shoes. Gotta be nearly rigid. Sidi's are too mushy too.

"It's gotta be the shoes!"
I bought some 661s from MEC and have never been happier. Stiff soles are a must. Skate shoes just don't cut it.