Bike Pedals causing Plantar Fascitis

stockshares

My bike pedals are causing plantar Fascitis.
The outside edge of the sole of my foot is affected from the end of the heel to my toe.

The Toe Cage is responsible as it is protrudes a long way from the pedal itself which means the sole of my foot sits on the pedal floor and I end up applying force from the sole rather than the ball of my foot.

Can anyone recommend pedals that have a toe cage which allows the ball of my foot to sit on the pedal floor.

I hope I've explained that clearly.

Any by help with this would be greatly appreciated.
The shooting pains through my foot were cruel. It has eased off now that I'm on Anti Inflammatories but I will need to change the pedals if I'm to resume training.

Thank you

magicbastarder

you need to try 'clipless' pedals - e.g. SPDs - where the general advice is to position the pedal axle under the ball of your foot.
the cleats themselves usually have about an inch or so of play forwards or backwards (before you tighten them down) which allows for fine tuning your adjustment. it will require new pedals, shoes, and cleats though.

as you mention, positioning your foot too far forwards or backwards will cause problems.

Harrybelafonte

Can you just get flat pedals with no cage?

stockshares

magicbastarder wrote: »

you need to try 'clipless' pedals - e.g. SPDs - where the general advice is to position the pedal axle under the ball of your foot.
the cleats themselves usually have about an inch or so of play forwards or backwards (before you tighten them down) which allows for fine tuning your adjustment. it will require new pedals, shoes, and cleats though.

as you mention, positioning your foot too far forwards or backwards will cause problems.

Thanks, could recommend a bricks and mortar store. I would like to try these out before buying.

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Can you just get flat pedals with no cage?

What would be the point, I might as well just not use the toe cage and place the ball of my foot on the pedal floor. I would lose a lot of force doing it this way.

magicbastarder

stockshares wrote: »

Thanks, could recommend a bricks and mortar store. I would like to try these out before buying.

where do you live?

stockshares

magicbastarder wrote: »

where do you live?

Saggart

plodder

I got Plantar Fascitis from running many years ago and it's always threatening to come back if I don't look after it. Personally, I'm not 100% sure that the very stiff cycling shoes I use help it that much, even though they are properly set up with cleats right under ball of the foot. I think I would look for advice from a good physio who knows cycling well. But, if you do go the clipless route definitely buy the whole package from a good cycling shop, who will set them up for you.

magicbastarder

stockshares wrote: »

Saggart

the nearest bike shop to you might be the specialized store in brown's barn, but i'm not sure if they do pedals; others will know better than i.

Pinch Flat

Op I agree that clipless pedals and proper cycling shoes (I’m assuming you’re wearing runners?) will offer better support. Specific cycling shoes will offer more support. I used to get sore soles when I started years ago with runners and even with spd pedals with flexible soles mtb shoes.

Cycle superstore in tallaght would be able to sort you out. Consider a bike fit as well - it’ll help to set you up properly and void stretching / pulling muscles and joints.

hesker

If the ball of your foot is not resting on the pedal axle then your cage is not the correct length.
Just offering another possible solution to clipless.
You can buy different length cages.

Neither of these may be the solution to your problem though but they’re a good start. Might be worth having a good bike fit person having a look also.

I experienced severe soreness on one foot at one point that turned out to be a slightly bent pedal axle in a clipless system so can be a multitude of things. If you have access to another set of pedals it could be worth trying.

stockshares

Thanks all, I'll check Browns and the Superstore and see what they recommend.

Thanks for mentioning the toe cage length. I hadn't thought that I might just need to replace the toe cage.

Hopefully that will do the trick without having to get a complete set of pedals cleats and new shoes.

Many thanks, your posts have been very helpful

CramCycle

stockshares wrote: »

What would be the point, I might as well just not use the toe cage and place the ball of my foot on the pedal floor. I would lose a lot of force doing it this way.

If the cage doesn't fit right, you won't really lose anything and be alot more comfy. As above, Id recommend clipless first but cages or straps are only really useful if they fit right, otherwise the issues they cause are more than they are worth in my opinion. I'd take off the cage straight away and get round to trying clipless systems when you get a chance.

stockshares

CramCycle wrote: »

If the cage doesn't fit right, you won't really lose anything and be alot more comfy. As above, Id recommend clipless first but cages or straps are only really useful if they fit right, otherwise the issues they cause are more than they are worth in my opinion. I'd take off the cage straight away and get round to trying clipless systems when you get a chance.

Good point, I'll try it later and see does it help.
The more I think about it you are right . Regular training without the cage is better than no training because of it.

07Lapierre

Sounds like your saddle is too low? You shouldn’t be able to pedal with the sole of your foot.

https://youtu.be/FVu5Zrktm40

stockshares

07Lapierre wrote: »

Sounds like your saddle is too low? You shouldn’t be able to pedal with the sole of your foot.

https://youtu.be/FVu5Zrktm40

Another good point, I'll check it this evening and let you know if thats the problem.

Harrybelafonte

stockshares wrote: »

What would be the point, I might as well just not use the toe cage and place the ball of my foot on the pedal floor. I would lose a lot of force doing it this way.

Yes. That’s basically what I’m suggesting. Cheaper than buying new pedals and cleats. Apologies.

stockshares

07Lapierre wrote: »

Sounds like your saddle is too low? You shouldn’t be able to pedal with the sole of your foot.

https://youtu.be/FVu5Zrktm40

I followed the advice in the video and increased the height of the saddle and it's much better now with the ball of my foot over the axle.

I think I will still have to change the pedals as the ball of my foot aches a bit afterwards.

I'll try and get pedals made of better material.

Thanks again to all who helped out

gman2k

You could try the "lemond method saddle height", Google it.

stockshares

gman2k wrote: »

You could try the "lemond method saddle height", Google it.

Jesus that's complicated, I can hardly follow the instructions
https://cyclingmath.wordpress.com/tag/saddle-height/

cdaly_

stockshares wrote: »

I think I will still have to change the pedals as the ball of my foot aches a bit afterwards.

I'll try and get pedals made of better material.

Check out your shoes. Flexible soles mean concentrated pressure at the pedal. Stiff soles (cycling shoes) distribute the pressure and will likely help more than changing your pedals.

That said, cycling shoes and SPD pedals are probably the best combination.

stockshares

cdaly_ wrote: »

Check out your shoes. Flexible soles mean concentrated pressure at the pedal. Stiff soles (cycling shoes) distribute the pressure and will likely help more than changing your pedals.

That said, cycling shoes and SPD pedals are probably the best combination.

I'm going to call into Cycling Superstore in Tallaght when I get the chance as Nd see what they recommend.

I've never worn specific cycling shoes.
Can you recommend any?

recedite

What's a "toe cage"; is that toe clips?
Is this thread from 1985?

magicbastarder

stockshares wrote: »

I've never worn specific cycling shoes.
Can you recommend any?

first, you would pick the type of shoe/clip - there's several standards; SPD, SPD-SL and look would be the most common, but for commuting, SPD is the sensible option. you're much more likely to get shoes where the cleat is recessed into the sole, making walking around in the shoes much easier, and also they're easier to clip into because the pedals are double sided. you can also get pedals which have an SPD clip on one side, and a normal pedal on the other, so you can use them without needing the specific shoes.
you're probably looking at at least one hundred quid all in between pedals and shoes, but i guess that's cheaper than a couple of visits to the doctor.

stockshares

magicbastarder wrote: »

first, you would pick the type of shoe/clip - there's several standards; SPD, SPD-SL and look would be the most common, but for commuting, SPD is the sensible option. you're much more likely to get shoes where the cleat is recessed into the sole, making walking around in the shoes much easier, and also they're easier to clip into because the pedals are double sided. you can also get pedals which have an SPD clip on one side, and a normal pedal on the other, so you can use them without needing the specific shoes.
you're probably looking at at least one hundred quid all in between pedals and shoes, but i guess that's cheaper than a couple of visits to the doctor.

Thanks, the xtra expense is worth it. Dont want it developing into a long term problem.

CramCycle

stockshares wrote: »

Thanks, the xtra expense is worth it. Dont want it developing into a long term problem.

In that case, it is probably worth getting a new bike as well, just to rule that out as an issue