The world’s best over the counter  In The Shoe support for cycling is here. The ITS Forefoot Wedge and Yellow Superfeet  combination brings the ultimate in forefoot, mid-food and rear foot support.

BikeFit’s ITS Wedge obviously supports the forefoot. Superfeet support the mid and rear foot. In spite of being the worlds most recognizable name in insoles not many realize the extent of support you will find in the Yellow insoles. In addition to mid –foot support the Yellow provide 2 degrees of wedging under the heel. In other words a rear foot varus wedge.

      Here is a sneak peak of the world’s best combined with the world’s best.

        

Stay tuned as there is much more to come. And yes our I T S  wedges are now green. We hope this color will not be copied like the previous orange color because beyond the color there is also a BiG difference…more to come on that front as well.

Thanks to everyone for making it another great year for BikeFit. More and more people are happier on their bike which is our ultimate goal. This does not happen without effort from all of you.

We look for 2012 to be a SUPER year with new products, some added twists and curves to the existing line-up, along with a new alliance.

The year will be starting fast from get go. Our first BikeFit Pro classis January 8-9^th at BikeFit Headquarters.

I will be working at FIST teaching BikeFit Education on the Foot/Pedal Interface January 18 in Valerymo, CA at SlowTwitch. This will be the most important day in-between the Tri and Road Sizing classes. Road Sizing is new for Dan Empfield and SlowTwitch in 2012.

If you are in the Southeast come meet us in South Carolina January 19^th working with one of our new domestic distributors Hawley USA.

Katrina “Kit” Vogel MS DPT will be presenting in London this January 25^th & 26^th at the International Cyclefit Symposium. A preview to London will be available here in Kirkland, WA the week prior and open to a limited number of guests.

Look for our new ads in the Cascade Courier (already in print) featuring the SwitchIt and the local shops using it to sell the most comfortable saddle for you and in Velo (formerly Velonews) for a few issues featuring some of our esteemed BikeFit Pros across the country.

And that is just some of the things going on in January 2012.

Things will be much more yellow around here in 2012 as Superfeet is sponsoring all of our BikeFit Pro Education. Each and every student that brings their cycling shoes will receive a pair of Superfeet insoles. Also, subjects in the classes will be supplied insoles for the students to see and watch firsthand the amazing benefits of the Superfeet product. Stay tuned for more on this very soon. As well, watch for more info on distribution to bike shops, bike fitters and consumers.

Lastly, BIG changes to our education format here at BikeFit Headquarters. At long last, we’ll be offering monthly Foot/Pedal Clinics followed by an optional day of complete bike fittings. Good news for aspiring fitters- rates are going DOWN. Check it out: See our Class Schedule.

We often recommend to our BikeFit Pros it is a good idea to befriend a local cobbler (shoe repair person). A good cobbler can come in handy often in ways beyond our imagination. Some of them can be quite amazing at what they can to a cycling shoe. It is however worth noting that in some cases it may take time to develop a relationship where the cobbler really starts to understand cycling needs. Not all will be able to produce something like this in the photo below on their first try. This job of creating an elevated sole is one of the cleanest I have ever seen. The cyclist in this case had been using the same cobbler for years and this was not his first attempt.

It is probably pretty clear that a job like this built up shoe is better left to the cobbler. But are there some issues we as bike fitters can address on our own? Sometimes a shoe may be tight in a certain area and it needs to be stretched. If it is beyond a small little spot I refer to the cobbler.

However, one scenario you will no doubt run into is fitting a cyclist with a bunion.

I used to refer these situations out to a cobbler as well but I don’t anymore. I save the bigger jobs for the cobbler. We have a spot stretcher (bunion stretcher)I keep in the fit area. You can apply this tool while working on another aspect of the bike fit and not really add any more time to your overall fit. It is also nice that the cyclist will not need to take the extra time to visit the cobbler. For a cyclist that has been dealing with the discomfort or pain of a bunion this relief is amazing.

Here is a recent review of the bunion stretcher on BikeRadar.

Question - I have been indoor cycling (spinning¹) for a year. I love it and do it 2 times a week sometimes three or more. I have an issue with my SIDI bike shoes,I love them but i noticed well into class I started to develop a pain/soreness etc. I put in some insoles and they didn't provide relief. The soreness is on the outer side of both my right and left foot. It's not on the middle but more on the fattier side of your foot aligned. I have been desperately looking for a solution.If you could help me with some information I would really appreciate it. Thanks

BikeFit reply - Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t call or email us complaining of discomfort or pain on the bottom, outermost part of their foot. The illustration on the left below shows the location of the MOST common “hot foot” or foot discomfort. Sounds like your situation as well.

The illustration on the right shows even pressure across the entire ball of their foot. Cyclists often describe this as feeling better connected, more stable, even-feeling and so on. 

Here is a way to look at your own feet and see why there is often more pressure toward the outside of the foot. With your knees on a chair have someone hold a book or ruler across the balls of your feet. Are they angled up toward the inside?

There is good news. We have a solution for you called Cleat Wedges  (http://www.bikefit.com/c-1-cleat-wedges.aspx) that accommodate for your foot’s natural position by creating an angle on your cycling cleat(s) where it connects to the pedal. It’s worth noting that the number of Cleat Wedges on one shoe in no way dictates the proper number of Cleat Wedges you’ll need on the other shoe.

Each Cleat Wedge has a one degree slope (or angle) and can be stacked based on your needs. 

You also mentioned the insoles you tried did not provide relief. That does not mean your insoles are bad but just so you know, insoles rarely (if ever), address the tilt of the foot as described above. 

You can order Cleat Wedges online or you may find it more beneficial to find a BikeFit Pro or Dealer who carries them. Click here to find a Pro or Dealer near you. 

¹Spinning is a registered trademark of Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc.

Wrapping up a few days of bike fits in the SW at Loose Nuts in Atlanta, GA and The Bike Shop in Auburn AL.

Out of 6 bike fits only two of them used an In The Shoe Wedge (ITS) however each already had 3 Cleat Wedges or more on their shoes. When you get into that range of wedge need the heel wedge absolutely will be more prevalent and indeed  four of the bike fits required heel wedges. Average heel wedge use was a little less than two degrees. Are you trying heel wedges? If not you may be missing something. We suggest giving  them a try.

Here is Jeff of Suwanee Creek Bicycles holding up a modified Look Cleat Wedge that we cut down to make a heel wedge. This is easy to do.

Here are a couple photos of two Look Cleat Wedges cut to match the radius of SuperFeet Black insoles. Just trim with scissors and let us know how it works for you and your clients.