Road Cycling Shoes Fitting Issue?

I doubt it's the size of the shoe that's bothering your calf. I think your pedaling with a bit more heel drop then you use to, which means your cleats are to far forward...new shoe new placement of where the cleats attach. So first move the cleat back so it's directly under the ball of your foot, if you have already done that then move back toward the rear of the shoe more, about 1/4 of inch at a time and retest. The shoe you got may be a !/4 of inch larger then your old pair which would be that 1/4 of inch you need to move the cleat rearward. Just don't go too far back because you'll run into other issues. This is something you wouldn't notice on shorter rides because the calves aren't being overworked due to the farther forward position putting more stress on the calves, so the calf pain doesn't show itself till they get tired on longer rides.

Another possibility is you may be low on Potassium or slightly dehydrated and as luck would have it you got new shoes at the same time, so check your urine color it should be almost clear with just a tinge of yellow.

Thanks for the input, Froze. Actually the cleats on the new shoes are (and have been) all the way back towards the heel of the shoes, so I'm not sure about the heel drop issue. Perhaps they are too far back. You'd mentioned "other issues," so now I'm curious as to what those would be.

That's interesting about the dehydration; my urine color is definitely a bit darker than usual. I was doing an hour ride at what is a hard speed for me today (21.9 mph overall average), and even though I drank a couple glasses of water beforehand, I certainly could have put down more during the ride. This calf issue isn't excruciating, but I've had it for the past couple of weeks. Been pushing myself doing hard intervals in recent weeks. I do tend to lapse on hydrating sometimes, and could improve on that.

Certainly sounds like a dehydration issue to me, too. I tend to drink far less often than I should, too, but even at that, I'll still drink at least half a bottle during an hour ride at effort.

It could also be an over-use thing. Maybe too many max efforts with too few recovery/rest days between?

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with your shoe fit. Plenty of toe room, and you have to pull firmly to get 1/4" of movement at the heel? Sounds about right to me.

It didn't even occur to me until last night, but it may be something else. I've had a minor pain in my right knee since Memorial Day weekend; I was tilling the garden by breaking thick roots in rocky soil with a shovel ---using my right leg (down thrust, repeat) a bit too hard. It's been diminishing slowly, but I can feel a bit of pain if I stand up on the pedals and crank hard during hill climbs. The joys of middle age, I suppose.

It would seem likely that I'm favoring my right leg by using my left a bit harder, and that may be another factor with the calf pain.

Thanks for all the input thus far, and some useful reminders about hydration and potassium.

Have you ever considered custom shoes?

And if you are dropping your heel a bit more that can tighten up the calves as well. But, if you are wearing an entirely new model of shoe you may need to move your saddle height as well depending on the stack height of the shoe. I know when people purchase a pair of Rocket7 shoes they need to lower their saddle because the stack height is so low.

kboutie said:

Have you ever considered custom shoes?  ...

I have...want to make me some... Seriously.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Dansky
Greetings, fellow cyclists. This spring I updated my well-worn road bike shoes to a pair of Bontrager RLs, and thought I got the fit right but now I'm not so sure.

How old were your well-worn Bontrager shoes. Bontrager started updating their lasts for the 2011 season, and I noticed that the current fit guide for RL road shoes runs quite large:bontrager.com11652Open ↗. My memory of the first generation of Bontrager shoes is that they ran wide in the toebox, snug everywhere else, and short. You had to size up from, say, Shimano or Specialized.

Oldbobcat, the older pair were purchased in October, 2008. And yes, the fit feels and looks as you describe; wide in the toebox, fairly snug and short in comparison to the new pair.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Dansky
Oldbobcat, the older pair were purchased in October, 2008. And yes, the fit feels and looks as you describe; wide in the toebox, fairly snug and short in comparison to the new pair.

Had a hunch. Bontrager was really having the blind staggers in shoes (and saddles) during this period. These early Bontrager shoes weren't terribly popular, but for some they worked out really well. You're obviously a member of the second group. Unfortunately, Trek left discovery of the sizing difference of their new lasts up to dealers and customers.

I wouldn't give up on off-the-shelf shoes yet. If your dealer values your business, they wouldn't hesitate to allow you to return these shoes, possibly in exchange for a smaller size, or for another brand that works for your feet.

The moral of the story is, don't assume that just because the shoe is of the same brand and nominal size it will fit, especially over a period of five or six years. Try before you buy.

Shimano revamped (shoe pun, sorry) their lasts starting last year, and they did it the right way. The fit length and width were identical, but they re-shaped the toe box, making it roomier for most, and the contour of the sole. They also educated their dealers on fitting the new shoes (and touting the benefits of the last). Shimano's Dynalast shoes aren't quite as paddle-shaped as the old Bontragers, but they do have some of that profile. I recommend checking them out.

Sure. Give me a shout, check our website at rocket7 and or give me a shout. Not sure if I can put my info on here but you can send me a direct note and we can go from there.

Take care,
KC

Update: The issue has resolved itself, for whatever reason. I've focused on hydration but another point I wanted to mention was about shoe cleat placement.

I usually angle my cleats slightly inboard on the soles of my shoes in order to give a very slight "toes out" effect while pedaling, yet my normal walking (and running) foot position has me more in the camp of the somewhat duck-footed folks.

It's my thought that trying to force my toes into a more straightforward position wasn't such a good idea, and I adjusted my cleats to help the cycling shoes more closely match how I tend to walk. Knees are still going up and down in a straight line.