SPDs - cramp in my feet

[Doki]

I've got a set of Time ATAC pedals, not sure which exact model, one of the
"freeride" ones which has a bit of a platform as well as a clip for the
cleat (FWIW, they're a complete marketing con - the platform offers
absolutely no grip when riding in normal shoes due to the clips and the lack
of bitey bits that take chunks out of your shins on normal pedals).

Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've not
been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a while.
Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden with the
SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just got in from a
6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
painful for a good five minutes. Anyone got any ideas as to what I can do to
alleviate this or should I just go back to flats?

I quite like the power gained from being clipped in after riding my road
bike with clips and straps for a year or two, but I'm unconvinced of the
practicality of them on a mountain bike, given my tendency to fall off. And
the cramp is bloody horrific.

 

[Peter Clinch]

Doki wrote:
> I've got a set of Time ATAC pedals, not sure which exact model, one of
> the "freeride" ones which has a bit of a platform as well as a clip for
> the cleat (FWIW, they're a complete marketing con - the platform offers
> absolutely no grip when riding in normal shoes due to the clips and the
> lack of bitey bits that take chunks out of your shins on normal pedals).

Though I've never seen them marketed as for riding without cleated
shoes, just to give a better platform for someone clipped in as an
alternative to the bigger cleats of road shoes that one can't
actually walk in too well. So I'm not sure it's a con, just that
the reason they're marketed and your reasons for getting them were
possibly different.

> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've
> not been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a
> while. Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden
> with the SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just
> got in from a 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing
> cold and still painful for a good five minutes. Anyone got any ideas as
> to what I can do to alleviate this or should I just go back to flats?

No particular reason the pedal will give you cramp springs to mind,
so I'd say try a different pair of shoes.

> I quite like the power gained from being clipped in after riding my road
> bike with clips and straps for a year or two, but I'm unconvinced of the
> practicality of them on a mountain bike, given my tendency to fall off.

But at least your feet don't fly off at speed, which is potentially
much nastier than keeling over at 0 mph. More power and control
also reduces your chance of falling off to start with.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Jim]

"Doki" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've
> not been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a
> while. Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden
> with the SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet.
I got the Lidl shoes too and initially found I had a bit of a tendancy to
get foot cramp after riding. I reckoned that it was due to the fact that
these shoes had flexible soles whereas the road shoes I was more used to
were rigid. I've moved the cleat further forward on the Lidl shoes, the
default position was too far back towards my arch and I don't suffer any
problems now plus I can wear the Lidl shoes pretty much like normal
trainers. (not bad for £12.99)

Cheers
Jim J

 

[Dan Gregory]

Jim wrote:
> "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've
>> not been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a
>> while. Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden
>> with the SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet.
> I got the Lidl shoes too and initially found I had a bit of a tendancy to
> get foot cramp after riding. I reckoned that it was due to the fact that
> these shoes had flexible soles whereas the road shoes I was more used to
> were rigid. I've moved the cleat further forward on the Lidl shoes, the
> default position was too far back towards my arch and I don't suffer any
> problems now plus I can wear the Lidl shoes pretty much like normal
> trainers. (not bad for £12.99)

Mine seem to be OK too, although I haven't ridden any long distances
with them. Cleats are in the same position as my lighter shoes. I use
Time Axion & Time Alium pedals.

 

[Membrane]

"Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've not
>been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a while.
>Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden with the
>SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just got in from a
>6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
>painful for a good five minutes. Anyone got any ideas as to what I can do to
>alleviate this or should I just go back to flats?

FWIW, I get a fairly strong pain in my left foot immediately when I
stand on it (off bike) with SPD shoes that I bought. I couldn't figure
out what caused the pain, I tried on a different brand of shoes recently
in a store: totally pain free. Both are reputable brands and models,
both cost about the same, both fit well.

--
Membrane

 

[cupra]

Doki wrote:
> I've got a set of Time ATAC pedals, not sure which exact model, one
> of the "freeride" ones which has a bit of a platform as well as a
> clip for the cleat (FWIW, they're a complete marketing con - the
> platform offers absolutely no grip when riding in normal shoes due to
> the clips and the lack of bitey bits that take chunks out of your
> shins on normal pedals).
> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes.
> I've not been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for
> quite a while. Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed,
> I've ridden with the SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in
> my feet. Just got in from a 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet
> felt freezing cold and still painful for a good five minutes. Anyone
> got any ideas as to what I can do to alleviate this or should I just
> go back to flats?
> I quite like the power gained from being clipped in after riding my
> road bike with clips and straps for a year or two, but I'm
> unconvinced of the practicality of them on a mountain bike, given my
> tendency to fall off. And the cramp is bloody horrific.

I get that a little - are the shoes quite tight across the top of your foot?

(I used to get this problem a lot when snowboarding - I've since had custom
insoles made to stop the boot lace from 'splaying' out my feet..... the
cramps went!)

 

[Mark]

> Just got in from a
> 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
> painful for a good five minutes.

Are the feet getting cold from lack of blood flow (shoes too tight) or from
chilly air being blasted at them? Overshoes will prevent the latter.
Sandwich bags over the socks are a cheapy alternative that work.

 

[Colin MacDonald]

On 27 Jun, 22:04, "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've not
> been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a while.
> Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden with the
> SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just got in from a
> 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
> painful for a good five minutes.

If your feet are that cold then I wonder if the shoes are too tight
and are restricting blood flow? I know it took a while for my SPD
shows to loosen up a bit; prior to that I had to slacken off the laces
after a while to restore a bit of feeling. Whether tightness would
cause cramp or not, no idea. But it might be a factor.

Colin

 

[Nick]

Colin MacDonald wrote:
> On 27 Jun, 22:04, "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've not
>> been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a while.
>> Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden with the
>> SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just got in from a
>> 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
>> painful for a good five minutes.
>
> If your feet are that cold then I wonder if the shoes are too tight
> and are restricting blood flow? I know it took a while for my SPD
> shows to loosen up a bit; prior to that I had to slacken off the laces
> after a while to restore a bit of feeling. Whether tightness would
> cause cramp or not, no idea. But it might be a factor.
>

Yes there is no way that your feet should be getting cold at this time
of year. I don't think loosening the laces will be enough, it sounds
like new shows are needed. Ones with a firm sole and Ones that fit.




> Colin
>

 

[Ptigga]

On Jun 27, 10:04 pm, "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've got a set of Time ATAC pedals, not sure which exact model, one of the
> "freeride" ones which has a bit of a platform as well as a clip for the
> cleat (FWIW, they're a complete marketing con - the platform offers
> absolutely no grip when riding in normal shoes due to the clips and the lack
> of bitey bits that take chunks out of your shins on normal pedals).
>
> Anyway, I'm using them, set to maximum float, and Lidl's SPD shoes. I've not
> been on many rides with them, as the bike's been broken for quite a while.
> Anyway, both before and after getting the bike fixed, I've ridden with the
> SPDs, and every time I've ended up with cramp in my feet. Just got in from a
> 6 or 7 mile ride on the road and my feet felt freezing cold and still
> painful for a good five minutes. Anyone got any ideas as to what I can do to
> alleviate this or should I just go back to flats?
>
> I quite like the power gained from being clipped in after riding my road
> bike with clips and straps for a year or two, but I'm unconvinced of the
> practicality of them on a mountain bike, given my tendency to fall off. And
> the cramp is bloody horrific.


I love my SPDs on my mountain bike and would never be without them.
I've got them set to release without much pressure, enough to keep my
feet in the pedals on rough terrian, but its easy enough to pull out
of them when I need to dab.

For my commuter bike I find that SPDs give me that extra edge when
climbing hills, but I quite often ride with normal shoes, so on that
bike I've got a set of pedals which are a normal metal cage on one
side, and a cleat on the other side. Shimano M324. The cage side has
some fairly agressive pointy bits on it so it stil sticks well to off
road shoes.

The other option, is that most shimano double sided pedals that don't
have a cage come with a black piece of rubber that clips into the
pedal to make one side of it flat.

I'm not sure what's causing the cramping problem, I used to get sore
knees when I rode without SPDs until I re-positioned the cleats on my
shoes so that my feet weren't being twisted inwards. You could give
that a try.

Ptigga