Mid-Foot Cleat Placement | Mountain Bike Opinions Discussion board

I’ve had issues with my ft/ankles for ages. A few of this stems from leg size discrepancies, over pronation, and common ab/use in my life. I am an skilled bicycle owner of the MTB selection. Over the past 12 months I’ve had points with ache/paresthesia with SPDs. I discover some tingling about 10 miles into an XC journey, after an extra hour or two, it is crippling. Nervous about exacerbating the issue (Morton’s neuroma and many others.), I’ve hesitantly gone to flats, which I solely use in sure functions. Working flats appears to alleviate the issue when adopting a mid-foot place. This isn’t a long-term resolution. I like my SPDs, particularly within the snow the place I can “pull up” on the pedal when I’m on my fats bike. Flats are a “work round” and never an answer.

I’ve spent the final three weeks experimenting with cleat positioning, new sneakers, toe cage measurement, and many others. I’ve additionally performed with the huge section area of cleat placement. Nothing. I got here throughout an SPD adaptor that gives an extra 20 mm rear displacement. My experiments on the bike with flats point out that this new place may supply some reduction. Has anybody used one thing like this? Ideas? I attempted probably the most rearward cleat placement with my conventional med/lat placement to no avail. It isn’t that costly, however it’s clunky and positively extra difficult than it ought to be.

I understand this can be a extremely contentious topic. I’ve learn the “science” on their website, primarily anecdotal. I’m not a biomechanics knowledgeable, however am an experimental scientist, so if there may be something peer-reviewed somebody can level me to…that might be appreciated. One in every of my issues with adopting a mid-foot placement is toe overlap.