Body and sole

Lab rat
Body and sole
Customised orthotic inserts for cycling shoes
promise more power and fewer injuries.
Cyclist discovers whether the claims stand up
Words Stu Bowers Photography Geoff Waugh
s any sage will tell you,
the key to building
something of quality and
strength is to get the
foundations right. And
any bike fitter will tell you that correct
bike position and power transfer through
your pedals has to begin with the feet.
‘Get this wrong and it’s like the
man that built his house on the sand,’
says Mick Habgood, sports podiatrist
at Cyclefit, as he talks me through
some simple exercises and specific
movements while staring intently at my
feet. ‘Building on a concrete base is the
best situation, and by using customised
orthotics we can provide that for your
body – a stable, optimally positioned,
well-supported platform from which to
drive with. The most important aspect
of the testing is identifying what type
Above and right:
Cyclefit’s Mick Habgood
performs a physical
foot inspection before
pressure-mapping
mats beneath the shoe
insoles reveal what’s
happening on the bike
of forefoot the client has and how this
position affects the chain of muscular
and joint effects at the ankle, knee then
hips during each cycling revolution.
‘What’s unique about cycling
compared to, say, running is that the
variables are much more limited, so
what you see in the clinic translates
much more into real world scenarios
outdoors,’ he adds. ‘The foot remains
static and it’s not the sagittal movement
[heel to toe] that’s important but the
lateral [side to side]. As such, orthotics
for cycling are very different as I’m
trying to block and balance the foot,
not encourage it to move.’
Habgood examines my feet both
at rest and during movement. There’s
no hi-tech equipment involved at this
stage, just his trained eye, a notebook
and a pen. Only once he’s finished does
the technology arrive. I slip into my
cycling shoes, now fitted with waferthin, Gebiomized pressure-mapping
mats beneath the standard insoles,
and climb aboard the fitting jig. ‘We
could do this on a turbo trainer, but by
using the jig we can quickly dial in your
position and also simultaneously check
the alignment of your knees using the
Dartfish system,’ says Habgood.
As I pedal through a range of
intensities, Habgood’s eyes are trained
on the monitor, the software providing
a real-time, visual representation of
the magnitude and spread of pressure
my foot is exerting in the shoe. I’m
not allowed to see the screen, just in
case I’m tempted to alter my natural
pedalling style to improve the data.
A snapshot of that data is taken and
Habgood tells me he’s already certain
we can make some improvements, and
he produces a disembodied skeleton’s
foot to help explain his findings.
‘My goal is to identify asymmetries
and to evenly distribute the forces
across the entire forefoot from the 1st
to the 5th metatarsophalangeal joint
(MPJ) so that when you’re attempting to
generate maximum power during each
pedal stroke you’re not wasting time
and energy.’
Getting plastered
As Habgood lays strips of wet plaster
over my foot, I can’t help admitting
that the sensation is rather pleasant.
He says, ‘You can use 3D scanning,
or take foam impressions or some
other weighted impressions, but the P
cyclist
53
Lab rat
‘With a full customised orthotic we can
consider the foot as forefoot and hind foot
separately and stabilise each accordingly’
P reason I do plaster casts with the foot
unweighted is because then I’m the
one directing what the foot does, not
you. When you stand, your foot is not
balanced, so not in its neutral position.’
The plaster cast moulds of my
feet are used to craft the customised
orthotics using carbon fibre, a process
that takes a few days, so I have to make
a return visit for the final part of the
process. Orthotics have evolved a great
deal over the past decade. Whereas
previously they would have been bulky
and heavy, modern use of carbon fibre
for the structural element means they
can now be thin and strong, making
them stable and rigid while adding very
little weight or bulk to the shoe. I’m
eager to find out whether these fancy
inserts can actually improve my riding.
‘There are two main things we can
aim to improve: pain and performance,’
says Habgood. ‘Everyone’s foot is
different. It doesn’t matter what the foot
looks like – it’s how much it moves. In
the majority of cases people have an
elevation of the first ray. That means
their big toe MPJ sits higher than the
others when the ankle is in its most
neutral position. This is called supinatus.
‘In order to generate power during
the down stroke, the foot collapses and
pronates [rotates inwards] until the first
MPJ sufficiently contacts the sole of the
shoe to be able to transmit power. In
doing so it slows down the transfer rate
of power between the body and the
pedal; it increases pressure along the
lateral column of the forefoot, and it
increases the potential mal-tracking P
Footing the bill
Orthotics vs insoles
Customised orthotics such as the ones produced by Cyclefit (cyclefit.co.uk) can be pricey. The £395 cost includes two hour-long sessions for assessment,
plaster casting, final fitting, re-checking, plus any fine-tuning of the orthotic. If that’s too steep, the alternatives are insoles or footbeds, which are generally
bought ‘off the shelf’ but which can still have a degree of customisation to suit the user. Here are a few of the options:
Sidas Conformable Insoles, from £50, sidas.co.uk
A heat-moulded, custom fitted insole (expect
to pay from around £25 extra for the moulding/
fitting service).
54
cyclist
E-Sole eFit footbeds, from £35, esoles.com
A pre-formed modular footbed system that
allows customisation using interchangeable
arch supports and metatarsal pads.
Specialized BG Fit, from £20, specialized.com
A pre-formed footbed that has an in-built
‘metatarsal button’ for additional forefoot
support. Customers can choose from three
levels of arch support: low, normal, high.
Lab rat
P of the proximal joints [ankle,
knee, pelvis] throughout the cycling
revolution, which increases fatigue
and injury prevalence.
‘The greatest benefit of the orthotics
is simply to bring the ground up to the
foot, and as such the foot is prevented
from rotating or drifting unnecessarily
and the pressure is distributed over
the whole foot and not just one specific
area, which is inefficient and would
inevitably lead to pain,’ Habgood adds.
As a final step, it’s back to the fitting
jig to undergo the same riding protocol
56
cyclist
With orthotics, I feel more of a connection with
the bike when I pedal, and I’m not aware of there
being any one contact point inside the shoe
Cyclist is fitted with
orthotics that, once
back on the bike, have
an immediate – and
positive – impact
as before, only this time with the custom
orthotics fitted to my shoes. Once again
the Gebiomized pressure-mapping
software shows the pressure points
on my feet as I pedal. Once the test is
over, Habgood shows me the before
and after snapshots. The new images
show a more even spread of pressure
across the whole of my forefoot. Red
areas – pressure points or hotspots –
have been eliminated entirely. From my
perspective, I feel more of a connection
with the bike when I pedal, and I’m not
aware of there being any one contact
point inside the shoe, which Habgood
says is the ideal outcome.
‘Any insole that offers an increased
level of support is probably better than
nothing, but the difference between a
prefab [off the shelf] and a full custom
orthotic is basically on a scale of varying
levels of support and specificity,’ he
says. ‘With a full customised orthotic
we can consider the foot as forefoot
and hind-foot separately and stabilise
each accordingly. A regular mistake
of prefab insoles is to concentrate too
much on the forefoot, as this is the area
where the power is being transferred
through to the pedal, but so much of
the forefoot stability comes from
stabilising the hind foot.’
The custom option doesn’t come
cheap – these ones cost £395 – but
when you consider the money that
many riders are prepared to spend on
bikes and kit for a few ounces of weight
saved or a smidgen of extra speed, if
the right orthotics can keep you riding
efficiently and injury-free, then they’re
surely worth every penny. ]