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Cycling Orthotics

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What are cycling orthotics?
Benefits
Should I have cycling orthotics?
Our cycling orthotics
Conditions cycling orthotics can help with
FAQs

Our Brisbane podiatrists excel in the field of custom foot orthotics, and that includes our cycling orthotics that are designed after a specialised bike assessment. Our goal is always to help you reach your goals, whether that’s to improve your cycling performance or help you cycle with greater comfort while reducing your risk of injury.

What Are Cycling Orthotics?

Cycling orthotics are custom foot orthotics that are made specifically for your cycling shoes. As our feet tend to behave very differently when cycling compared to walking and running, cycling orthotics are very carefully and precisely designed to ensure that while addressing any concerns you may have with any pain, injury or other problems, they also help support and improve your efficiency while riding. As such, they are very different in their design and the materials used compared to standard orthotics, being light and slimline - yet strong and effective.

What Are The Benefits Of Cycling Orthotics?

Cycling orthotics are designed with a thorough understanding of the demands that cycling places on the feet, like the tendency to develop ‘hot spots’ under the front of your foot from traditionally placing a lot of pressure at and above your cleats. In cycling, it’s also important to remember that it’s the repetition that leads to the undoing of many people in the form of injury, as when incorrect movement patterns are repeated over tens of kilometres several times a week, the potential for something to go wrong is much higher.

Our podiatry team is very familiar with common cycling issues, like how a person’s flat foot posture can encourage the knee to turn inwards and ultimately lead to knee pain from having the kneecap mistrack. As the foot never touches the ground in cycling, understanding and assessing your lower limb biomechanics really is key. Designed with our expertise and experience, cycling orthotics can:

• Help correct issues with your foot posture and alignment that are contributing to pains or performance issues
  
• Help reduce abnormal foot contact, and pressure on the feet, ankles, and knees
  
• Reduce your risk of pain and injury
  
• Improve your pedalling efficiency, maximising your output 
  
• Increased power/torque in the push phase
  
• Help you conserve energy during cycling, optimising the transfer of power from foot to pedal
  
• Improve your comfort when cycling
  

When looking at the cycling orthotics themselves, you’ll notice they’ll look and feel different to the orthotics we use for runners and those needing them for day-to-day wear. With cycling orthotics, we very carefully select the material for your orthotics, pay close attention to their shape and their thickness to ensure they fit perfectly and comfortably within your cycling shoes, and ensure every single feature prescribed for your cycling orthotics match your performance and injury goals. For many people, this includes a focus on helping stabilise the foot, preventing the shear forces that typically occur during pedalling, and correcting the movement mechanism.

How Do I Know If I Should Have Cycling Orthotics?

Cycling orthotics are prescribed following a cycling-specific assessment on a bike in our clinic where we:

• Assess your lower limb alignment and positioning on your bike
  
• Examine the biomechanics of your lower limbs and how they are working together during cycling
  
• Identify muscular imbalances or deficiencies that may be contributing to the problems you’re experiencing, or may be impeding your performance
  
• Identify any other abnormalities that may be stopping you from achieving optimal output or function
  
• Show you exactly what’s happening with both rear and side bike views
  

It is after this thorough assessment that we’ll be able to discuss whether cycling orthotics could benefit you, and if so, how they’d work and what they’d help to achieve.

Cycling Orthotics At The Feet People

Our goal is always to help you achieve your goals, which is why we always take the time to get to know you and what this is for you, leveraging our wealth of knowledge to help you get there. Our cycling assessments include the use of the in-shoe pressure system, which allows us to understand exactly what’s happening to your feet and the forces they are being exposed to with high precision, being accurate to 0.01mm. Paromed has an innovative 3D scanner and pressure system that allows us to know exactly what’s happening with every stroke, so we know exactly which orthotic features will benefit you most, alongside complementary therapies such as adding specific exercises to your training program.

What Conditions Can Cycling Orthotics Help?

While some cyclists choose to have cycling orthotics to boost their performance even without notable cycling-related pain or discomfort, others use cycling orthotics to help manage:

• Pain and tension on the plantar fascia at the bottom of the foot
  
• Achilles pain including Achilles tendinopathy
  
• Knee pain (including patellofemoral pain syndrome and iliotibial band pain)
  
• Metatarsalgia
  
• Forefoot numbness or burning (nerve pain)
  
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome
  
• Ankle instability
  
• Morton’s neuroma
  
• Calf or shin soreness
  
• Hip pain caused by problems like leg length differences
  
• Asymmetries between the feet and legs
  
• Pronation (where the feet excessively roll inwards)
  

If you are experiencing any foot or lower limb pains or discomfort during or after cycling, or you know your performance isn’t as ideal as it could be, give our support team a call and book in for a consultation with one of our Brisbane podiatrists.

FAQs

How long do cycling orthotics last?

Cycling orthotics are designed to be durable, so we’d expect them to last anywhere from 1-3 years with regular use, though this will be influenced by your training regiment and intensity, as well as your weight and foot biomechanics. This is why we recommend annual reviews of your cycling orthotics to ensure you’re still happy with them and they’re still doing the best job for you.

How much do cycling orthotics cost?

Please contact our support team and they can provide you with a quote and information in regards to your private health fund rebate.

Do cycling orthotics really work?

Yes, we complete cycling assessments and prescribe cycling orthotics very regularly to help cyclists achieve their goals and stay free of pain or injury. The key to the effectiveness of cycling orthotics (just like orthotics for walking and running) is ensuring they are custom-made for your feet. When we hear of orthotics not working for people, it’s often because they are lumped with a one-size-fits-all solution that operates from a single ‘mould’ that assumes that every foot is the same, and requires the same kind of support. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

There are times where your cycling orthotics may need some adjustments after they have been dispensed to ensure we keep seeing the results and progress that we both want. Our Brisbane podiatrists take ownership of our prescription and fitting to ensure your orthotics are comfortable and also backed by key outcome measures using the latest technology to ensure we get the desired clinical outcomes that will help you achieve your goal.

What should I bring to my cycling assessment?

Please bring your cycling shoes with you and dress in clothing that you’d typically wear during cycling, so you can perform your cycling assessment without any restrictions. If you have a known injury or problem that you've had medical imaging for in the past like an x-ray or ultrasound, please bring this information along too as it may offer some valuable insights for your podiatrist.