neuroma &wide shoes

[Belita]

Orthopedist recommends I get wider cycling shoes, mens actually, to help with my Morton's neuroma. Does anyone out there suffer the same and have any advice for wide shoe buying? I know SIDI, Lake, and Rocket7 (probably out of my price range) are good brands that have wides. Is my heel going to stay in any of these I wonder? Mil gracias for anything.

[KnottedYet]

Me, too. I do quite well in men's Specialized Taho shoes, with Superfeet insoles and a metatarsal button on the Superfeet. (both Superfeet, even though I only have a neuroma on the left)

I have very narrow heels, and they stay in place in the Tahos.

Edit: I think I paid $65 or $70 for my Tahos.

[Dianyla]

I've wear a women's size 10 4E width, with very high volume foot and high arches. I am quite comfortable in my size 43 Sidis, in Mega width. I've got superfeet insoles in them for now, but have been contemplating custom orthotics.

[bike4ever]

Belita - I have Sidi Dominator's in a Mega 40 size. I absolutely love them. I also have custom black Superfeet in mine. I did have neuroma surgery years ago. It was a very easy recovery. I hated the pain from the neuroma. It would kick in way too early on a long ride.

[rij73]

I have a wicked Morton's Neuroma. I'm considering surgery because cortizone injections and alcohol injections never have a lasting effect. The thing is, that for me cycling has never bothered it! Maybe my cleats are far enough back or something. It doesn't seem that I put any weight on the spot where I get the neuroma pain.

[Crankin]

My husband had the surgery about 6 years ago. He is so thankful he did! It didn't bother him cycling, but he could barely walk. The recovery was not so bad and he did the cycling part of a pentathalon about 3 months after the surgery.

[massbikebabe]

Thanks for this topic all;

I am finally pedaling for real since my stroke and need to get new shoes because my leg brace will not fit into my current pair of Sidi's. I will investigate the Specialized mens a little more closely. I use mtn. shoes because with my poor walking ability I would kill myself with carbon shoes!


cheers,
karen

[KnottedYet]

Karen!!! So good to see you again!

How fabulous that you are riding again, too!

[Blueberry]

Karen-

How'd I miss this???!!! That's awesome!!!!

CA

[solobiker]

I too have a bad Morton's Neuroma. I used to do a a lot of alpine climbing and mountaineering, but the neuroma got so bad that I couldn't handle an approach to a climb that was longer then 6 miles. I loved those long days on the trail, to do a climb on a wall, ridge or mixed of snow and rock. I used to be able to put in 12-16 hours days on the move. I switched to wider boots and got orthotics but that didn't help too much. I now wear more of a sneaker boot unless I am doing a snow climb. I did notice it a bit riding last summer so I switched to slightly wider shoes. One thing to becareful of is if they are too wide you may be flexing (bending) your toes to grip in the shoe to prevent your foot from sliding around which can exacerbate the problem.

[Stronglight99]

I have the symptoms in right foot only...but beware your doctor's advice, it pays to experiment. What works for me is *narrower* not wider shoes. Wide flat flexible shoes seem to aggravate it by putting pressure on the mid-foot nerves. I avoid the problem with stiff narrow shoes, high arches, heels, and sometimes the use of a metatarsal arch insert. It is frustrating that I can go all day in italian dress heels without pain, but get pain in 10 minutes with loafers. Go figure.

[tc1]

Sidi Dominator Mega works for me and my orthotics. My size is a woman's size 11, medium width, and I have high volume feet. Most women in the US that wear 11 + wear men's gear most of the time. Thankfully I have a job where I am supposed to wear workboots, so shopping isn't a hassle as men's size 10 boots are easy to find.

If you are thinking orthotics, get them first. Or your shoes may not fit your feet with your orthotics in the shoe. After I got mine I had to give away $100s of dollars worth of shoes and boots, which kinda sucked.

So, I bought a men's size 44 for my bike shoes. I find with orthotics I usually have to go up a half size either in length or width, that's a men's 10.5 for you keeping track at home. SIDI of course doesn't make a women's size 44.

In SIDI land, mega refers to their "wide" width. Dominator has a rugged sole, which they call a mountain bike sole. I much prefer MTB shoes because I have speedplay frogs, and the cleats for the speedplays aren't recessed, so the rugged sole works better. When I ride my MTB I wear boots.

The fit is OK, heel is a bit sloppy and wouldn't work for running, but they are perfect for biking. My only gripe is the top strap is a skosh too short, so it is really hard to start it.