Anyone have some tips or tricks for breaking in a new pair of cycling shoes fast? I was in a wreck a couple weeks ago and my shoes/cleats are trashed. A new pair just came in the mail and I wont be able to ride till tomorrow. I leave for Augusta in 6 days. How bad will my blisters be? any advice?
Break in cycling shoes??? huh? What needs “breaking in”? the insoles? If the same model/brand, transfer the insoles from your old ones. If not, then I still don’t see how that matters.
Honestly, I don’t think running shoes really need much break in either. They aren’t leather anymore. I walk around in them and wear them for a few hours then the foam insoles are reasonalbe well formed ot my feet.
You could I suppose wear them in the shower then dry them with a hair dryer while still wearing them. That might get the leather to conform.
Honestly, cycling shoes should fit pretty tight and you shouldn’t have any movement causing blisters. I can’t recall ever having a blister from cycling shoes at any time in the last 17 years I’ve been cycling inclduing 100 mile days back to back at least 4 times. IF your foots moving around, I would wager that hte shoes is too big, not tight enough or the wrong shape for your foot.
IF you bought a differnt brand or model right before a race… well… hope that works out for you. Not a very smart move.
It sounds like your feet need to be broken in! I can unbox just about any new pair of shoes and wear them sockless for a 2hr ride without blistering. This doesn’t help you in the short term, but it is possible to toughen your feet up to the point where they’re not blister-prone
Did you get the same model of shoe you previously wore? If so, how did those fit when they were new? Did it take you a long time to break them in? What about the shoe changed during break-in that made them more comfortable?
I suppose you could solve a lot of problems with a shoehorn, but if you had a particular seam or something inside the shoe that needed to wear in for comfort’s sake then I’m not sure exactly how to go about accelerating that process other than just wearing the shoes as much as possible between now and Augusta.
I got a new pair a week before Rev3 Cedar Point, rode twice, and then raced in them. So for me, 2 rides. However, could have (not that I would have) taken them from box to race and been fine.
Yeah, cycling is not running. You shouldn’t be getting ANY blisters when cycling. Sometimes when I switch to a new shoe, I will overtighten a strap and have to fiddle with the tightness for a few rides until I get them dialed in. But never blisters.
Same exact shoe. Rode the same pair for over 7,000 miles. first new pair since I bought my bike.
Same here. Had a pair of shimano tr30 since 2008 (I think)…got a pair of specialized week before race. No issues. Was prepared to race in shimano if new pair didn’t work but after one ride, I felt all was good.
I have no choice. They’re torn. Thanks guys sounds like I’ll be ok.
Yeah, cycling is not running. You shouldn’t be getting ANY blisters when cycling. Sometimes when I switch to a new shoe, I will overtighten a strap and have to fiddle with the tightness for a few rides until I get them dialed in. But never blisters.
Same here… Tried a few different brands over the years and some of them didn’t fit quite as well and could get hot spots, but once I settled on Sidis fitting me the best, I’ve taken a pair straight out of a mail-order box and gone out for 3+ hours on them with no issues at all.
wear socks on the bike
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Just do a few 1 hour rides (They can be easy recovery rides) to make sure the shoes fit okay.
I was in the same boat, except didn’t “need” new shoes. I would just say wear some socks or do a few, well maybe 1 ride today east and see if there’s any sore spots. If there is, go get those Band-Aid Blister Block pads. Absolutely amazing for blisters or prevention.
Piling on…use the old insoles and you oght to be fine out of the box. And, a good cobler might be able to repair your old pair - they could be your back up pair or your trainer pair or you could modify them for cold weather and make the your winter pair. David K.
I wouldn’t worry about breaking in cycle shoes. I would worry about getting some easy rides in to make sure the cleats are where you like them.