Marisol,
Sorry, I got the source wrong. It was Dr. Andy Pruitt, director of the the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. His resume’ remains the same, however. I got the name, Center and city wrong. But this corrected info should help point you in the direction of more info on the subject.
Marisol,
I believe he was addressing a conference on sports medicine/cycling when he made these comments. I would guess that by now he has written his opinion on the subject and his reasons why. He is one of the foremost authorities on cycling sports medicine.
Whilst I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Pruitt, I don’t think he’s able to give an objective opinion on this subject since he’s paid by Specialized to sell their shoes. In fact. it seems all he ever does anymore is bring the subject back to his book(s) and/or Specialized product whenever he speaks. Sell, sell, sell seems to be his driving force these days. It drives me crazy when people who are respected in their particular profession sell out to a large company and then skew all their professional advice, and it certainly seems this has been the case lately with Dr Pruitt, which is unfortunate.
JM3,
Yes, I couldn’t agree more! Its simply disgusting that a treating physician might see ailments with a common root cause over the course of their practice. Then consider that because of his or her reputation in the field they just might have enough “weight” to persuade a manufacturer to produce a product to aleviate these ailments at a cost the common man/cyclist can afford and would consider purchasing.
Now let’s see, how many other manufacturers produce this same type of shoe and insole? Zero!
Yes, you are right! Pruitt has sold out to Specialized. He should be drawn and quartered for promoting a product that relieves cycling ailments. A cyclist who can’t endure foot pain and knee and ankle pain to the point of causing one to give up cycling isn’t a cyclist in the first place and doesn’t deserve to sit on a saddle!
I have weird feet and in helping me choose shoes, Pruitt recommended Sidi Megas and the wide versions of Shimano shoes. He was very quick to mention that Specialized shoes wouldn’t fit my feet.
I ended up going custom and he did the casts for my feet. The first custom shoes did not fit and he only charged me around $45 to have the casts done for my second pair.