I did 18 miles on new cleats and pedals and my outer right foot was sore. Felt like it was strained. Felt muscular and its NOT a previous injury. I’m a a brand spanking newbie. Just did my first Tri. Could this be a pedal fit issue?? Thanks.
Sounds like it could be a cleat placement issue, fore and aft. I had the same issue, had a bike fit that included cleat adjustment and it still bothered me. I moved my cleats aft maybe no more than a millimeter or 2 and it stopped. You could have a professional look at it or some trial and error with the bike on a trainer
Thank you! I appreciate it. A full fitting is not in the budget yet, so I may have to make some adjustments and go on trial and error.
Could just be the fact that you’re brand new riding on brand new stuff. Cycling, like any new activity, can have a very painful adjustment period.
Just keep adjusting things little by litter. You’ll either find a sweet spot or you’ll just get used to it. Hopefully.
Diagnosing pain via the Internet just seems wrong. But here is what I would check first given the location of the pain. Depending on the cleat system they hold the foot at a specific angle and they don’t allow much movement if any. I am not speaking about the cleat adjustment. Typically the cleat adjustment is easier given that they usually provide some float. But back to the problem - Outside Ball of foot, New Cyclist, 18 miles, new Cleats/pedals. Smart money would be you could benefit from a varus or valgus wedge. Makes a world of difference. The old toe clips and straps didn’t have this problem because the foot could assume the angle it desired. Modern Pedal Systems ? Not so much.
Bill (uses a wedge under the insole in my right shoe)
Folks are right that it could be a bunch of things. Could be as simple as you exerting the force on the outer foot instead of uniformly, or unintentionally scrunching the outer toes.
If it recurs, it’s worth going back to the local bike shop to be sure they set you up properly when you bought the bike – not a full fitting, just the type of basic setup that usually comes with a bike purchase.
When I had the same symptoms, the problem was that I was applying the force on the outside of my foot (abductor digiti minimi) because that’s how my right leg hangs – with the outer part of the foot a bit lower than average.
My orthopedist told me to put in arch supports and see if that fixed it, by spreading the force across the entire foot. Worked like a charm. At first, I used a drugstore Dr. Scholl’s 3/4 length “3 in 1” or something like that, just sitting on top of the shoe’s stock insole. When those wore out, I switched to the Giro adjustable inserts with the highest arch pad. Haven’t had a problem in years.
Of note: my ortho told me that the bike shop would want to put a wedge (shim) on the outer part of the foot to tilt the foot inward into a “proper” position. Doc said that would make things worse, and that at my age (then around 40) it was better to accommodate my anatomy than to force it into an ideal position.