I have a pair of shimano rx8 gravel shoes in wide. I run the sphyre shoes in exact same size for my road bike and they fit amazing.
These have been giving me really bad foot pain in the left shoe (also in right but not as bad) at the point shown below in the pictures.
Not sure what I can be doing, if it’s caused by this spot in the shoe or somewhere else. I have tried loosening them off and it makes no difference. I have also changed the insole to the higher arch and no difference.
Any suggestions ?
I have ridden them enough times they should be broken in. They have been soaked in water, I’ve done shorter rides on trainer. Nothing seems to be helping.
I’ve got the cheaper RX6 and have the same problem. I got them as a light weight XC shoe and have been using them for about 4 months but honestly they’re just not that comfortable and wouldn’t buy them again. They also dig in at the top of the shoe.
I’ve been having this issue in the XC-09 and RX-8. I moved my cleats back about 5mm (cleat is in the front holes and the plate is moved all the way back) and the problem is all but gone. I think I need to move the cleat to the back holes and see if that eliminates it completely.
Its possible that your feet are different widths. Also, its possible that your left foot is too wide even for the wide model. I’m not sure if shimano provides width measurements which is super annoying.
My 2¢ is that you need a wider shoe. Perhaps consider Lake shoes since they’ll properly measure width.
Exactly the same issue in the same here. The top was fine for me but that spot on the side was painful after riding for a long while.
It may not be helpful to you but eventually it went away after a good amount of use. Whether it was the shoes or my feet breaking in I don’t know but it did go away eventually.
I had a similar issue on a 6h gravel race - though the hot spot was on the bottom of my foot, same position as where you are pointing on the outside. Literally agony. Will be interested to see how others have fixed the issue - I had custom carbon insoles in, they weren’t made for these shoes though.
By “wide Asian feet”, I am assuming you mean feet that are wider in the toe box but about average, maybe low volume elsewhere. That’s probably my foot shape.
Lake has several lasts. By the numbers, the race last wide should be OK for me. I tried a pair on, and the forefoot fits OK but the shoe is too low volume elsewhere. Lake suggested I try the competition last in a wide. I think that was much too high volume - I measure my foot width at 96mm, but in my size, the competition last is 94mm in standard, 106mm in wide.
So, if the OP wants to try a pair of Lakes (probably the competition last), maybe consider that. I guess I am just in a weird spot with sizing, but hopefully others aren’t. A Competitive Cyclist rep said to me that it’s OK to take the shoes on a test ride, but put electrical tape between the sole and the cleat to prevent scuff marks. They will at minimum give you store credit. That’s pretty generous. Bontrager has a 30d guarantee for any reason, and one retailer I bought a different pair of shoes from said that I could take the shoes back to him even if they had cleats mounted as long as they were in otherwise new condition. Shoes can be tricky because sometimes you step into the shoe and you know it won’t work, but other times you need to do some riding in it before you know.
Whats annoying is i have a pair of 2019 Shimano Sphyre’s that have well over 2000hrs into them by now and they have had zero issues. Same size, same width. For these to be SO different is what is annoying.
And to hear from others they are having the exact same problem tells me that this is a design issue.
I couldn’t exactly tell you because I don’t wear them anywhere as much as my road shoes.
I bought them almost as soon as they were available in Aus around last Christmas - since then according to Golden Cheetah I’ve 90 hours I’ve listed as Gravel rides and probably a similar amount of time on the turbo as while i’ve kept the gravel bike on the turbo I sometimes swap my Assiomas on to it as well.
It did take some time - I rode Seven in May and I remember thinking at the time whether I should run road shoes because it was still an issue then. It has gradually resolved and at some point I’ve stopped thinking about it but it probably took agood 6 months.
If your s-phyre are the RC9, unfortunately there was a significant redesign since the RC901 to RC903. This is same design change is also used the rx8 and probably other late model Shimano shoes. They do not have the room in the toe box that the old RC9 had, even in late model wide versions.
I’ve had these shoes for a few years and suffered the same issue, not just with this shoe but most of the brands I own. For this shoe I’m redoing the front velcro every time I put them on and not using it as a set and forget kind of thing. Generally I’m not trying to get anything that would be considered snug out of it either, no pulling when closing. When putting the shoes on I leave the front open, tighten the BOAs then set the front velcro down. This has covered the issue for this shoe. Only rarely do I find myself snugging the front velcro on these. Whether it’s these or my way narrower Fizik R1 road shoes I tend to leave the foreword/toe box section of the shoe as loose as I can short of them feeling weird.
