tl;dr, Looking for EC’s experience and thoughts on whether switching pedal systems may be better for on Achilles Tendinopathy and/or foot stability.
Background:
I tore both Achilles tendons partially about a decade ago. They’ve been fine for normal life since, but recently they started to flare up with cycling load. I’ve been building up to longer events over the past year or so and the further I go, the more I’m noticing foot and lower-leg discomfort that seems tied to the tendon history.
Current setup:
Favero Assioma PRO MX-2 power meter pedals
Lake MX242-X Wide Shoes
CL-MT001 cleats
The question:
My bike fitter is recommending I switch to SPD-SL, on the logic that the wider platform and lack of float/rocking gives more stability to the foot, which could reduce the load pattern aggravating the tendon. It’s not a cheap switch (new shoes, new cleats, and I’d need to swap the pedal body shell on my power meter pedals), and I’ve already got fairly new SPD shoes and cleats, so it’s not a decision I want to make without consideration.
Not looking for the general “SPD vs. SPD-SL, which is better” debate, plenty of that already exists. Genuinely trying to figure out if this specific switch is likely to help my specific injury.
I don’t know anything about that condition, but I switched a while ago from SPD to SPD-SL and I very much found it increased my riding enjoyment and general comfort. It took a bit to redial the cleat position but I assume your bike fitter can get it done quicker. You’re also lucky you can just replace the pedal bodies on the Assiomas, they’re pretty cheap.
Where are your cleats positioned relative to the balls of your feet?
Moving the cleats to the rear towards the mid-foot will reduce the load on your calf-tendon area and should provide more relief. There are companies that make plates that sit between the cleat and the shoe but extends the contact surface allowing the cleats to be positioned further back if more is needed.
I believe the cleat is correctly positioned. I did try multiple positions with my fitter to find the right position. My main issue that there is no immediate feedback. The pain does not come during the ride, it come the next few days.
I’m intrigued at how there could be such a difference from changing pedals.
I ride both SPD and SPD-sl, and other than the SPD shoes allowing for a slightly more rearward cleat position (better for stand-up descending off-road), I feel very little difference. I do though use essentially the same Lake shoes for both, with the MX238 for SPD and CX238 for SPD-SL, with both being equally stiff/rigid.
Same here. As more platform like pedals really are more supportive. (e.g. Shimano trail series or lighter weight WolfTooth CTRL or Tatze pedals) And you can still walk decently as you keep spd shoes.
Shimano also has single-sided spd pedals like pd-es600 that provide more support - for an alternative see Exustar e-pr50 -, but then you lose the benefit of clipping in on both sides.
Intuitively, the recommendation to switch to road-specific pedals makes sense given your history, or at very least is worth trying.
I largely switched to walkable SPD nine years ago, but am moving back for some of my rides because of the rocking (i.e., varus/valgus mobility, as opposed to rotational float).
FWIW, you can get this benefit with Look KEO (or even old-school Look “Delta”) pedals as well. Three-bolt road cleats all have significantly less varus-valgus mobility than walkable SPD.
Given that you’ll need new shoes, there’s not a cheap way to test this with a pair of used pedals, and I don’t know if having power data is important to whether you’ll stay with 3-bolt road cleat system.
I agree about carbon soles being stiff, but am not convinced that stiffer is necessarily better. What is true about carbon soles is that IME they’re miserable things to walk even a few metres in, and that if you’re forced to, the soles will eventually separate from the uppers - it’s not if, but when. My experience is that any non-floppy sole will do the job just fine when riding, even with small MTB pedals, and that such a shoe is infinitely more pleasant off the bike.
I understand that for some the ability to walk relative normally/comfortably at various points when out with the bike is important, but not for me. If I am going out for a ride, walking will be somewhere between nil and a few steps. If I have a bike, I want to be on it. If I want a walk more than a few steps, I’ll leave the bike at home.
Personally, I find it’s not the stiffness of the sole that makes a cycle shoe uncomfortable, but the support, or lack of, from the insole. My lake shoes are the most comfortable shoes I have ever used, despite having the stiffest soles of any shoe I’ve owned, and that’s because a) they fit me correctly and b) they have good arch support.
In softer shoes, I absolutely need greater support from the pedal, so trail style if SPD (not that is use softer shoes with SPD anymore), or larger platform if using flats.
I had only one bike fit in the past, and that was especially because of Achilles issues. He recommended to switch from Look to SPD because I could move the cleats more backwards. He specifically named a few fisic models, which unfortunately didn’t fit me. Fit adjustment for the new cleat position was huge and it helped a lot. I could really feel the relief when sprinting Hard. But doing other exercises also helped or helped more than the bike fit itself.
Regarding the stability: I learned here in the forum that the stability of SPD shoes really depend on individual sole/cleat/pedal interaction. My shoe is now 3 years old and the connection was tighter in the beginning.
The SL’s definitely will give your foot more stability. I have both super stiff Bont Vaypor G with SPD interface and a much more flexible Fizik Tempo Overcurve with SPD-SL and the SL provides better support on long rides when fatigue starts reducing the amount of active stability you can achieve. One thing to think about is what kind of conditioning you are doing off the bike to strengthen your Achilles and other leg and core muscles and tendons.
I am currently going through Physical Therapy and will continue the conditioning work after. This was a gap in my training that I was not fully aware of.
Aftermarket insoles made a huge difference in foot comfort for me. I ended up with the Specialized BG high arch but there are several options out there, including custom.
That applies to off-the-bike footwear as well. You can do better than a flat piece of limp foam.