One of the more interesting articles I read this week was about The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team’s use of custom orthotics with all of its riders. They are using custom fit technologies from eSoles Custom Footbeds, a technology that has existed previously and has been used by a few elite pro cyclists. Discovery is apparently the first ProTour team to employ this technology for all of its riders.
eSoles uses laser digitization as part of their orthotics fit process. As a result, the company can reproduce orthotics multiple times. This is a major advantage over other orthotics production techniques such as plaster casting. eSoles also maintains a database of shoe patterns, so that they can build orthotics for multiple shoe types from one fitting.
It’s hard to say exactly why DCPCT management elected to fit all of its riders with eSoles orthotics. The article claims that custom orthotics improve biomechanical efficiency and reduce fatigue. What we don’t know from this article is whether all of the team members also have custom-made cycling shoes.
Hockey players have benefitted from custom-made skates for a long time. I had custom-made skates at RPI and those skates were significantly more comfortable and less fatiguing than the off-the-rack skates that I have worn in recent years. Do elite cyclists get the same performance boost from custom-made shoes as hockey players do? If the Discovery riders are all wearing custom-made shoes, what percentage of the enhanced efficiency and comfort come from the shoes, and what percentage would come from custom orthotics?