THE IDEA:

My name is Dr. Jason Suppan (pronounced incorrectly by most as “soup pan”). The error has spawned the nickname “soupcan” by my cycling buddies hence, the name of our insoles. The idea for cycling specific insoles came to me out of necessity. Several guys in our local club experienced knee pain, foot numbness, general foot or ankle discomfort, and alignment problems. It was suggested to me that there may be a need for this type of product when a cycling buddy told me of the horrors he had suffered during a 100 mile endurance mountain bike race. “If you told me you could make my feet feel better during that race I would have paid a million dollars.” And so it began….

As a podiatrist providing medical and surgical care of foot and ankle ailments (www.SuppanFootandAnkleClinic.com) and an avid cyclist I began developing a product I hoped would provide some relief for my buddies. Turns out it not only provided relief but improved performance. Along with the input and help of some serious cyclist friends the insoles developed into much more than I had ever hoped.

MY PHILOSOPHY:

Based on sound biomechanical principles of the foot and ankle and research on current bike fitting trends it became clear to me that a lot of time is spent on shimming and positioning the foot on the pedal to provide a straight up and down “pistoning” motion without any wasted side to side movement in the foot and leg. This provides for a much more efficient and powerful pedal stroke and lowers the possibility of injury from a “sloppy” unstable cycling gait. What a combination! Although shimming the cleat on the pedal or making forefoot (ball of the foot) adjustments may be necessary in some instances, it is much easier, more effective, and comfortable to make the change in the rearfoot (heel area). The subtalar joint is directly under the ankle joint and accounts for the ability of the foot to flatten out (pronate) and therefore allow the knee to fall inward. GO AHEAD, TRY IT! Move your knee inward and watch what your foot does. Flattens out a bit doesn’t it? Now there are far more biomechanical principles at work here to describe and combinations of foot, ankle, or knee issues that can technically challenge this theory but in the vast majority of cyclists, this is normal biomechanics. So if you can block the subtalar joint range of motion and hold the foot in its neutral (midstance to slight pronation) position you can control the whole leg. HOW ‘BOUT THEM APPLES! The other HUGE bonus is that the insole takes up the “air space” (the part that doesn’t physically contact the ground) between your foot (mainly the arch area) and the stiff cycling shoe so when you push or pull you get 100% contact and your not wasting that direct energy into the pedal by letting the foot flex first. GET IT? Think of it as the reason cycling shoes are as stiff as possible to begin with. The insole, in effect, helps to stiffen the foot! Custom cycling shoes? Bah Humbug! If you have cycling shoes that fit the shape of your foot well you can customize your existing shoes with an insole that can be moved from shoe to shoe! (for those of you into every form of cycling known to man and a pair of shoes for each).

Not everyone requires an expensive full custom insole but if you are a serious racer or just looking to improve your existing MoJo we would love for you to try them. It is important to note that all of our insoles have my hand directly in the design to provide cycling specific benefits. These are not your ordinary off the shelf big box store insoles!

DISCLAIMER: If you have a crummy pair of ill-fitting cycling shoes our insoles are probably not the answer to resurrecting them. If you have pain or persistent problems it is always best to see your Doctor.