THE SHORT ANSWER
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on bike fit. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS COURTNEY CONLEY?
Dr Courtney Conley is the chiropractor and foot health specialist behind Gait Happens — the most-cited modern resource on the connection between footwear, foot dexterity and performance. Cycling is brutal on feet (narrow toe-box race shoes, rigid soles, fixed cleat positions) and most riders dismiss the resulting forefoot pain as a fit issue rather than a foot-mechanics issue. Her work matters because it gives amateurs a low-cost, off-the-bike intervention that produces measurable strength and sensory gains without changing a single watt of training.
CONLEY ON BIKE FIT
Conley’s key positions on bike fit.
- Most cycling shoes have narrow toe boxes that compress the forefoot — that's where forefoot pain, Morton's neuroma, and a chunk of 'cleat position' power loss actually originate.
- The foot is a tripod that needs dissociation between rearfoot, midfoot and forefoot — rigid cleats freeze that movement and disrupt the kinetic chain to the pedal.
- Most cyclists won't switch out of stiff race shoes — compensate off the bike: wear wide-toe-box, low-stack-height footwear daily to let the toes splay and restore sensory input.
- Toe dexterity is a measurable, trainable function — if you can't isolate big toe vs smaller toes, the brain-to-foot signal is 'static on a phone' and motor output suffers.
- Wearing minimalist wide-toe shoes daily produced strength gains nearly equivalent to dedicated foot-strength exercises in research — footwear is the underrated intervention.
IN CONLEY’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Courtney Conley’s appearances on the podcast.
“if you put a very strong foot into a shoe like a super shoe right it's going to give me 2 to 4% running economy now I'm stacking I got a strong foot I got a strong C and I'm putting it on top of a shoe that's going to cheat the system a little bit that's how I like to view that rather than saying I'm going to strictly rely on extrinsic modifications to improve my performance”
“if you can't do things like that it's toe dexterity it lights up part of our homunculus a part of our brain so I always explain it to my patients it's like having static on a phone like there's no clear message going from your foot to your brain which means that the motor output is going to be affected”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Courtney Conley covers bike fit and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Courtney Conley say about bike fit?
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on bike fit. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Conley's main point on bike fit?
Most cycling shoes have narrow toe boxes that compress the forefoot — that's where forefoot pain, Morton's neuroma, and a chunk of 'cleat position' power loss actually originate.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Courtney Conley on bike fit?
Conley discusses bike fit in this episode: "The Surprising Downside of Incorrect Cycling Shoes | Courtney Conley".
MORE FROM CONLEY
EXPLORE THE TOPIC
Strength & Conditioning— The Complete Guide →OTHER EXPERTS ON BIKE FIT