Pedag Step 166475 Symmetrical Self Adhesive Arch Support Inserts

These inserts are good, the adhesive is almost not useful and either needs some shoe goo or other adhesive that can be applied to the urethane after peeling the adhesive off (it comes right off). Also, it is not vegetable tanned leather. It looks like it in the photo, but the package is labelled genuine leather. Genuine leather is essentially the pulp of the cheapest leather components pressed into a form. So it seems like a little bit of false advertising. My feet are 16 but the largest sizes work OK, they are just not high enough by themselves for my arches.

My review concerns an application for which these inserts were not specifically designed for. But for some people, they may be an effective, and relatively inexpensive, solution. This review also covers three Pedag products that I bought. I'm posting the same review under the three separate Pedag products.I have flat feet. For my everyday shoes, I have a pair of prescription full-length orthotics. I figure skate, and my orthotics are not suitable for use with figure skating boots. In figure skating, flat feet create a major problem because your ankles fall over to the inside edges of the blades, and you have poor edge control. Some boots (such as my old Riedell Royals) have a substantial built-in arch support; others (such as my new Jackson Elites) have no built-in arch support at all.Orthotics for regular shoes usually depend on a heel cup to maintain proper alignment of the orthotic to the foot. These can't be used in figure skating boots, however, because a figure skating boot has a built-in narrow heel cup to grasp the heel of the foot firmly, essential in figure skating. The heel cup of the orthotic would interfere with the heel cup of the figure skating boot. A full-length orthotic usually also doesn't work, because the toe box of most figure skating boots is tightly fitted, and a full-length orthotic would cause toe cramping. So the Pedag "Step" and "Balance" arch support inserts are worth a try. They are local arch supports only. No heel cup and no extra cushioning in the toe area. It's difficult to know in advance whether any over-the-counter solution will work. Each foot and each boot are different. So you simply need to try them out. The Pedag price point (~$10 -13) allowed me to do that.The Step is sold as a symmetrical pair (the left-foot insert and the right-foot insert are identical). The Balance is sold as an asymmetrical pair (the left-foot insert and the right-foot insert are different). Buying the Balance may be a problem if your left foot and right foot need different degrees of correction. See further comment below. The Balance has a considerably lower height than the Step.These inserts are fabricated from rubber, and the top is covered with leather. They have a good combination of resiliency and rigidity. Foam and gel are too mushy for figure skating use. And rigid plastic, metal, or carbon shells will dig into your foot and cause pain if the fit is not spot-on (which is unlikely for an over-the-counter product).The Step is sold in a choice of two colors: tan and black. I'm sure Pedag did marketing research and decided there was a market need for two colors, but I don't see why. There is a another difference between the tan and the black models, besides the obvious difference in color. The tan leather is noticeably thicker than the black leather. I wrote to Pedag customer support. A customer rep named Rose (who also tracks these Amazon reviews) told me that the tan leather is sheepskin. Sheepskin doesn't take dye well, so the black leather is pigskin. Since pigskin is stronger than sheepskin, the pigskin can be made thinner, but be just as durable as the thicker sheepskin. So there you have that interesting tidbit.I first bought the Step and the Balance in tan. I wear a US 9D men's street shoe. Following the Pedag size charts, I bought the large size. I later bought the Step in black, in the extra-large size. I really didn't want the black, but Amazon was out of stock in tan, extra-large. My left foot has some semblance of an arch; my right arch is completely fallen.The major flaw in the Pedag inserts is their method of attachment (my reason for knocking off one star). They come with a double-sided adhesive film stuck onto the bottom rubber surface. The adhesive film is covered with a liner sheet. The adhesive is very weak and does not adhere well to the rubber. Unless you remove the liner very carefully, you will also pull the film off the rubber; the film then sticks tightly to itself and is useless. But no matter, the adhesive won't hold well to an insole anyway and doesn't allow for repositioning.My solution is Velcro tape. Velcro tape comes in two mating portions: a soft, felt-like portion and a hard, bristle-like portion. I covered a portion of the insole with the soft portion. I removed the adhesive film from the insert and covered the rubber surface with the hard portion. The Velcro allowed me to move the insert around to find the best position. But it also holds the insert firmly in place. If you share the same inserts among different pairs of boots or shoes, Velcro is also the way to go. Just trace the outline of the insert on the insole, so you know what the proper position is the next time you use them. The soft portion of Velcro on the insole does not interfere with normal wear should you choose not to use the insert.My results:(a) With the Riedell Royals, the Step was too high and caused pain in my arches. A working solution is no insert in my left boot and a Balance in my right boot. So I now have a left insert that is useless to me. Note to Pedag: You might want to consider selling the Balance as individual left and right inserts.(b) With the Jackson Elites, the Balance was too low, and my ankles flopped over into the inside edges. The Step is very effective. The extra-large turned out to be a better fit than the large. I position the insert in my right boot to give more lift than in my left boot. I've skated about a dozen times now with this configuration and am happy with my edge control. I'll provide an update after extended use.

My review concerns an application for which these inserts were not specifically designed for. But for some people, they may be an effective, and relatively inexpensive, solution. This review also covers three Pedag products that I bought. I'm posting the same review under the three separate Pedag products.I have flat feet. For my everyday shoes, I have a pair of prescription full-length orthotics. I figure skate, and my orthotics are not suitable for use with figure skating boots. In figure skating, flat feet create a major problem because your ankles fall over to the inside edges of the blades, and you have poor edge control. Some boots (such as my old Riedell Royals) have a substantial built-in arch support; others (such as my new Jackson Elites) have no built-in arch support at all.Orthotics for regular shoes usually depend on a heel cup to maintain proper alignment of the orthotic to the foot. These can't be used in figure skating boots, however, because a figure skating boot has a built-in narrow heel cup to grasp the heel of the foot firmly, essential in figure skating. The heel cup of the orthotic would interfere with the heel cup of the figure skating boot. A full-length orthotic usually also doesn't work, because the toe box of most figure skating boots is tightly fitted, and a full-length orthotic would cause toe cramping. So the Pedag "Step" and "Balance" arch support inserts are worth a try. They are local arch supports only. No heel cup and no extra cushioning in the toe area. It's difficult to know in advance whether any over-the-counter solution will work. Each foot and each boot are different. So you simply need to try them out. The Pedag price point (~$10 -13) allowed me to do that.The Step is sold as a symmetrical pair (the left-foot insert and the right-foot insert are identical). The Balance is sold as an asymmetrical pair (the left-foot insert and the right-foot insert are different). Buying the Balance may be a problem if your left foot and right foot need different degrees of correction. See further comment below. The Balance has a considerably lower height than the Step.These inserts are fabricated from rubber, and the top is covered with leather. They have a good combination of resiliency and rigidity. Foam and gel are too mushy for figure skating use. And rigid plastic, metal, or carbon shells will dig into your foot and cause pain if the fit is not spot-on (which is unlikely for an over-the-counter product).The Step is sold in a choice of two colors: tan and black. I'm sure Pedag did marketing research and decided there was a market need for two colors, but I don't see why. There is a another difference between the tan and the black models, besides the obvious difference in color. The tan leather is noticeably thicker than the black leather. I wrote to Pedag customer support. A customer rep named Rose (who also tracks these Amazon reviews) told me that the tan leather is sheepskin. Sheepskin doesn't take dye well, so the black leather is pigskin. Since pigskin is stronger than sheepskin, the pigskin can be made thinner, but be just as durable as the thicker sheepskin. So there you have that interesting tidbit.I first bought the Step and the Balance in tan. I wear a US 9D men's street shoe. Following the Pedag size charts, I bought the large size. I later bought the Step in black, in the extra-large size. I really didn't want the black, but Amazon was out of stock in tan, extra-large. My left foot has some semblance of an arch; my right arch is completely fallen.The major flaw in the Pedag inserts is their method of attachment (my reason for knocking off one star). They come with a double-sided adhesive film stuck onto the bottom rubber surface. The adhesive film is covered with a liner sheet. The adhesive is very weak and does not adhere well to the rubber. Unless you remove the liner very carefully, you will also pull the film off the rubber; the film then sticks tightly to itself and is useless. But no matter, the adhesive won't hold well to an insole anyway and doesn't allow for repositioning.My solution is Velcro tape. Velcro tape comes in two mating portions: a soft, felt-like portion and a hard, bristle-like portion. I covered a portion of the insole with the soft portion. I removed the adhesive film from the insert and covered the rubber surface with the hard portion. The Velcro allowed me to move the insert around to find the best position. But it also holds the insert firmly in place. If you share the same inserts among different pairs of boots or shoes, Velcro is also the way to go. Just trace the outline of the insert on the insole, so you know what the proper position is the next time you use them. The soft portion of Velcro on the insole does not interfere with normal wear should you choose not to use the insert.My results:(a) With the Riedell Royals, the Step was too high and caused pain in my arches. A working solution is no insert in my left boot and a Balance in my right boot. So I now have a left insert that is useless to me. Note to Pedag: You might want to consider selling the Balance as individual left and right inserts.(b) With the Jackson Elites, the Balance was too low, and my ankles flopped over into the inside edges. The Step is very effective. The extra-large turned out to be a better fit than the large. I position the insert in my right boot to give more lift than in my left boot. I've skated about a dozen times now with this configuration and am happy with my edge control. I'll provide an update after extended use.

I love these for my very high arches. They are firm, comfortable support. Compared to the 2 styles of gel stick on arch supports that I tried off here, these leather covered ones are a WAY BETTER design and don't put pressure in weird spots. They also feel a little higher than my powerstep high arch full shoe inserts (which I also like). One sticky tape did let go, but another has stayed in the same spot for over a year so far and I wear them often, all day.

These are fabulous! My knee pain is so much less after wearing these a couple days. I wear flats pretty much daily and these are a godsend!!

These supports are firm enough to do a really good job with my arches. They are easy to apply, stay in place well - I haven't been using them for more than a month, and so far so good. I put them into New Balance walking shoes, and soft sole BOC type clogs. Before, I was cutting thick wool felts to shape and those work great if you can get them to stay. Double stick tape is quite good for the felt. The Pedals have self stick pads.

They look like leather, but so far they seem to be doing the job. Maybe the material will last longer.

I needed extra arch support but found the 3/4 size a bit too bulky for my needs, these fit just right! I just wished the adhesive was stronger!

When ordering my arch supports I wasn't able to see what the difference (if any) was between the three-pack version and the one sold as a single pair. I ordered both types.Once they arrived, I could see that: the single pack was labeled "Balance" and the three-pack ones are labelled "Step". The difference between the two is the height of the wedge. The Step is the higher one , the Balance is considerably lower.For support in flat soled shoes I would re-order the Step, or three-pack. since it has higher support. The Balance (single pack) will bump up shoes with low arch supports.The density seemed the same in both, ie the compress-ability.

These are a lifesaver and they're super firm which provides actual arch support. Soft or squishy insoles and inserts may feel nice but don't actually solve support issues. These were very easy to stick and use.

They are quite hard, but works well for me as long as I position them correctly. Have used in a variety of shoe types: runners, ballerina flats, etc - works well in all.

When I opened the package, I found that the arch supports were not self adhesive as advertised. I contacted the seller to return for a refund, and was provided with a return label that required me to provide postage. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS SELLER!

Adding the pedags to my shoes and sandals has enabled me to go on walks which is something I have not been able to do for months due to my plantar fasciitis.