Bama Foam Trainer Insole 43 44 – Made for a Long Day Behind the Wheel

Description

Bama Foam Trainer Insole 43 44 – Made for a Long Day Behind the Wheel – a soft open cell foam bed beneath a woven face, made up as a Continental 43 or 44

A driving day is an odd shape for a shoe and almost nobody thinks about it. Four hours with the right foot pivoting on its heel against a pedal and the left one folded back out of the way, then twenty minutes of hard walking at a delivery, a site or a customer, then straight back in again and another two hours of exactly the same before you finally get home.

The wear that produces is nothing like the wear from walking. One heel gets ground into the bed while the rest of the foot does very little, so the liner collapses in a single spot and stays perfectly respectable everywhere else. Then you climb out at a stop and walk on something that is flat on one side only.

£10.99 buys the pair, made up as Continental 43 and 44, or a British 9 to 10.

Why choose this bama foam trainer insole 43 44?

• Foam that comes back between stops. Open cell foam recovers its shape when the load comes off it, which is precisely what a driving day demands. The heel is held down in one position for hours and then released, and a bed that simply stays dented is no use to you at the far end of the journey.
• Even underfoot when you get out. Because the bed is a single piece of foam rather than a moulded shell, it wears down gradually and evenly rather than developing one hard hollow where your heel has been living. The twenty minute walk at the other end lands on a level surface.
• A woven face against a warm cab. A footwell in summer is one of the warmest places a shoe ever visits. The microfibre top and the open cells beneath it let that heat move rather than holding it against your sock for the length of the motorway.
• Trim it to the shoe you actually drive in. Most people drive in one particular pair and walk in it too, so cut the bed to that shoe and leave it there. Scissors, the old liner as a pattern, one clean cut, and there is nothing to glue or peel afterwards.
• The larger sizes, properly proportioned. This card covers a Continental 43 and 44, roughly a UK 9 to a 10. A larger foot needs more than a scaled up outline, and building the bed at the size means the heel cup and the waist actually sit under the parts they are named after.
• Sold carded rather than boxed, at £10.99. Line art across the background, a black panel carrying the maker name, a pair of beds held behind a paper strip. That is the entire packaging, which suits something going to live in a van rather than on a shelf.

How to use the bama foam trainer insole 43 44

Fitting is quick, and the care goes into cutting to the shoe you genuinely drive in, because a bed trimmed for another pair will never sit properly here.

1. Choose the pair you drive and then walk in most often.
2. Remove the existing liner and lay it on the new bed.
3. Mark round the toe end and cut just outside your line.
4. Fit the bed and press it down fully into the heel.
5. Drive a short local journey before attempting any longer one.
6. Check the heel area of both again after the first week.

My tip as a shoe specialist

Look at the right bed and the left bed side by side after a month, not at one on its own. A driving foot ruins the two of them at completely different rates, because the right heel pivots against the pedal for hours at a time while the left one simply rests, and comparing the pair is the quickest honest test there is. If the right one has a visible hollow while the left still looks new, replace both of them rather than one, or you will spend the next month walking about on a pair that are two quite different thicknesses.

Specifications

The specification

• Size marked: Continental 43, 44
• UK reading: Roughly a 9 to 10
• Style: One piece, whole length
• Contact face: Microfibre, smooth even weave
• Foam: Recovers between wearings
• To fit: Trim it yourself
• Works in: Trainers, work and casual shoes
• Label: Bama Essentials
• Pair price: £10.99

Frequently asked questions

Will a soft bed feel odd on the pedals?

Slightly, for the first journey or two. The foam is thin enough that pedal feel is barely altered at all, but I would always suggest a short local trip first rather than starting off with three hours of motorway.

Can I put them in walking boots as well?

Yes, once they have been trimmed for the boot. Do the pattern from the boot liner itself rather than from a shoe liner, because a boot last is usually a good deal squarer at the toe.

Is a 44 the same as a UK 10?

Close enough for a bed that you are going to trim anyway. Continental sizing wanders about between makers, which is exactly why this one is supplied generous and cut down by hand.

Where can I buy the bama foam trainer insole 43 44 in the UK?

Head to Shoespecialist.co.uk for a pair of these. The despatch deadline each weekday is 5pm, delivery costs nothing at all once your basket clears £50, and you get 60 days to send them back.