Big Toe.. going numb

mgcycleguy
mgcycleguy Posts: 292
edited March 2009 in Training, fitness and health
Been having problems with my left foot big toe... after about 25-30miles its going numb and dead... it can take 20mins once home to get the blood back into it, lots of pins and needles in it as it comes back to life....

... my right foot is fine...

... is it just cleat position ?.... do i need to experiment ?... my worry is once you start messing with your cleat postion it always has horrbile knock on effects into your knees, back etc etc.... ! ( this has only really started in the last 4to5 months)

... any advice would be greatly accepted.... thanks

Comments

  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    Have you changed your shoes? If so cleat may not be setup as well as it was previously. It may also be that the shoe is a narrower fit at the toe end effectively squashing your toes.

    Have you changed anything else about your bike setup? Raised or lowered the saddle, etc as this may have changed the pedalling dynamic ie you may twist the foot more within the range of float that the cleat allows. Did you change the cranks for longer or shorter ones in which case your fore/aft saddle position would need adjusting along with the saddle height in response to the change in crank length.

    Are you wearing tighter fitting socks? It may be simply that your socks are getting pulled tight inside your shoe and this is efffectively strangling your foot.

    How long were you riding with the same setup prior to the problem arising? If its only a short time it may be that it is only starting to now manifest itself more clearly or your time on the bike on a single ride may have increased to the point where the numbness starts and previously the rides were shorter and thus the toe never got a chance to get to the point of numbness - it just worked up towards that point but never actually got there.

    Have you started adding more sprint or low cadence work to your routine ie are you putting more force through the pedals than you would have previously? If so a firmer sole may help (carbon preferably).
  • mgcycleguy
    mgcycleguy Posts: 292
    Well... its only really been since i've been riding my winter bike, and cyclocross bike (which i set up from my winter bike measurments thinking about it),... think i might remeasure everything from my best summer bike set up, see if there are some differences i missed.

    ... shoes are the same for last 3 years (and its the same effect if im riding with SPD SL or SPD's which are on the cross bike) ... been riding with overshoes on ?, maybe they having an effect...

    ... thanks for the tips, much appreciated
  • pbracing
    pbracing Posts: 231
    FWIW my overshoes make my shoes just that bit too tight with thicker socks on. It's ok with thin socks and overshoes, or thick socks and no overshoes.
    Why not? My bikes.
    Summer & dry days
    http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp47 ... /Trek1.jpg

    Wet winter days & going the shops runaround
    http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp47 ... rello1.jpg
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    sounds like leprosy to me.
    "And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale
  • mgcycleguy
    mgcycleguy Posts: 292
    mclarent wrote:
    sounds like leprosy to me.

    ... excerlent... looks like a move into begging for me then... bugger this working for a living !
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    hooray!!
    "And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale

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