Foot Numbness and Pain

desdeadly

Hiya

Up until now i have had these shoes http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shima ... 360040183/ and i was getting numbness in my toes after only about 30 minutes no matter how tight/loose i had them. They do feel a bit tight around the ball of my foot area.

So i treated myself to some new shoes http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Adida ... 360027661/ i have only ridden them a couple of times but i still get numb toes (but not quite as bad) maybe not quite as bad. I went on a long ride with them (120 miles) and afterwards i had a pain on the outside of my foot (btw this is the first time i have done this sort of distance).

So any ideas whats causing the numbness? I know i have very flat feet. any suggestions on preventing it?
Was the pain on the outside of the foot because of the increase in distance? new shoe not broken in? or some other reason?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Cheers

passout

I assume that your cleat is on the ball of your foot. Try moving the cleat position a little and wear your new shoes as loosely as possible.

vorsprung

Move the cleats back as far as they will go
Drop the saddle a couple of mm and see how it goes

andrewjoseph

I was getting similar problems when I bought my road bike. never had problems with my mtb. I tried spesh specific insoles for flat feet, used the wedges to adjust varus/valgus tilt.

finially I hit on a sollution that helps to reduce/stop the problem. I started pedalling at higher cadences with easier gears. I have also bought a new cassette to give me a bigger 1st gear.

I realised that i was peddaling a slow cadence and pulling up far too much. This wasn't such an issue on the mtb as I'd stop more often, but on the road i was riding non stop for hours.

So try adjusting you cleats and lowering the seatpost to get a comfartable position (as mentioned above) and try to increase your cadence but put less power through the stroke.

A cadence monitor helped me out a great deal, i try to keep around 80-90 rpm. Higher than less for long periods hurt my left knee, so I may not have position sorted yet.

desdeadly

Thanks for the reply's

I have moving the cleats (both forward and back) and i always ride with a cadence of around 90-100 so that doesnt seem to be an issue.

Any other ideas? on another note on the Adidas shoes the outside of my foot hurts after an hour or so. any ideas on what could be causing this?

Cheers

BikeDynamics

Also check the lateral and angular position of the cleats. Pain on the outside of the foot is often associated with the pedal spacing being too narrow. push the cleat towards the inside of the shoe and try to replicate the natural toe in or out of your feet. See here http://bikedynamics.co.uk/fit01.htm for help.


Mike at http://BikeDynamics.co.uk

le_grimpeur

Wide Shoes.

Cycling shoes are narrow. Take the insole out of your current shoe and place your foot on top. There will be a difference, but how much? I have wide feet and have worn wide shoes for a number of years, but could not get wide road shoes easily or cheaply. About two months ago the problem got so bad I went to see a podiatrist - this is after changing cleat position and seat height/position and the problem of numbness increased. One of the things about the podiatric diagnosis is that he pushed under my foot which resulted in immediate numbness in my toes. This confirmed his suspicion that my feet were being pinched by shoes. Since the numbness was directly caused by cycling, the only thing to was to buy new wider shoes. Two weeks later and at least I can cycle for 2 hours. Specialized's body geometry footbed is designed to spread the bottom of the foot out, and they come in three 'sizes' depending on your instep. The other thing worth doing is going to see a podiatrist. You might need specific inserts.

matty3sixty

My experience in this is from being a French ski boot specialist, not as ridiculous as you may think though....

Both have a very stiff sole, and generally it's this that gives some people cramp/numbness in the foot.

Ironically the best solution is not to take the inner sole out and go without, but instead buy a decent pair of footbeds, either something like blue Superfeet or if you can take your shoes to a decent ski boot shop or Snow & Rock if no other choice and invest in a pair of personally customised Conformable footbeds, I don't know if they still do, but they used to make a lot for the great Tour riders.

Anyway just an idea, I hope it helps, feel free to email me if you want more info on it.

sporting wood

What socks are you using?

I've never had it with cycling but when I used to run if I wore certain socks I'd get numb feet due to tight fit on certain points of my feet and ankles.

gbs

BikeDynamics wrote:

Also check the lateral and angular position of the cleats. Pain on the outside of the foot is often associated with the pedal spacing being too narrow. push the cleat towards the inside of the shoe and try to replicate the natural toe in or out of your feet. See here http://bikedynamics.co.uk/fit01.htm for help.


Mike at http://BikeDynamics.co.uk

To widen the stance surely we should move the cleats to the outer part of the shoe? :?

Have emailed you with a qn arising from yr website.

mikeq

No, think about it, pedals are a set distance apart. Moving cleats to the outside has the effect of moving your legs closer together

gbs

mikeq wrote:

No, think about it, pedals are a set distance apart. Moving cleats to the outside has the effect of moving your legs closer together

YES, of course :oops: - wasn't thinking v clearly earlier this AM!

GiantMike

BikeDynamics wrote:

Also check the lateral and angular position of the cleats. Pain on the outside of the foot is often associated with the pedal spacing being too narrow. push the cleat towards the inside of the shoe and try to replicate the natural toe in or out of your feet. See here http://bikedynamics.co.uk/fit01.htm for help.


Mike at http://BikeDynamics.co.uk

I'd do this first.

desdeadly

Thanks for the reply's

Ok so i will try widening my stance first. Then if that doesnt work try some new footbeds/insoles.

I will let you know how i get on.

Socks - I am just using some bog standard ankle socks from a cheapy sports shop. I have also got a pair of cycling socks from lidl when they were in there. Do socks make a difference? Any suggestion on a pair?

sporting wood

I'd ditch the ankle socks, it was ankle socks that caused me problems, where the elastic sat on my ankle caused restricted blood flow.

It may not be the socks at all but try different socks, worn normally. I've found normal length white sport socks work for me. For the ease of checking the problem it's an easy and cheap one to rule out.