Quick clipped in question..

anto164

Just wondering..

Had nice weather, so put the road bike through its paces and did a 25 mile trip (24.9 miles in total and averaging about 17mph) including some hills, and i was feeling something in my right leg.. (Only got my first road bike yesterday, a nice shiny Giant Defy 3).

After a while (Bout 15 miles), my toes were going numb, i know this is a cleat issue, so i'm going to change the cleat positions and see what works.

Also, my right knee, the most lower right joint in the knee was getting tender, what could this be? Just cleat position again? Or that i could be twisting when pedalling?

BTW, i'm normally a DHiller, who does a bit of XC on an overkill 6.7" mini DH bike with flats, so i'm not normally used to pedalling much!

Cheers.

rick_chasey

Loosen your shoe up a bit.

See if that helps.

hopper1

Toes going numb, could be a cleat issue, it could also be as simple as having your shoes too tight!
Knee sounds like a cleat issue.
What pedals are you using and do you have any float in them?

anto164

I'm using MTB clips and shoes, as i'm going to start using clips on my big bike so i'll try loosening them up a bit, i like tight shoes though!

I'm running some shimano M520s, and they're pretty tight atm, there's not much sideways float to them either, I'll get playing tomorrow!

Bobbinogs

The degree of float on M520s is pretty much fixed. Playing with the wind up spring pretty much alters the amount of pressure needed to release the foot, as far as I know (which isn't much).

If you like tight shoes then the posts about this being the cause of your numb toes sounds about right. Worth trying to loosen your shoes up a tad and wiggling your toes every so often (sounds silly but poor circulation seems to be the cuplrit).

Hals1967

+1 on loosening the shoes, I had the same problem.

I always flex my toes regularly whilst riding and I find the combination of flexing and loosening the shoes does the trick.

bobtbuilder

Hals1967 wrote:

+1 on loosening the shoes, I had the same problem.

I always flex my toes regularly whilst riding and I find the combination of flexing and loosening the shoes does the trick.

+1. Don't forget that your feet can swell during your ride, so a tight shoe at the offset will be more uncomfortable as this happens.

mcflyss

Defo try to loosen your shoe, did the same thing a few times.
As for the knee issue, just been suffering with a painful knee after the last couple of 60 mile ride i did. Popped into my LBS who has shown that the angle my cleats were at was wrong... basically the natural hang of my foot points outwards... i had my foot onthe pedal almost straight.. this puts a lot of pressure on the knee as it naturally wants to point out a little but i was forcing it straight... does that make sense?
So i need to move my cleat my foot pointed out a little bit more.

crapchicken

mcflyss wrote:

Defo try to loosen your shoe, did the same thing a few times.
As for the knee issue, just been suffering with a painful knee after the last couple of 60 mile ride i did. Popped into my LBS who has shown that the angle my cleats were at was wrong... basically the natural hang of my foot points outwards... i had my foot onthe pedal almost straight.. this puts a lot of pressure on the knee as it naturally wants to point out a little but i was forcing it straight... does that make sense?
So i need to move my cleat my foot pointed out a little bit more.

I'm just getting started with cleats etc, re your comments above - should I be setting up my cleats based on my natural foot position? My right foot toes in when I walk (wear on my shoes proves this!) I'm running SPD-SL with the float (Yellow tips) Is there a method to this or is it purely trial and error :shock:

Hals1967

I would have thought that the amount of float offered by the SPD-SL yellow cleats would offset issues with knees and to a lesser extent, foot position ?

I use the yellow cleats and the amount of float is quite comfortable allowing quite a wide range of foot movement before clipping out.

IIRC it's the red zero-float cleats that can cause the most damage if not properly set up.

mcflyss

CC- I agree with Hals and thought that the yellow cleats had enough float, this was until I went and had a compete set up at my LBS who advised that my cleats were not letting my foot turn out enough.
There is a really good 'how to' some where on here... or maybe google it... it talks about getting your foot wet, sitting on sa table and then place that foot flat, draw around the wet patch etc etc etc
How the bloke at the LBS did for me was got me to sit on my bike on a turbo trainer, unclip my foot and just hang... but then distracted me so my foot just hung naturally and he could then see how much my foot turned out... which was more then normal people!!

Hope that kinda helps!

anto164

Just as a quick update.. This morning i rotated my cleat a few degrees round, and a little bit more towards the centre of my foot on my right shoe, and it makes a massive difference. Did a quick 15 mile loop this morning, and less pain in my knee. May still need to rotate it another degree or so, but there's a massive change in my knee! Cheers

Jaydoubleyou

I have a new set of shoes/clipless pedals and have also found that my left foot starts going numb after around 20mins despite wiggling my toes regularly. My shoes aren't too tight . It gets to the point I have to get off the bike every half hour or so to have a quick walk around to get some life back. It only happens in my left foot.
I realise the topic has veered off towards sore knees but I didn't think it was worth starting a new thread!
I am new to road riding and the forum, and would be grateful for any input.

mcflyss

Jaydoubleyou

You still having trouble? Might be worth popping into your LBS and make sure your cleats are positions correct

twotyred

I have the same issue as you Jay only with my right foot. Never had any problems with SPDs on my mountain bikes but now I'm doing more road riding I started getting numbness in my right foot. Thought it was a hot spot problem due to using SPDs on my road bike so have just switched from SPDs to SPD-R and new Shimano shoes and the problem has got worse. Loosening the shoe doesn't help. I'm happy the angles of my cleats are adjusted OK and have played around with the fore-aft position of the cleat with no effect. I'm considering trying another make of shoe to see if that helps.

ride_whenever

just because your cleats have float doesn't negate the necessity to set them up right!!!!!

You want your natural position to be the centre of the range for proper comfort. Most decent lbs can help you with cleat setup.

BrianTrousers

As well as loosening your shoes, try taking the insoles out. This worked a treat for me.

Jaydoubleyou

I have played around with the cleat positions but am still having problems.
I will keep playing but am running out of options.
This might sound a bit out there, but could my seat be a touch high?
The bike is also new, and the seat height was set by my LBS
I am wondering if my left leg might be a touch shorter than the right, which could cause the problems?
I have tried dropping the seat about 15mm and will see if this makes a difference on my next ride.
I am clutching at straws here!
Any thoughts?
Jay

sungod

Jaydoubleyou wrote:

I have played around with the cleat positions but am still having problems.
I will keep playing but am running out of options.
This might sound a bit out there, but could my seat be a touch high?
The bike is also new, and the seat height was set by my LBS
I am wondering if my left leg might be a touch shorter than the right, which could cause the problems?
I have tried dropping the seat about 15mm and will see if this makes a difference on my next ride.
I am clutching at straws here!
Any thoughts?
Jay

numb toes can have several causes, assuming shoe size is correct, socks are ok, and you've not done things up too tight...

are you spinning the pedals, or just mashing them? spinning loads/unloads your foot with each crank rotation, so numbness is less likely

are you just not used to riding? is there any sign it is easing over time?

high seat doesn't seem likely as a cause, and if you drop the seat too low it'll hurt your knees, 15mm is a big adjustment!

do you get numb toes/fingers when it's cold? if so check with your doctor as it could be reynaud's syndrome

from another post i see you've got spesh bg sport shoes, these aren't that stiff but wouldn't have thought it'd cause what you describe in only 30 mins

the bg shoes do have a fair bit of arch support by default, so if your foot isn't happy with that then it could be why, or perhaps you need more support...

you can get different footbeds for bg shoes, red/blue/green, colour determines degree of support, the supplied footbed is equivalent to the red one, blue has more support, green has huge support, there are also shims for bg shos to adjust angle

do have high arches? blue footbed is a possible fix - but you might be better off looking for a local shop that can do a bg fit for you, professional assessment might seem a luxury as you only just started, but if it solves the problem and maybe stops you causing damage then it's really money well spent

Jaydoubleyou

Thank you for the help/advice Sungod, it is much appreciated.
You have given me plenty to think about!
I have been riding (mountain) bikes for many years, with absolutely no problems until getting my new ( a georgous Spec Sectuer) bike and pedals.
I do keep thinking it must be a cleat, technique or riding position issue, rather than down to the shoes , as it is always my left foot that has the problem. I haven't quite worked out whether I toe in or out, but as have tried adjusting my cleats to most positions I am not convinced this is the issue either. I am sort or going round in circles!
I will keep fiddling as there must be a fix.
One question - do youreally consider a 15mm (1/2") drop in seat height a big change?

sungod

yes 15mm is a lot, 5mm is more usual, but if it is really a long way out to start then of course it could be ok - saddle height/position is really about optimizing knee/leg motion, if you mess up your knees it'll be a lot worse than numb foot, it is certainly worth taking time to get the saddle correct

you might find some more ideas on the foot problem here...

http://www.cptips.com/footsyn.htm