Aching/Numb Feet Caused by Keo Plates ?

itisaboutthebike

Hi wonder if anyonce can help me........................

After 4/5 hours riding I start to suffer from acute numb/aching feet (esp the balls of my feet).

Not sure whats causing it..................I'm now using Look Keo (having changed the majority of my pedals from the old Deltas). Not sure whether it's the switch to Keo's or perhaps I'm doing my top strap up tigher these days (difficult to tell).

In order to try and alleviate the propblem I've also changed from Sidis (which I've always found quite narrow) to wider (and IMO more cor=mfortable) Shimano shoes (R085 and R131 carbons).

I don't remember getting this problem with the old delta pedals and ity seems too be slighly more acute when I use the r131 carbon sloed shoes.

I've also started using the Keo 2 pedlas (which give a wider platform) but I still get the problem.


Has anyove else experienced something similar ?

timmyflash

Have exactly the same problem. Also with some new Sidis. Am going to buy a specialized insert at lunch to see if that helps as i've heard the Sidi one is crap..

itisaboutthebike

Hi thanks

Is the insert for the ball of the foot (where I get the peblem) or all the footbed ?

Is it possible to get an indert just for the ball of the foot ?

Where are you getting your insert from ?

The Sidi's are quite thin, and the Shimano ones a re a little thicker , but not much

timmyflash

Specialized BG blue insert.

It's the full footbed. I'm not saying this is the answer, it's just what i'm going to try. Sadly, i don't reckon i'm going to report back with an "It worked / didn't work" until after the weekend when i can go on a proper ride.

Hope it does though - sore feet from pricey shoes is not much fun..

rls

I used to get pain in the ball of my foot after long hard rides, but solved it with the blue specialised inserts. Great value for money and made a big difference.

I couldn't actually see much on the insert under the ball of the foot, so I guess the overall support that it gives the whole of my foot is making the difference, rather than something specifically in that location. I didn't use any of the additional wedges, as the recommendation was to only use those if the insert didn't fix the problem by itself.

Valy

Yeah I get a similar thing, mostly after some harder intervals which last a while . .

I got the green inserts from Specialized and they were too much but only got the mcos they were on sale! May have to get some blue ones, but not sure if they would have too much support too - ie squeezing my foot from the bottom at the arch.

So if possible try or seek advice before you buy as to what will fit you.

glasgowbhoy

The specialzed footbeds are much better than the Sidi cardboard insoles. Unfortunately my left foot isn't happy with the arch support in the 'blue' inserts (LBS tested and recommended blue). Am trying to get the LBS to switch them to the red ones but awaiting on them getting a response from Specialized.
My standard shimano inserts cause on pain in the sidis......

itisaboutthebike

I think I know whats causing my aching balls of myy feet.......Keo pedals. Or rather the shoe plates.

I think it's because (comapred to the old Delta's) the load is now spread ACROSS the foot(at the back of the plate) causing pressure points under the ball of my big toe and little toes specifically. With the Deltas the load was spread in the middle and from what I remember ALL over the shoe plate which didn't cause any pressure points.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so how have they overcome it ?

I'd like to continue to use Keo's if I possibly can a) becuase they're light and durable and b) I've just bought a new set of Max 2 Carbons !

itisaboutthebike

I also think the aching feet is worse when using the non-slip type plates as these have less contact area than non-slip plates causing more concentrated pressure points.

itisaboutthebike

Have bought some Spech BG red insoles - gonna try them in my R131's

FransJacques

itisaboutthebike - are your shoes exactly the same? Then that's a real head-scratcher. I can't see why a plastic cleat which is alsmost the same size as the previous plastic cleat would make any difference, but it has for you.

Logically, a very hard object like your shoe sole should hide/absorb any irregularities between two pieces of plastic vis a vis your foot.

Do you start rides with your shoes relatively loose then tighten them up as you get going/warm up? Maybe you overtighten your shoes now with the new pedals in order to get more performance out of them?

Were you very careful to keep the exact same for/aft/lateral and twist orientation from Delta to Keo?

Lastly, were your Detla pedal spindles perhaps bent from years of use/travel and your body got used to a uniqe foot to crank angle?

Only thing else I can think of is changing to Keos lengthened your saddle top to pedal interface distance and you need to lower your saddle the same amount.

Either (a) measure the stack height of the Deltas pedal & cleat - that is from spindle to top of the cleat and compare with the Keos, or (b) just take a ballpark number like 5mm or 10mm and lower your saddle by that and see if that improves it.

My experience: I went from Deltas to Time RXS in 06 and had really bad achilles pain in both ankles b/c I underestimated how much lower the stack height of RXSs were. I went back to the Deltas and the problem quickly remedied itself. I then changed to Keos, dropped my saddle 3-5mms and had no issues at all.

I've tried all 3 Spesh insoles - blue, green, red and the blue work best for me. But what seems to be the best tonic is that all-important cleat position on the shoe - no insole will correct that.

itisaboutthebike

Hi thanks for the reply.

I've been riding 30 odd years and was riding deltas for quite a while before I switched to Keo's about 3 years ago.

I've adjusted my saddle (downwards about 1/4 cm ) to counter the Keo reduced stack height. Tried gel insoles. And am sure I've got them set up correctly. I had deltas onseveral bikes and non of the spindles were bent (I don't crash very often !).

The Shimano shoes are identical save for carbon(R131)/non-carbon(R085) soles.

The pain seems to be centered on pressue points on the outer exttremities of the plate under the little toe joint and big toe joint - the pian is almost to the point where I can't pedal.

I'll see what the Spech Red BG insoles do for me.

In the meantime if anyone has any other suggestions they'tre most welcome !