Numb feet while riding
1012
Member
1205 days
PJT posted 2 years ago.
Hi Jason. Do some searches on this topic in these forums. I think some older threads discuss the numbness/hotspots issue in great detail. In a nutshell, there are several different potential culprits, and you may be experiencing one or more of them. Here are a few:
1. Shoe fit. Road shoes are stiff and unforgiving. If there is too little room either in length or width, this will cause problems. (Too much room isn't great either). Remember that feet tend to swell when exercising and as the day goes on, so a shoe that seems to fit in the bike store one morning might not work on that evening ride. This could be something as simple as loosening the straps on your shoes, or you may need to do some shopping.
2. Cleat position. General rule of thumb is to have the cleat under the ball of your foot, but different people will have different experiences with this. The bigger your foot, the farther back you will typically need to attach the cleat, but again this is a matter of individual need. Experiment moving the cleat back or forth as well as side to side to see what helps. Make sure that when you do this you are maintaining a proper pedaling form--there's no sense in wrecking your knees just to help your feet.
3. Cleat type. Not all styles of cleats work for all people. I had numbness when using my little mountain bike SPD cleats on my road bike. That issue went away when I switched to the wider SPD-SL pedals/cleats. Other riders prefer Speedplay or Look cleats/pedals.
4. I'm sure there are other causes, too. So everyone else, chime in with what I've forgotten.
3354
Member
1414 days
RV posted 2 years ago.
I needed only to replace the inserts that came with the shoes with ones made by Good Feet - Got them from my LBS - hadn't had anymore issues since.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
35
Member
1122 days
JasonBroussard posted 2 years ago.
I thought about the insert thing but these shoes boast some type of built in orthotic insole that conforms anatomically to your feet. The insole would eliminate this feature.
I didn't think about the obvious and loosen my straps, good point. I did have enough sense to buy them a little larger than needed because I've found out about having running shoes too small, good comment, I'll try loosening my shoes when I ride this week.
126
Member
1288 days
rob6118 posted 2 years ago.
In my experience I think it was a combination of technique and how tight the shoes are. Just switched from platform to clipless, and noticed the technique improvement with the clipless took a lot of uneven stress off of my feet, this combined with the fact that my cycling shoes are roomy (but not lose) meant that for the first time in 2 years I haven't had numbness in my feet. I always assumed that I just had to deal with it. I think the uneven pressure from poor technique cuts of blood supply over a long ride to parts of your foot and that causes the numbness, but it is also exacerbated by tight shoes. Since you've been using the clipless variety already I would just loosen up the shoes a bit.
Rob
2455
Member
1333 days
Triguy98 posted 2 years ago.
RV wrote:
I needed only to replace the inserts that came with the shoes with ones made by Good Feet - Got them from my LBS - hadn't had anymore issues since.
I just took the insoles out of a pair of running shoes. Worked for me!
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
I've heard of folks getting numb feet while they ride but it happened to me over the weekend. I just bought new shoes over the holidays (specialized something) and now I'm having trouble. It's my first pair of clip on riding shoes so I'm not sure what to expect. Can someone shed a little light on this subject for me.