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Just some background first - I have had a degree of numbness in my left leg for years . Doctors believe it is nerve damage/ trapped nerves - it just means the outer side of my left leg is alway a little pins and needles.
I also have weirdly long middle toe bones - which mean issue with walking in really flat shoes (I.e converse etc)
After riding, I have noticed the numbness is worse and on both sides. Logic would suggest pressure points. I ride with double side pedals - so flat and clips.
Could this be an issue down to having too soft soles in shoes? I tend to ride in 5:10s - but have just got down a very old pair of very stiff Specialized to try out.
Any ideas?
Stiffer sole to prevent foot flex with a sorbothane insole or similar, that seems to have helped ease my tendonitis. Might be worth a go
Could be all sorts of things. I suffered the same (and still do to a certain extent) in my right foot.
Check saddle height. (we all have one leg longer than the other so check on both sides)
Check saddle shape (is it right size? try a flatter shape, try a rounder shape)
Shoes
cleats
For me its insole shape, ripped ligaments in my right ankle twice and ripped blood vessels in foot so it’s generally buggered. Ive tried many sets of shoes some I just cant use but I often end up bodging my own insoles or swapping them with ones I get on with, currently using Enties insoles with high arch and good padding in 5-10s.
Are you using clips or flat pedals?
I use flats and found that narrower platforms cause my feet to do similar,iI think it is too do with pressure on the outside edge of my foot as the width causes my foot to roll slightly
Timely post OP as i was about to post the same.
Not an issue on the MTB or Road bike, but on my tandem with quite an aggressive position (bought second hand from someone much smaller than me)
I have changed saddle for one with a better fit and dropped height a bit, this has helped a lot but not cured it. I'm now waiting on a high rise stem to get more upright.
I also loosened my shoes a bit and that helped too!
I'm also using DWR v12s and 5.10s so if the higher stem fails thats my next thing to change.
I used to get numb feet after about an hour, a quick stop and walk around resolved it for the next hour and could do that all day. My old riding shoes died - 5.10 Impact VXi's - and bought some Impact Pro's to replace them. They made the numbness happen every 30 mins or so as the sole was so much stiffer than the VXi's. I keep them for uplift days now as I switched to Freeriders for the softer sole and can now pretty much go all day without any numbness whatsoever.
So it could be stiffer or softer shoes, wider or narrower pedals, different saddle height, different stem height and reach or a combination of those. That's not much help I know.
Two possible causes of numbness spring to mind. Pressure on nerves and poor circulation.
Tight and stiff shoes may be problematic as they keep your foot in a static position which doesn't help circulation and may also increase pressure on nerves.
Anything which causes your feet to swell may be problematic.
Recovery protocols generally reccomend sitting with the feet elevated to both remove weight and improve the circulation.
Therefore a recumbant bike and some open toed sandal should solve all if your problems. In extreme cases a recumbent ebike may be needed.
Obviously this assumes that your feet aren't going numb due to cold.
More seriously I would look at shoes and insoles first. Whatever shoes you have need to apply pressure in the right distribution. Soft shoes and insoles apply more even pressure over the sole of the foot, but the squishy bits of the foot aren't designed to be load bearing so overly soft shoes or insoles can affect the nerves and circulation.
You need a fairly firm shoe and insole with the correct shape which supports the foot in the correct places without creating areas of excess pressure.
Also the op mentions having an awkward foot shape with long toes. Make sure that the ball of your foot sits in the right place in your shoes, especially with spds.
Thanks for all the advice - let me have a go with stiffer soles tomorrow and see what the result is. Not sure that I am ready for a recumbent bike!
Stiff body geometry soles seem to make a difference. The shoes themselves are rubbish and leak like a sieve - but feet felt better.
Me too.
Dont get it on the mtb. Just on the gravel bike...
Need to try saddle change possibly.
Those long platform Catalyst pedals by pedalinginnovations might help, they pop up in the news every so often (new version appeared recently). I think they're made by Superstar for the USA market but might not yet be available in the UK. They look interesting to me anyway seeing as I'm tall, but they're very expensive.
Thanks for all of that - i dont think it is too narrow shoes ....
I think it might be the nerve bundle stuff ...
Off to investigate - thanks all...
Some more expensive shoes are heat mouldable, they get heated in a special oven to about 80c, you put them on immediately and tie them up, then just sit for 15 mins or so.
The material in the shoe conforms to your foot shape.
It’s the same tech they use in ice skates, it doesn’t completely eliminate break in, but cuts it down by 80%.
Could be worth investigating.
Thanks - but that never ever made ski boots fit!
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