foot going numb on long rides???

Could be:

1. Shoes (toe box too small; arch too flat/too arched)
2. Seat position (do you keep sliding forward? Maybe you're having to press w/ your feet too keep on the saddle...)
3. Cleat position on your shoe (maybe too far forward or back)

Could be many things. It would help to find a good LBS w/ a good bike fitter.

meltdown said:

I'm new to biking and have noticed my toes go numb when I'm riding under constant pressure. If i get a chance to spin it helps but as soon as I have any significant resistance (hills) they go numb again. I have my shoes as loose as I can get them without slipping out. I have a new OCR 1 and I think the pedals are Shimano m505's. Is it normal or so i really need to fix it quick. I'm 6'0" 205 and do alot of weight training so I can put alot of power and weight on the pedals. I love riding but dont like the numb toes part.

I had problems with my left foot going numb. Had to experiment with different cleat positions to get the numbness to go away. Give that a try and see if it helps.

meltdown said:

I'm new to biking and have noticed my toes go numb when I'm riding under constant pressure. If i get a chance to spin it helps but as soon as I have any significant resistance (hills) they go numb again. I have my shoes as loose as I can get them without slipping out. I have a new OCR 1 and I think the pedals are Shimano m505's. Is it normal or so i really need to fix it quick. I'm 6'0" 205 and do alot of weight training so I can put alot of power and weight on the pedals. I love riding but dont like the numb toes part.

Gel inserts helped me tremendously (almost all of the numbness/pain is gone), but I also agree with the Doc; try adjusting your cleat position; or try a different pedal with a wider/longer platform.

I had a similar problem with my right foot that would come up about 45 minutes into a ride. Turned out that my shoes were to narrow. I have had this problem with running shoes being tied to tight. If this turns out to be your problem there are a few wide sizes available.

meltdown said:

I'm new to biking and have noticed my toes go numb when I'm riding under constant pressure.

I have the same problems with the same pedals. I think I will try everyone's suggestions as well and report back! 😄

MTN2SEA said:

I have the same problems with the same pedals. I think I will try everyone's suggestions as well and report back! 😄

Numb feet may also be due to lumbar nerve root compression which only becomes evident when in a forward leaning cycling posture. This may occur initially for several years without back pain. Disc trouble is not likely as it is more likely to produce achey leg pain sitting on the bike. However in someone with a weight lifting history spondylolisthesis (look it up) should be considered, as weight lifting is one of the main causes or aggrevating factors of this form of spinal instability. Lumbar degenerative arthritis may do this as well. Most lumbar causes of foot numbness lessen when you spin, because you get into a slightly more upright posture which decreases nerve compression in the spine.Finally, there is a lot of stuff on the net re: piriformis syndrome as a cause of foot numbness. Thiere is a lot of controversy as to whether piriformis syndrome exists. Do not do piriformis stretches for foot numbness without consulting a health professional as these stretches may harm some back conditions.

badback said:

Numb feet may also be due to lumbar nerve root compression which only becomes evident when in a forward leaning cycling posture. This may occur initially for several years without back pain. Disc trouble is not likely as it is more likely to produce achey leg pain sitting on the bike. However in someone with a weight lifting history spondylolisthesis (look it up) should be considered, as weight lifting is one of the main causes or aggrevating factors of this form of spinal instability. Lumbar degenerative arthritis may do this as well. Most lumbar causes of foot numbness lessen when you spin, because you get into a slightly more upright posture which decreases nerve compression in the spine.Finally, there is a lot of stuff on the net re: piriformis syndrome as a cause of foot numbness. Thiere is a lot of controversy as to whether piriformis syndrome exists. Do not do piriformis stretches for foot numbness without consulting a health professional as these stretches may harm some back conditions.

Are you a doctor? Where are you getting this information and what literature are you reading that states a piriformis stretch may harm a low back condition. It very unlikely that he has a disc condition specially since the condition is intermittent(while bike riding only), so most likely he has some Lower extremity problem such as pronated foot/collapsed arches which lead to internal rotation of the entire extremity during down strokes. Probable seat or seatpost is not position at correct height

[font=Times New Roman]I try to work on the simplest solutions first. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Numbness is sometimes caused by having your shoes too tight. I found that my feet swell when I ride. Try loosening the shoe a bit after you are riding for a while. My shoes have velcro straps, I just reach down and loosen and re-fasten the strap, and generally in a few minutes or less the numbness is gone. But maybe this won’t help you since you mentioned you shoes are already loose.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Or you may need to try a different cleat position. I found that I like my cleats position so the ball of my foot is about 1cm ahead of the axle. And I like my cleats set so the toes of my feet point out slightly, just like I walk. If you change the cleat position, ride with the new setting for a while (a few rides) before making more changes. And sometimes it only takes a few miles to see that things are terrible.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]I’m not mistaken, Shimano M505 are SPD pedals and cleats right? Could be that your shoes are flexing too much. The SPD cleat is rather small, and if you feet are large (I wear a size 48) maybe the small cleat is causing a pressure point, since the shoes are flexing over the cleat? Possibly you need shoes that have soles that don’t flex as much. So maybe a different pair of shoes would help. I started with SPD pedals on my road bike, but I switched to Look A5.1 pedals and Sidi shoes, IMHO they are a LOT more comfortable than my SPD shoes on long rides. I still use the SPD shoes (and pedals) on my mountain bike and tandem.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Start with the cheap fixes first…. [/font]

dfvcad said:

Are you a doctor? Where are you getting this information and what literature are you reading that states a piriformis stretch may harm a low back condition. It very unlikely that he has a disc condition specially since the condition is intermittent(while bike riding only), so most likely he has some Lower extremity problem such as pronated foot/collapsed arches which lead to internal rotation of the entire extremity during down strokes. Probable seat or seatpost is not position at correct height

In answer to DFVCAD
I am
1) a family physician x 22 years
2) a 5 times Ironman finisher
3) a guy who spent 3 months on the couch with back painfrom Sept 2003 to Jan 2004 due to a 1 cm L4-L5 spondylolisthesis (which was diagnosed in Sept 2003) and went on to modify my bike and training (particularly the running-I prepared for the marathon part by doing 95% of the running in the pool) so that I could complete my fifth Ironman in July 2004
Regarding-
A- Meldown's feet- he states he is wearing his shoes extremely loose- this creates extra float and usually gets rid of lower leg caused numbness
B-piriformis stretches- when you do them the way most people are taught, on your back, you create a temporary positional scoliosis in your lower back- not a good thing if you have a structural back problem. I do not recall where I read this in doing my literature search last year to see if it was possible to do Ironman with my condition (I could not find any reports), but it certainly explained why when I did a piriformis stretch my toe numbness returned and was accompanied by calf pain until I released the stretch.

badback said:

In answer to DFVCAD
I am
1) a family physician x 22 years
2) a 5 times Ironman finisher
3) a guy who spent 3 months on the couch with back painfrom Sept 2003 to Jan 2004 due to a 1 cm L4-L5 spondylolisthesis (which was diagnosed in Sept 2003) and went on to modify my bike and training (particularly the running-I prepared for the marathon part by doing 95% of the running in the pool) so that I could complete my fifth Ironman in July 2004
Regarding-
A- Meldown's feet- he states he is wearing his shoes extremely loose- this creates extra float and usually gets rid of lower leg caused numbness
B-piriformis stretches- when you do them the way most people are taught, on your back, you create a temporary positional scoliosis in your lower back- not a good thing if you have a structural back problem. I do not recall where I read this in doing my literature search last year to see if it was possible to do Ironman with my condition (I could not find any reports), but it certainly explained why when I did a piriformis stretch my toe numbness returned and was accompanied by calf pain until I released the stretch.

Great for you that you are a physician and thank God that your are a family practice guy. Because I am a Physiatrist and Chiropractor x 13 years and never seen any study indicating that piriformis stretch is bad or harmful. A true piriformis problem will not produce low back pain and most of the pain is localized to the SI joint, gluteal region and intermittent symptoms into the calf and foot depending on specific motion at the hip area. In your case may be the size of the disc herniation associated with the spondylolisthesis did not respond favorable due to the fact that material most likely was in the canal prior to stretch and curling up in flexion to do the stretch would just push more material into the space causing compression to the never root of L5.

The only manner that you can reproduce a scoliosis deformity while on the floor is to do lateral bending while you pull the leg towards your chest, which is some what difficult to do.

Regarding the original post it indicates that he has toe numbness during certain amount of pressure on the pedal and not leg/calf numbness which is a total different beast. Regarding this intermittent toe numbness problem it is most likely a hot spot/small pedal surface which can be complicated by poor Lower extremity mechanics such as pronated foot when pedaling under pressure, collaps arches, morton neuroma or metatarsalgia.

Regarding the Ironman competition, my hat off to you five times, I have done two triathlon and its a [censored]. I am good at swimming and biking and suck at the run.

I had this problem after an l4/l5 lamenectomy - constant spasms ONLY cured by PT to relieve piroformis (sp?) spasms. Felt JUST like sciatica.

meltdown said:

I'm new to biking and have noticed my toes go numb when I'm riding under constant pressure. If i get a chance to spin it helps but as soon as I have any significant resistance (hills) they go numb again. I have my shoes as loose as I can get them without slipping out. I have a new OCR 1 and I think the pedals are Shimano m505's. Is it normal or so i really need to fix it quick. I'm 6'0" 205 and do alot of weight training so I can put alot of power and weight on the pedals. I love riding but dont like the numb toes part.

My feet were going numb on longer rides. Thought at first my shoes were a little narrow, however, it turned out to be cleat position. 1 problems solved, 2 to go - saddle pain, hand numbness.

meltdown said:

I'm new to biking and have noticed my toes go numb when I'm riding under constant pressure. If i get a chance to spin it helps but as soon as I have any significant resistance (hills) they go numb again. I have my shoes as loose as I can get them without slipping out. I have a new OCR 1 and I think the pedals are Shimano m505's. Is it normal or so i really need to fix it quick. I'm 6'0" 205 and do alot of weight training so I can put alot of power and weight on the pedals. I love riding but dont like the numb toes part.

This may sound like a crazy solution to your problem, but it has worked for many with this problem:

1. Lower your seat 1-2mm
2. Make sure the nose angle of your seat points down 1mm more than your current setting.

There is a nerve and blood vessel located behind you balls that regulates the circulation to your legs. If there is too much pressure in that area, the farthest point from your balls will suffer [your toes in this case] because blood flow has been compromised. Try it. I bet it will work!

Tailwinds,
Vector7