numb foot

[thebluestreak]

Without fail, on every ride my left foot falls asleep. I presume it is because I never unclip it. I try to wiggle my toes to wake it up but that really doesn't help. Any suggestions?

[Skierchickie]

Mine go numb sometimes, but not just one, and not that consistently. I have some luck with loosening my shoe ever so slightly, but I don't know if that will help you or not. On a really long ride I generally deal with that - sometimes it goes away, and sometimes it doesn't, but I can usually keep it from becoming too much of a problem.

Somebody here will have an in-depth explanation and suggestions for you. Sorry I'm not much help. If it's specific to one foot, there is probably some sort of fit or biomechanical issue. Or shoes.

[Ana]

I have hot spots and foot numbness too :p I recently tried loosening the shoe in the box and that seems to have helped with the numbness but the hot spots still persist after 40-50 minutes of riding :p :( I might look into shoes with a stiffer sole or a different pedal but for now I'm going to see how this works out :) I also may go to a podiatrist to see if I have medical issues that contribute to my hot spots :p

Good luck!

[lph]

My feet go numb too, especially one of them. Funny thing (and thankfully!) this never happens in my winter mtb shoes. They have a very stiff sole, are roomy and I wear a wool insole in them. So I can't just fault the spd-pedals, it's my summer mtb shoes that are too soft, too easily tightened or something. I can get numb feet in my roadie shoes with Keo pedals too, but that's usually when I tighten the shoe too much.

No real advice, except try looser shoes, different insoles, socks etc. It's not necessarily the pedal.

[Thorn]

Try moving your cleats back on the shoe (towards the heel). If you do this, remember to drop the height of your seat to compensate.

I read this somewhere and gave it a try. For me, it worked.

[tiva]

I moved my cleats back, and also changed to Keen Commuter bike sandals (wider in the toe box, about the same stiffness as my other bike shoes). The numbness went away--of course, I'm not sure if the cleat position or the wider toebox made the difference!

[ny biker]

I generally don't have a problem with numb toes, but when I do have problems it's always because my socks are too tight or are too thick (woolie boolies) so they make my shoes tight.