Midfoot cleats

[MelC]

Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on these? A new riding season looms and nothing I did last season addressed my chronic foot falling asleep issue (including several bike fittings, new shoes, new cleats, new pedals, new insoles). I have come to the conclusion, since it seems to be creeping into my walking life in certain shoes now that I must have a nerve very vulnerable to pressure on the ball of the foot. Rather than go through another season of numbness followed by pain I thought I might sacrifice the power transfer advantages of cleats and go back to some sort of hard soled flat shoe and a regular pedal. Then I was reading that some triathletes now use the midfoot position under the arch and find it has little impact on their performance. This seems like a good middle ground for me. So all I have been able to find are (a) some german company making special shoes with midfoot cleat positions, unclear how much (obscenely expensive was mentioned) or whether available in north america since the website is in German apparently, or (b) switch pedals and cleats (hopefully won't need to switch shoes) to speedplays with an available adapter to move them back to midfoot or close thereto.

Anyone done this? Like or don't like one or the other? Have another solution? I think the idea of drilling new holes in my shoes is probably not feasible as I am less than handy but sending them to someone who will modify them for me is certainly an option. Right now have regular road spd cleats on (not eggbeaters, the larger triangles).

[Wahine]

A mid foot cleat could be the answer for you. If I was going to try it I would find someone to drill new holes in my shoes. After that, the speedplays may be your best bet, especially since you can get pedals in differing axle lengths which may be part of the problem.

I know you've had several fittings, but I'm going to throw some things out there as possible issues, just in case something clicks for you:

Has anyone looked at your foot stance in terms of it potentially being too wide (most likely) or too narrow?

Are you comfortable in your saddle? Saddle discomfort makes you weight your feet more and aggravates the problem.

Has anyone assessed your spine/posture while riding?

Are your hamstrings and/or calves abnormally tight?

Do you have flat feet and have you tried a foot bed insert?

Can you unclip one foot and ride with one leg only without a dead spot at the top of your pedal stroke? If not, you might be able to help the problem by working on your pedaling mechanics.

[MelC]

Thanks for the reply, I'm sure there are a million small tweaks I could experiment with that haven't been tried yet but after all I have already done and the fact that this numb toes business seems to be rearing its head more often off the bike as well I think I am going to admit that Occam's Razor probably needs to be considered at this point. And the most obvious answer at this point is my foot is weird and doesn't respond well to pressure on the ball of the foot (it is primarily only the left one). I guess I will have to find a specialty bike store and talk to them. We have a triathlon specific one here and that might be a good place to start as the midfoot cleat seems to be most adopted by triathletes to save the calf muscles for the run. It does seem weird since this cleat placement seems to have gained some traction in the last 5 years (Joe Friel is a big proponent) that none of the regular bike shoe manufacturers wouldn't have drilled additional holes for cleat placement options in order to capture this market.