Help my feet are dead!

[Darren Griffiths]

This is my first post and need help!! I ride ever week and have for over a year with one Sportive secured! My problem is that my feet seem to go dead when pedalling for over ten miles or more. I wear Shimano shoes with Spd's (grey cleets I believe) which are reasonably comfortable however not after some distance. Can anyone suggest something to try and cure the problem - I don't think it is the cold weather as it always seems to happen. I have not adjusted the positions of the cleets however I have loosened the straps etc. Thanks.

 

[fossyant]

Make sure the balls of your feet are directly over the pedal axel. Would also say too tight shoes, also possibly wrong seat height.

Lots of reasons, and it even may be your feet don't like Shimano shoe fit, difficult to test out, and potentially expensive.

 

[the snail]

Also see if you need to adjust the angle of the cleats - my left foot tends to be at an angle, which causes numbness after a while.

 

[Darren Griffiths]

Thanks guys. I'm trying both and will post any (positive!) developments. I'm hoping for a forty mile trip early tomorrow so maybe I'll know more. I've made adjustments as you recomended. Cheers.

 

[Dayvo]

Your saddle could be a tad too low. Or too far forward/back.

 

[PaulSB]

I suffered from this years ago when I first moved to SPDs. I feel the problems revolve around the following:

1. Consider buying shoes one size larger than usual. May be too late for that now

2. Don't over tighten shoes and even wear them quite loose.

3. Mark the cleat position on the shoe with indelible pen or similar and make only very slight adjustments. The mark allows you to go back to the original if things get worse!!

4. Take an Allen key with you on your rides. When feet hurt stop and make adjustments until the hurt stops or reduces. You'll probably have two or three rides you don't enjoy because if the stop / starts but this is the best way to correctly adjust the cleats.

 

[EYE-TYE-MAD]

This is my first post and need help!! I ride ever week and have for over a year with one Sportive secured! My problem is that my feet seem to go dead when pedalling for over ten miles or more. I wear Shimano shoes with Spd's (grey cleets I believe) which are reasonably comfortable however not after some distance. Can anyone suggest something to try and cure the problem - I don't think it is the cold weather as it always seems to happen. I have not adjusted the positions of the cleets however I have loosened the straps etc. Thanks.

Try moving your cleats a tadd further down your shoes, i.e. nearer the toe, this gives slightly more flex & could also expose that perhaps your ride height & position isn't quite right. You should also consider trying a more relaxed float cleat.

 

[al-fresco]

Are you sure it's not the weather? - my feet have been numb since November

 

[MattHB]

I had the same issue and nothing would cure it. I fixed it by getting some specialized BG shoes (which I needed 2 sizes over normal) and some green high support footbeds. It was amazing to finally ride feeling my feet. If your having the matertarsal nerve issue that I suffer from then moving the cleats ALL the way back may help.

Shimano shoes are very narrow though, they can squash your bones together and compound the issue.