Numb foot and pain in clipless shoes

[notso]

hey farkers,

I've recently decided to try clips on my DH and 5" trail bike after refusing for many years to join the clips brigade. (I came from a trials background so I never considered clips)

I got myself some CB mallets and a pair of Shimano AM45 shoes. Both of which I would be happy with if it wasn't for the constant numbness and increasing pain on the bottom outside edge of my feet about halfway down my feet.
The pain gets so bad that I have to stop riding.

The shoes are the right size.

Any advice?

 

[Dozer]

Are you scrunching your toes when you ride? The easiest way to avoid any numbness with clips is to relax and not have the straps or laces done up too tight. If you can loosen it a little it will help.

 

[Ruys]

I occasionally get that feeling too and I find I can prevent it by adjusting how tight my shoes are. I think my shoes are a little too big and occasionally I find myself curling my toes up to stop my feet sliding around in them. .

It could also be because you're not used to having a rigid sole under your foot.

Edit: too quick for me Dozer

 

[willsy01]

Are you scrunching your toes when you ride? The easiest way to avoid any numbness with clips is to relax and not have the straps or laces done up too tight. If you can loosen it a little it will help.

This.

I find I get the same thing sometimes and notice i'm scrunching my toes up a little.....relax and it goes away. Some lace/velcro adjustment can work wonders as well. Remember they're not ski boots......they don't need to gnarly tight.

 

[kynan77]

i get the same numbness in my vans SPD shoes but not when i wear my other ones which are a xc specialised pair that have a more curved sole on them. i was thinking it was mabe the flatness of the vans sole??

 

[dunndog]

Sounds like they are either too narrow, or too tight across the top of your foot. I get the same thing in ski boots but 10 times worse, we used to heat localized areas of the plastic shell and stretch it from the inside.. Maybe you could power pack some newspaper into them while youre not wearing them? It's usually a circulation issue, or sometimes it could be a pro nating thing(again with ski boots) so possibly play with you cleat positioning a little to try to get pressure off that area of your foot..
Out of curiosity, are custom soles something that are used by anyone with foot issues? They make a huge difference in comfort and performance in ski boots...
*yes I do realize we are talking about clipless bike shoes*

 

[Ruys]

Could also be you've got the cleat too far forward in the shoe which would force you to put more pressure on the ends of your toes, leading to you needing to scrunch them up a bit.

 

[Cypher]

How is your pedal stroke?

Do you pedal with your knees slightly out (rather than straight up and down)? If you knees are straight do you flex your foot so more pressure is going to the outside near your toes?

I get this pain/numbness occasionally too, when I am not paying attention to my pedal technique. I have straight knees but tend to ride by pressing down near my little toes and not on the centre of the ball of my foot. I have to conciously re-align myself often during a ride.

Why do I put pressure near my little toes? Because you can clip out faster (my foot is already in the start orientation to twist out). It is a bit of a bad habit, I suppose, but I have never been stuck in my clips in a stack.

You might also want to check your seat height. Does it help your pedal stroke?

 

[redbruce]

All of the above suggestions could help. Try them first.

However, been there, tried all over 30 years. The real revelation was discovering Specialised BG inner soles (otherwise known as footbeds).

 

[dunndog]

The real revelation was discovering Specialised BG inner soles (otherwise known as footbeds).

There it is!

 

[Exie]

Likewise, all above are good suggestions. Particularly if you've never had any foot problems before.

I occasionally had foot problems previously, but not until I started wearing clipless bike shoes did I start having problems. After many different shoes I ended up at a podiatrist who ran a bunch of tests and diagnosed Mortons Neuroma.

In the end I got some specialised shoes that fixed 90% of the problem and I just work around the odd ride when it flares up.

 

[posty26]

Cleat positioning

As mentioned some good advice already dished out but from my experience cleat positioning was fairly critical in alleviating that sort of numbness. I recently had myself bike fitted by a professional and he adjusted my cleat position for me after measuring the ball of my foot. Anyone could do this really with a bit of commonsense. (The cleat should be positioned directly under this).

I would not have believed however that maybe 10mm could have made such a difference. I was having problems with one pair of shoes as the OP described and not another and it turned out that my cleat position was too far forward with the problematic ones. Moving them back sorted it and I can now ride 5hrs in the vans with no probs anymore.

 

[notso]

thanks all. Will give it all a go

 

[Wisey]

Hey Ben, do you have a wide foot? Too wide for the shoes? Has that feeling like it is being squashed sideways?

 

[notso]

Hey Ben, do you have a wide foot? Too wide for the shoes? Has that feeling like it is being squashed sideways?

Nah Matt, it's not like they're tight or anything. I've never had any issues with shoes before this so I'm a little confused.
Going to try a few of the things people have suggested here and see if it helps.

 

[Jeffgre_6163]

Cleat position is absolutlely critical

As mentioned some good advice already dished out but from my experience cleat positioning was fairly critical in alleviating that sort of numbness. I recently had myself bike fitted by a professional and he adjusted my cleat position for me after measuring the ball of my foot. Anyone could do this really with a bit of commonsense. (The cleat should be positioned directly under this).
I would not have believed however that maybe 10mm could have made such a difference. I was having problems with one pair of shoes as the OP described and not another and it turned out that my cleat position was too far forward with the problematic ones. Moving them back sorted it and I can now ride 5hrs in the vans with no probs anymore.

I will add to this
Cleat position is absolutely critical.
There is a nerve that runs directly under the ball of your foot, The medial Plantar nerve from memory, this nerve differs in location slightly from person to person.
If your cleats are postitioned wrong it can cause pressure on this nerve resulting in numbness and pain.
Try moving you cleats all the way to the back of your shoe to start with and then progressively forward until you feel comfortable with no pain.