Brian Fallon has a problem that, from time to time, we all suffer from; numb feet! There are a few reasons for this happening, and we don’t say we have the answer, but we do have a few suggestions.
Question:
hello Sam and the team, I have been cycling for eighteen months now and have just started to go up to thirty miles on a ride, but my feet go numb and feel cold after about an hours riding, please could you give me any pointers for curing this problem.
Best regards. Brian.
Answer:
Hi Brian.
This problem of yours is fairly common, and there are a few different reasons why it could be happening, so we will give you our findings, and you can experiment.
- Are your shoes too small? If they are squashing your feet this will make them numb as you are riding.
- Do you tighten the straps too much? Same as above if they are too tight…try riding with them very loose on a flat ride; this isn’t such a good idea in the hills.
- Is the sole of your shoe too rigid? This was a problem when carbon-soled shoes first came out, the sole was too stiff, and this caused foot problems with pain in the sole of the foot and numbness.
- Do you have a foot problem? A possible visit to a foot specialist.
- Could this be coming from a leg or back problem? If you have a sciatic nerve problem, this can cause foot numbness, but this usually only affects one foot.
- Check the shoe plate, is it in the correct position? If it is too far forward, it can put pressure on the toes. The axle should be under the knuckle of the big toe (the lump on the inside of the foot). Some people are experimenting with moving the plate back a little so that you use the foot more than the toe; this uses different leg muscles also.
- Is your saddle at the correct height? If it is too high then this can cut of the blood to the legs as well as cause leg and hip problems. Remember you should have a slight flex in your knee when your foot is at its lowest position. If you are going to lower or higher the saddle only moves it by a couple of millimetres at a time or it can cause more problems.
- Is the saddle too far forward or too far back? Your forward knee should be above the pedal when the cranks are horizontal; you should be able to draw a straight line down from just behind the knee cap and through the pedal axle. Don’t move the saddle too much at one time, the same as with the seat pin.
I hope all these suggestions help? Please let us know how you get on.
