Cutting circulation on top
dave16 said:
Hey's a lame one:
When I ride my road bike (Shimano shoes with M-520 pedals) I develop numbness in my left foot after ~ 45 minutes. The numbness will eventually become soreness and will ecxtend up my calf into my thigh. This does not happen on my mountain bike (Specialized Rockhopper shoes with M-520 pedals).
Any ideas?
Exact same situation I have had with MTB shoes and Ski boots. Turns out it is a vein running along the very top of the foot that travels to the large toe. Some people are very sensitive to pressure on this vein. The podiatrist I went to simply lightly pressed his thumb on the highest part of the top of my foot, midway between the toe and ankle, and very quickly my toe started to get numb, then painful!! Only took about 6 seconds.
I guess when pedaling, I may be pulling up slightly to increase my power, and this is aggravating the situation.
His suggestion was to ride with the laces a bit looser. Also he recommended a footbed insert that was available in the shoe stores. I still get the numbness occasionally, if the tongue of the shoe shifts and starts pressing that damn nerve, but I stop and pull the tongue, and the numbness goes away.
He also said that if a foam insert is added to the shoe tongue, it can relieve some of the pressure on that particular point.