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Hey Guys,
I am relatively new to the singletracks community, and this is my first involvement on the forum other than reading all the advice everyone has to offer. So I would like to say Hi.
I also have a question. I have been riding for a couple of years now and have decided to give competition a try. While I have been training I have been noticing my feet are falling asleep when I am riding hard for an extended period (30 -45mins into the ride). I don’t use clips, or clipless. I roll on plat forms with sneakers. I gave clippless pedals a try but I am not sure I love them as much as some do. I had thought that I was just tying my shoes too tight, that still may be the case but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem, or knows where I should go. It also might be cold weather but even then I am not definite (the cold sure makes it worse). I am 5’11’ and ride an XL cannondale Rush, (I believe it’s a little big but I got the bike before I knew too much about geometry, but that’s what I got for now). I also pedal heavily on the balls of my feet – or a little forward even.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Welcom to singletracks radicalis.What type of competition are you going to do,if your gonna race XC,you’ll get a a lot if not all advice to go clippless.
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I live in the Washington DC area so unfortunately XC is just about all we have. I have heard from a few folks about the advanatges of clipless, and I might give it a shot again soon but for now I am going to try with out them. I have read a couple articles about folks who can do well in XC with out them, I guess I am hoping to be one of them.
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My first MTB was a Specialized Rockhopper that is also borderline too big, and that can definitely cause numbness and weird pressure points.
Also, for XC racing, flats are holding you back. Running clipless will add a noticeable increase in efficiency and power to every pedal stroke, without having to mash even harder on the downstroke. (This is due to being able to pull up on the trailing pedal) Multiply that over thousands of pedal strokes in one race and the benefits become clear.
I would see if your LBS will let you take out a properly sized bike for an extended ride or even a race. (Ellsworth was at 24 Hours of Moab last fall sending people out on ‘demo’ laps) You will be amazed at the difference when the bike fits you. I know I was when I went to my current bike that fits me perfectly.
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That is cool you want to race with platforms and since I am platform trail rider I think that would be cool if you raced XC on platforms.As far as your feet and toes falling asllep on ya,that is one nice thing about platforms is that you can move your feet around to releive your of falling asleep.Although if that does not help the situation you might need to work a little harder on relaxing while riding and that should get a lot better the more you ride.If that don’t help you might make an appt to see your doc.
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Very true madd,when I bought my 07 stumpjumper XL it fit oh soo perfect and felt worls better than my old marin which was too big for me,plus the difference from the marin xC bike and into a way more trail bike was a big bdifference too.Whatever is causeing your numbness in your feet,it ain’t fun and finding out what maks it happen will make your riding that much better.
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Hey thanks for all the feedback! I may just give clipless another crack soon. As far as my toes goes, I think I am going try out some other bikes and see if I can feel a difference.
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My first thought is that your shoes are to tight.
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I don’t know how to completely prevent foot numbness but a big help for me was a very good quality shoe insole.
Not trying to push a brand… just saying what works for me… I got some Specialized "high arch" footbeds. They are NOT cheap. $40? $50 I can’t remember. They have a hump down the middle they call the metatarsal button. It’s supposed to spread the bones of the foot apart when pedalling to allow better circulation. The footbeds come in three arch heights and colors: red, blue, and green. The max are the green ones which are the ones I use. I do NOT have high arches but I got these footbeds anyway because they help prevent my toes going numb.
Just thought I’d throw that out there. I know they’re pricey.
Also, I ride clipless and that is also a big help. I get "pull up" to get power and take some pressure off my feet. You really ought to think about going clipless. I haven’t been riding for decades but every dude I’ve met who swore he’d ride platforms forever never looked back after getting used to riding clipless. I’m just saying…
Y
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This happened to me running also when I was training for a tri and I was worried big time. After a little research on the ol internet I found some articles describing the same symptom and felt relief that others had experienced the same thing.
For me I was using too narrow a shoe in the toe box area and was running in the heat which caused my foot to swell which in turn caused the numbness.
I have pretty wide feet so fitting a shoe with plenty of room in that area helped me quite a bit. Also I try to lace my running shoes not too tight to start to allow swelling room.
I have noticed to a lesser degree some numbness while riding hard in the heat and backing off the tightness (velcro in this case) near the toe area helped to relieve the symptom.
Here’s a link to one article describing the condition:
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