Why do my feet go numb? (seriously too)

In article <[email hidden]>, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"

Quoted message said:

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

I'd start with your shoes and pedals. You may be getting pressure on the nerves across the soles of
your feet, causing numbness. Your shoes could be too tight, also. It's possible that your saddle is
compressing or irritating the sciatic nerve, which can cause some odd numbness (toes, outer aspect
of the ankle, outer aspect of the knee, etc).

Squid-in-Training' may have said:

I ride my road bike with a saddle with a dip down the center. It's not one of the expensive ones,
but it works.

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

What do you think? I tried lowering my post some more and that helped a bit. I believe my legs to
be of equal length. Could it possibly be road crown? My saddle is straight - no crashes. Thoughts?

Try a different saddle, or a slightly different position for the current one. I had a similar
problem with one of my bikes, and while changing the angle of the saddle a bit helped, swapping to a
different saddle cured it altogether. Your results may vary.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

Ha! I had this problem too!

In my case, I found that the seat was too wide in the nose. This had the effect of cutting off
circulation down the inside of my leg. This is the main route for blood traveling to your feet!

I dug out an old Flite saddle and have not had any problems since. The best saddle, which I can no
longer find, is the old San Marco Bontrager - very narrow in the front although I don't care for the
shaved off rear wings.

You should slowly adjust and fine tune your position. Remember, if your bike fits you right you
should not be crushing your unit. Go for the Sean Kelly/Lance Armstrong type position with your
tailbone doing all the support work. You probably don't need to change saddles, but keep it in mind.
See if your buddies have old saddles they will let you experiment with.

"Phil, Squid-in-Training" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I ride my road bike with a saddle with a dip down the center. It's not

one

Quoted message said:

of the expensive ones, but it works.

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

What do you think? I tried lowering my post some more and that helped a bit. I believe my legs to
be of equal length. Could it possibly be road crown? My saddle is straight - no crashes. Thoughts?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I forgot to mention that just because a saddle works for me does not mean it will work for you. I
just thought sharing my experience might help.

Try lots of saddles - maybe your LBS has some used bikes collecting dust with some saddles you
could borrow...

"Phil, Squid-in-Training" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I ride my road bike with a saddle with a dip down the center. It's not

one

Quoted message said:

of the expensive ones, but it works.

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

What do you think? I tried lowering my post some more and that helped a bit. I believe my legs to
be of equal length. Could it possibly be road crown? My saddle is straight - no crashes. Thoughts?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil,

The front part of my feet used to go numb after about ten miles. This cleared up when I switched to
a very hard sole shoe. HTH

Ernie

Phil said:

I ride my road bike with a saddle with a dip down the center. It's not one of the expensive ones,
but it works.

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

What do you think? I tried lowering my post some more and that helped a bit. I believe my legs to
be of equal length. Could it possibly be road crown? My saddle is straight - no crashes. Thoughts?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

In article <[email hidden]>, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"

Quoted message said:

I ride my road bike with a saddle with a dip down the center. It's not one of the expensive ones,
but it works.

My problem is that when I ride for longer than 30 or so minutes, my left toes begin to get numb. I
also have a sorer left buttcheek than the right side.

What do you think? I tried lowering my post some more and that helped a bit. I believe my legs to
be of equal length. Could it possibly be road crown? My saddle is straight - no crashes. Thoughts?

Take a closer look at your shoe first. I got new shoes this year. They felt great when I tried them
while riding indoor (on rollers).

But when using them outside both my feets got numb after 1 1/2 hour. I moved the cleat towards the
toes... and now I don't have any problems at all.

Jørn Dahl-Stamnes, EDB Teamco AS e-mail: [email hidden] (remove nospam first)
web: spiderman.novit.nodahlsOpen ↗

Thanks for all the suggestions!

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Another suggestion, concerning one side of your butt getting sore is leg length difference. I'm going to get shims under one cleat to aleviate the saddle bothering me on just one side.

I am learning that cleat positioni is critical for proper support of my feet.

As with all advice, mileage will vary. I am a believer in getting proffesional fit advice at my bike shop. The excercise physiologist who fit me also fit my son and wife and we all three concurr that he is making out cycling a pleasure for our bikes fit us properly.

Insight Driver may have said:

Another suggestion, concerning one side of your butt getting sore is leg length difference. I'm
going to get shims under one cleat to aleviate the saddle bothering me on just one side.

I am learning that cleat positioni is critical for proper support of my feet.

As with all advice, mileage will vary. I am a believer in getting proffesional fit advice at my
bike shop. The excercise physiologist who fit me also fit my son and wife and we all three concurr
that he is making out cycling a pleasure for our bikes fit us properly.

On the other hand, if what someone is riding is comfortable and working well for them, and they
didn't buy it from a place which does a spectacular job of taking measurements and doing extensive
custom fitting, there's no reason to denigrate their winning match just because it came about from
less scientific methods...nor is it a reason to say that nobody needs such service! If somebody says
their bike's not right, or if they gripe about something that's probably a fit issue, I'll point
them at a place where I think they can get a better fit. If they like what they've got, I say "Ride
it!" The object is to get to where you *want* to hop on the saddle and head down the road; how
people get to that point is as individual as the riders themselves.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.