[jacksonpt]

I've noticed the last few rides I've had some numbness in my toes after about 45 minutes of riding. Today, I also noticed numbness in my hands, and some soreness in my wrists. Does the numbness in my hands and toes have to do with impact reducing the blood flow? Does the soreness in my wrists have anything to do with the angle of my arms/wrists/hands? I'm just guessing here - any ideas what I can do to reduce the numbness and soreness?

FWIW - I'm riding Shimano 515 clipless pedals, Diadora Gecko shoes, and standard athletic socks. Would socks with more cushion help? Also, I'm riding with a Kore stem and riser bar, Yeti grips, and el-cheapo padded riding gloves. I rotated the bar forward some and that seemed to help, especially with the soreness in my wrists.

Thoughts?

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

i think you just answered you own question.

shoes maby over tight at times when you are riding. Your feet will swell a little at times if you are riding hard and you need to loosen up your shoes. Proper cycle socks keep you from overheating.

The hand issue, not enough cushion in your gloves/grips.

 

[Serial Midget]

Yeah... what he said. It is also possible that something as simple as saddle height / angle is to blame.

 

[sub6]

Midget has a very good point - saddle too high --> too much weight on hands --> numb hands. That plagued me for a long time, then it finally dawned on me that the 16" frame I was on was WAY too small (I currently ride a 19.5, and it fits like SEX).

I dunno about the feet thing though.....

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

Originally posted by sub6
I dunno about the feet thing though.....

Yeah someone explained it to me all weird. Sidi make shoes that you can adjust while riding. The srs carbon system. I was like hmm, fancy ratchets that break but what for?

The activity of riding can cause your feet to swell same something like hiking.

sometimes riders like to start out with their shoes tight to go faster and get more power out of their clipless pedals. However all of that strain adds up at some point in the ride at about the same time you start feeling a little tired.

That is when you need to look down a pop off a couple of notches on the shoes to get your blood circulating again.

They do work really well. By the time I am riding home they are loosened off good, usually over tightened even at the start of a ride. Adjusting the buckles by reaching down feels pretty good and you don't really lose any speed.

I never noticed the feet issue before but now that I have these shoes that fit like cinderelli slippas i found out that I don't have to ride a fricken pumpkin to get home.

or a bike that rides like a fricken pumpkin if you are getting the idea there.

foot swell = sucks

 

[SuspectDevice]

I'd recommend ditching your gloves for some without padding. The "elcheapo" padded gloves are often worse than nothing at all. much like a gel saddle the padding shfits and bunches into all the wrong places...

 

[JMAC]

Well i noticed that your from New York and maybe it's just the cold if i'm not wearing shoe covers and winter gloves my feet and hands go numb at this time of year.

 

[jacksonpt]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's an interesting point about the saddle angle/height. I'm riding a medium frame which fits me pretty well. However, I have my saddle tipped noticably forward (nose down) to keep my jewels safe. I'm sure this pushes more of my weight forward. I'll try leveling it out and see what happens. If that doesn't do it, I'll invest in some decent gloves - I HAVE to wear gloves when I ride as my hands get so sweaty that it's hard to control the bike when I'm really pushing myself.

As for the feet thing, my shoes have 2 velcro straps. I'll try loosening them, one, then the other, then both and see what kind of results I get.

Thanks again.

 

[Serial Midget]

Originally posted by jacksonpt
However, I have my saddle tipped noticably forward (nose down) to keep my jewels safe. I'm sure this pushes more of my weight forward. I'll try leveling it out and see what happens. If that doesn't do it, I'll invest in some decent gloves - I HAVE to wear gloves when I ride as my hands get so sweaty that it's hard to control the bike when I'm really pushing myself.

Bingo... your nuts are not going to get hurt with a level saddle. Riding with your saddle nose pointed down forces your entire body forward. Your legs, feet, wrists and shoulders are forced to counter gravity in a way that can become uncomfortable pretty quick. A level saddle is always a good idea.

 

[geargrrl]

hands: check stem length, handle bar angle. I personally believe the gloves have zero to do with it.

geargrrl

 

[Orvan]

man, i didn't know there are so many variables that can cause numbness in the said areas... wow

my feet/toes and fingers/hands get numb on early morning cold rides...we socals don't have the fourth skin to repel cold temps

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

few more points to add. Your socks if they are cotton will overheat your feet, in cold they will then proceed to freeze your feet to the extent that you won't even realize it happening it gets you so fast.

with saddle angle previously posted my SM.. Slide your saddle back instead of changing your handlebar angle. The handlebar riser should be verticle with the ground.

If you slide your handlebar back towards you to lose power to pull yourself out of endos on bad landings or downhills I have experienced. The rider position causes a person to lose power to bring down the rear wheel at a 60 degree angle or less. (endo)

I had that problem before when I busted up a ball bearing hub. The damn friction (in the hub) sent me forward endoing at an insane speed going through a sandtrap. At 40 Km + after hitting my head on a tree branch after a 2' log jump set off by an irregular front wheeled landing. (that busted the hub)

end result was one derranged wrist. I couldn't force myself out of the endo and a fist sized rock at the end of the sandpit threw me forward to faceplant after bouncing my rear wheel three times throwing my body weight back under v-braking.

Needless to say my bar is now verticle and I will never set my bar at 45 degrees angles toward the rider again.

It was my last defense when the shyte hit the fan and it was the last thing I did before several pops following a severe crunch. I caught my right wrist and twisted the torso right ejecting my bike and pulling my left hand free which impacted first. My left hand tried to wrench the snapping right from the soft earth but failed as my helmet got crushed and my bike went straight up in the air to land next to me a few seconds after landing on my back.

The wrist thing saved me from breaking my neck I have been told. I would never put my hand down again after that. Points of interest.

1) the bike was off of me before the impact of the right wrist by a split second.

2) The Thudbuster was never used in this incident though it is known for its human catapult effect if it is used improperly. (or it will break) I was standing on the pedals the whole time.

If your bar goes forward the opposite way it loses strength or integrity and you can break more bars that way.

I had hand numbing wrist issues before and I assure you that overhauling the fork and anti-stiction oil for the stanchions may infact be the actual problem. (your gloves and grips are what you mentioned first but then I realized you were getting on about your wrist)

I also reccomend putting a zip tie on one of your fork legs to check how much travel you are using. If some minor fork adjustment don't solve your problem I would suggest that it is time for a bigger fork too.

Now that I am riding a bigger fork this season the wrist fatigue I was getting is gone.

As for saddle angle I disagree somewhat with SM. I tried levelling mine out on the Thudbuster recently and pinching my nuts only swells up my rectal area. That saddle is going a notch forward again. I prefer the proper laurel support.

It is important to consider the amount of force naturally occuring from your position as a rider also.

 

[zibbler]

I have a prloblem with my feet going numb too. It has nothing to do with the tightness of my shoes or socks though, because once I get off the bike for a few minutes, the numbness goes away. I suspect it has more to do with seat angle/position/height, but I'm not sure how to correct it. Either my circulation is being cut off or a nerve is being pressed. My saddle is level and positioned in the center of the rails. The height feels good to me... just a slight bend in the knees when fully extended. Maybe I should move the saddle back a bit? Any suggestions?

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

drop your seatpost lower by a half inch. too many people out there riding with their seatpost too high???

narrow profile to your shoes.

over tight socks

your feet should slide a little in your shoes, do you have a little toe room?

foot support? I have superfeet insoles for cycling in a couple pairs of my shoes. skiers are familiar and snowboarders usually with that kinda thing. On a bike footbeds mean keeping your knees from wobbling inward towards your frame.

alignment on the bike...hip knee pedal directly lined up verticle?

i used to have a diagram of this in a magazine somewhere...

spindle length on the bike? 113mm is the standard. 110mm is racer size and can cause problems eventually. 115 is too big and your pedal base changes, your knees don't develop problems but too big of a spindle leads to different problems I've heard.

Pedal bearings. do they spin right anymore? are your pedals finally shot?

cleat position that has got to be it. ankle swelling leading to foot swelling when the blood doesn't circulate proper like.

could be you are using dry condition pedals in wet conditions. That is a huge mistake. Or your cleats could be positioned to far towards your heals. They are supposed to rest just in front of your metatarsels. (sp?) basically when you arc your toes upward, the bone pivot there or ball of your foot has to drive the cleat and pedal. Power transfer issues.

Since you all have relatively new bikes and pedals I am going to go with the likelyhood that you all need cleat adjustments first before you going messing up your saddle/seatpost.

I just thought of it since I am fooling around with new shoes right now, I am thinking that some of the swelling in my shoes is unnecessary. (one thing we all had in common)

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

Originally posted by zibbler
I have a prloblem with my feet going numb too. It has nothing to do with the tightness of my shoes or socks though, because once I get off the bike for a few minutes, the numbness goes away. I suspect it has more to do with seat angle/position/height, but I'm not sure how to correct it. Either my circulation is being cut off or a nerve is being pressed. My saddle is level and positioned in the center of the rails. The height feels good to me... just a slight bend in the knees when fully extended. Maybe I should move the saddle back a bit? Any suggestions?

for some it is a sign of arthritis. Women tend to get swollen feet past a certain age for no reason. It is a part of aging I am told. My mom mentioned it being a problem for middle aged women.

It may even be nothing to do with the bike.

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja


cleat position that has got to be it. ankle swelling leading to foot swelling when the blood doesn't circulate proper like.

could be you are using dry condition pedals in wet conditions. That is a huge mistake. Or your cleats could be positioned to far towards your heals. They are supposed to rest just in front of your metatarsels. (sp?) basically when you arc your toes upward, the bone pivot there or ball of your foot has to drive the cleat and pedal. Power transfer issues.

I just thought of it since I am fooling around with new shoes right now, I am thinking that some of the swelling in my shoes is unnecessary. (one thing we all had in common)

Back to the cleat positioning. This is a little harder to explain to a layperson.

so you've got your toes arched up and you've got your finger in the middle of this arc or ball of your foot. Now roll your finger back towards your heel until you suddenly feel a sensitive spot.

You know you have the spot right when you are pressing lightly on it and you can suddenly feel the joint before before the ball while scrunching your toes and balling up your foot again. It should cause you to feel the muscles and joints under your foot moving and you've got this bruised feeling in your middle foot kind of from where your finger is pressing lightly.

Now give your finger a half roll towards your heel. away from the joint. You have found your metatarsil support right there. Yeah that is what the sweet spot feels like.

That is your racing spot. Directly below that spot is where your cleats should be centered below on the outside of your shoe while standing. Heel slid to the back of the shoe. (if you get slippage in you shoes, experts usually don't keep this. I already explained the differences they get in their shoes.)

Too far forward or backward causes you to lose power transfer when biking or clip ins and clip outs cause undue pressure. Not only that but you have to do each foot individually since the spot is usually in a different place on each shoe. (not saying your feet are different sized)

This is how you should be getting professionally fit cleats to your shoe in a store. Most shops just throw them on there.

On some shoes it is possible to adjust how tightly you are cliped in by twisting the screws adjusters on the pedal. These should be done after the cleat is installed if neccesary.

 

[Evilmunch]

I've got problems with my feet going numb too, but I know what's causing it. My shoes are too long. This causes the cleat position to be too far forward. I have very wide feet so I usually have to get shoes a size or so larger. Right now I have the cleats moved as far back as they will go, but it's still not far enough. I guess I'm gonna need new shoes.