Numb toes with SPD clips
 

Been riding with SPD clips for some time but today I experienced something new. When I took my shoes off, my left big toe was blue and all my left foot toes were numb. Right foot was OK. I have heard that some people have experienced similar problems with SPD clips. Is this something caused by a poorly aligned clip? What kind of adjustment will eliminate this problem? I am assuming it is caused by localized pressure on the botom of your foot where the clip is located**********?

It ain't the clips. It's your shoes.

Yep, your shoes are stopping blood supply to the toe causing it to get numb and ultimately turn blue. Perhaps you tied the shoe too tight.

It's likely your shoes. It could be the fit, but it's common to get "hot spots" because the shoe is too flexible and because the SPD cleat design puts a lot of pressure on a small area.

I used to ride SPDs, and I had hot spots. I went to SPD-SLs and new shoes, and I never get hot spots. I have a friend who rode SPDs, and his hot spots were bad enough that his feet hurt even when he didn't ride. He just switched to SPD-SLs and new shoes, and his feet don't hurt at all.

In May I rode a solo century with spd cleats and the shoes were not too tight...I ended up with a painful foot and a badly bruised big toe. Someday if I have a cent, I will go with a really stiff road shoe with different cleats.

Update...rode today with no problems. I tried to make sure my staps were tight but not overly tight. I think my earlier problem may have been that my straps were not tight enough and let my foot slide forward enough that my toes got jammed into the narrow toe area and the tight pressure cut off blood to my toes.
Live and learn.