mooksy

About 5 months ago, I upgraded my road shoes from a pair of Carnacs (without carbon soles) to a pair of Northwave carbon soled shoes. The problem is that I constantly get sore/numb feet. At first, I would get sore feet after 20 minutes but now takes about an hour before it starts to set in. After doing a 140km ride yesterday, my feet still feel a bit numb this morning - obviously not a good thing.
Does anyone have any ideas? I have tried various insoles and cleat positions to no effect.
The Northwave are probably a bit tight across the middle of the shoe - is this likely to cause it? - or is it likely the carbon sole?
Should I just invest in some new shoes - in which case, are any brands known to be less likely to cause this sort of issue than others?
Any help is MUCH appreciated!

iNewton

If you feets are completely numb then I'll go on a tangent and assume that you're leaving a constant pressure on the pedal, squishing the nerves and not letting the blood flow through your feet. If what you feel are some points of pressure however then it's a complete different matter. You could also have athletic feet or things of that nature.

As far as numb feet goes, I'll repeat myself as I posted this earlier, but the first thing you need to make sure is that you remove the pressure from the pedal as the other leg push; If you constantly feel a pressure under your feet then you're not doing it properly. (You may notice it in your next ride)

Check this out, make sure that through 110o to 340o your feet's in the air (not exactly pulling as apparently it's a waste of energy but not weighting down on the pedal at all)

mooksy

Thanks iNewton.
I'm comfortable that my pedalling technique is correct, so Im fairly sure its not related to that.
Most of the numbness and pain is in the front half of the foot, basically just at the base of the ball of the foot all the way up to the toes (which lead me to think it may be the shoes?)? Do you think it is worth replacing the shoes or are there some other things i should try first?

40-Dan

sounds like the shoes could be too tight.

I have the same problem if I snug the straps on mine a bit too much.

Dan

mooksy

So shoes that are a bit tight could certainly cause this problem, correct?

mooksy

Having a bit more of a look at my shoes, they are definitely too tight around the ball of the foot - is this likely to have caused the numbness/pain? My feet are still sore this morning, suggesting a nerve problem or something.
Second question: is the carbon sole likely to contribute or help a problem like this? Im thinking of getting a new pair of shoes and am wondering whether to steer clear of carbon sole this time?

mike9903

I own a pair of Northwave shoes and I was having a similar problem, but not nearly as bad as you are making yours sound. I just decided to ride one day witout socks, I have not had any problems since. Last weekend I went out and thought that I would try to wear socks on my ride, of course I felt numbness, I stopped took off the socks and that solved the problem immediatley.

JayC

I was having a similar problem with my Shimano shoes.. basically they were just too narrow. I have very wide feet. I bought a pair of Sidi Mega's and that seems to have corrected the problem for the most part.

GuitarWizard

I would get toe numbness, but then I got a set of custom orthotics for my cycling shoes, and it made a huge improvement.

xfimpg

3 years later and the solution is there... man I love you guys and bike forums.net!