I went for a short ride this morning and I encountered a little problem. After riding about 18km i noticed that three toes on each foot had gone numb. I am using platform peddles and riding in cheap running shoes. Some time in the near future I hope to change to clipless peddles.
Has anyome else had this problem? What could be the cause, and will clipless peddles make any difference?


Cheers,
Nathan

only when its below 40 degrees F. are you currently healthy?

get rid of the cheap running shoes and get something with a firm footbed. That should help-- clipless pedals will help, but are not the source of your problem.

train safe-

Soft-soled shoes are not good for bike riding. Or horseback riding. https://bicycleapparel.com/shoes.html

There are several cycling shoes for platform pedals available with stiff soles. Google "Touring shoes"



As buelito said, you'll still need good inserts inside the shoe.

I had numb toe problems with my clipless cycling shoes until I found the Superfeet inserts. I use the black ones. https://www.superfeet.com/activity/cycling.aspx

My suggestion for trying on cycling shoes is to do so after you've been walking a lot and your feet have swelled. You don't want the shoes to be too loose or too tight. The insoles that come with the shoes may work fine for you but I have low arches and needed different ones.

Yes ... at the very least get shoes with flat, stiff soles.

I had the same problem with my first pair of cheap clipless shoes, numb toes. Part of the problem was adjustment and perhaps the rest was a cheap sole flexing, don't know, but when I bought a better pair with a carbon sole the problem went away.

Just wait. Later it will be numb nuts.

I had a similar problem when using an inexpensive SPD type shoes. The sole had a lot of flex and the contact area under the ball of my foot was quite narrow. It wasn't a problem until about the 15m marker. Almost like clockwork my outer toes would go numb just as you've explained. I switched to a moderately priced carbon sole road shoe with speedplay pedals and I have not had an issue since.

Sounds like either swealing of the forefoot from riding and pinching the nerves or compressing the forefoot by not haiving sufficent support for the pressure point of the pedals causing pinching of the nerves in the forefoot.

try wiggling toes every ten minutes while cycling. see if that helps.

Loosen the front and or middle strap a bit.

He's using running shoes... unless he has ones with the velcro on them...

In that case try loosening your shoestrings if you don't have velcro...................