Foot numbness and pain

[HarrisonK]

After about an hour on the bike I get numbness in my left foot (ball of foot area). I take my shoe off the pedal and try to move it around but that doesn't do much. I have pain in my foot while walking for at least 24 hours, if not more, after rides. How do I fix this? I'm using Specialized Sworks 5 road shoes with look keo pedals. Should I adjust my cleat? If so, how? Do I move it forward (closed to my toes) or backward (away from my toes)? The shoes are not too small. If anything, they are a marginally big.

[CAAD8FRED]

Check to make sure the shoe is the right size for your feet.
Check to make sure your pedals and cleats are on correctly, then check again.

If all else fails try going to a major LBS and see if they have a fit specialist to help. Then a podiatrist.

[kbbpll]

Is one foot significantly longer than the other? Most people have a small difference, but if yours is significant, it might be a clue. When did it start? New shoes, pedals, socks? Etc.

[otoman]

Move the cleat rearwards. I was having the exact same symptoms in newer shoes in which I didn’t have the cleats in the same fore-aft position.

There is actually a Velonews podcast about foot numbness. The gist is 1)orthotics and 2) move the cleat back.

[bilwit]

IME goofy cleat setup usually results in knee pain, too much dial/lace tightness and general shoe fit results in foot numbness/pain

[mattr]

How do I fix this?

Check with any of the dozen or so good online guides on cleat/shoe/pedal set up. Steve Hogg is probably a good start.

The list of things that could be wrong is long. And fixing one could lead to another becoming an issue.
You've got fore/aft position, left/right position, cleat angle, float, cant (angle of your foot to the pedal axle), shoe size, shoe shape/volume, insole support and so on. Many of them may need to be different for each foot.

If the guide doesn't work for you, post up your location and someone can probably suggest a good fitter locally to you (at a rough estimate more than half the "fitters" out there are either idiots or charlatans). Nothing worse than giving an idiot money.

FWIW specialized shoes are agony for me within about 2 or 3 minutes, the shape is completely wrong and the sole seems to want to break as many bones as possible.

[LouisN]

I also experience numbness with my S-Works 6.
I've been having this for the last 10-15 years, with any kind of shoes. The Bont's being the worst of them.
My right side is fine now, but still having problems with the left side.
It can be so many things:
-The shoes themselves. Too big (foot rubs=numbness) or too small, or some pressure points (shoe construction).
-The cleat positioning. The cases vary but it translates in friction to the joints, eventually pinched nerves, etc.
-One's physionomy. Personnaly I have loose joints (hypermobility). For example, I also get left hand numbness (my heart is fine fellows ) coming from loosse shoulder joints, I have to constantly think about my body position.
-Pedalling style,
-Etc...

Louis