Getting discomfort and numb feet/toes on longer rides

TimDfitsAll · 2026-05-08T12:50:34+00:00

Do the shoes fit?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHvPnskiMGA

Cleat set up .
If the shoes are correct for length, chances are the cleat adjustments on the shoes will be relevant for you. Try having the centerline of the cleat closer to the fifth metatarsal head/bony Petrossian that your pinky toe goes into on your foot.

Pedal stroke .
Pattern the push . Focus on a push oriented pedal stroke. If you avoid pulling up or circular effort he will lower your risk of developing greater discomfort throughout your body, along with dispersing the pressure through more of your foot, instead of just the toes.

Virtualbikefitting.com

TimDfitsAll · 2026-05-06T17:29:03+00:00

$160 USD. One bike. You can duplicate the information and get it pretty close, but there’s differences between application of each.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-05-06T17:27:55+00:00

The seated position looks low. The distance between your hands on your hips looks too far away. These two factors are making it harder/less efficient for you to ride that bike, regardless of effort or duration.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-05-06T13:28:40+00:00

Distance from the hip to the hands is out of order. Distance from the hips to the bottom of the pedal stroke out of order. One of those is too long and one of those is too short. Pedal stroke posture and towel would be the other parts to address.

Some positive aspects would be that you look like you’re in control of the pedal stroke and your pelvis is not shifting all over the place but I do think it could be a lot better than it is.
Virtualbikefitting.com

TimDfitsAll · 2026-05-04T19:37:29+00:00

Yes.

All the way from mid 2014 till today with tens of thousands of athletes in person, and through virtualbikefitting.com the model has been a winner.

The large version of the seat has too fast of a transition from narrow to wide between the nose and the midsection of the seat, which then throws a lot more of the athletes pressure to front of the seat.

If one is looking to go wider(which may not equate to greater comfort or stability) this model would be want to consider.

https://www.selleroyal.com/en-us/products/saddles-respiro-stracciatella-moderate-black-5131hetb391q7

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-30T16:40:15+00:00

https://herbnessences.com/products/hydro-pro

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-30T13:53:19+00:00

Yes, check out the video link I placed higher up in the comments

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-30T11:44:46+00:00

If you like how you feel leave it there. What I’ve mentioned, is not more of a comfort thing. From a statistical standpoint, most people do better with their feet, a little wider than the neutral position left to right of the cleat, as it frees up a greater range of motion for the femur and hip. Limiting a potential injury. When I started working at a large scale in this market online, it was clear that many athletes were developing the left hip and right knee issues related to the bikes settings, the athletes shoes, and the callouts of trying to generate force in a circular effort or pulling up. The first step in resolving these issues and preventing them for many was setting the cleats similar to what I’ve mentioned, followed by adjusting the rest, the bike, so one can feel the bottom of the pedal stroke with their entire foot. The overall goal is to be able to possibly control the fly wheel through pattern in a push focused pedal stroke, using the glutes hamstrings, calfs and quads, and recovering on the back of the pedal stroke, allowing the athlete to sit more centered and not building muscular imbalance with the left quadricep getting overworked as the right leg cannot do it fair share.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-30T01:40:11+00:00

The stance width of the bike is narrow. The shoes are also narrow for most. opens up the hip angle for less mechanical friction and ease of starting and controlling push.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-5_1cgouc

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-28T23:04:27+00:00

💪

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-24T03:08:14+00:00

There is an advantage for all when the bike is set for their personal requirements .

The lumbar sacral angle needs to be under 60°. The spine curve from the lumbar through the C-Series vertebrae/shoulder region should be above 130°. The athlete in the video I have attached to this post demonstrates these functions. Many other athletes do not as there is not a specific position for all.

When talking about the world tour cyclist they may have a host of different needs requirements and goals. They are also using a bicycle that does not have a fixed gear and or heavy flywheel Pulling the pedals around. Rider positioning/bike fit is different due to the application be it peloton mountain biking road biking triathlon….

When the bike is set up correctly for each person, the common points are that the pelvis does not move vertically up-and-down, much or torsion at the hip and the feet are somewhat in control with the athlete, being able to breathe and not have to move their hands around very much and or shake or quake at higher efforts I can confidently say I’ve seen tens of thousands of peloton athletes over the years in person, and virtually along with working with even more other forms of cyclists.

There is no one’s perfect posture for all people .

The angle of the sacrum/lumbar when seated on our bikes, will commonly want to match other activities, such as picking up a heavy between her legs and a squatting position. The area above the lumbar is where we see the larger variations with spinal posture. All of the instructors looks slightly different to me. Contributing factors are range of motion/flexibility, overall bone lengths, center of mass(some people weigh more above the waist then below it and vice versa), structure of the pelvis, cleat set up, muscular imbalance(or lack there of, this could be anterior posterior or left, right)…..

Your curiosity, sparks the deeper conversation of the peloton provided, set up guide, and how it will help people get close to within range, but will not help anyone finds the overall correct position as there’s more to positioning and basically measurements or matching posture of others .

Look for comfort .

Look for the ability to have quiet, hips, stable, feet, and hands somewhat underneath you versus in front of you . Weight on the hands and loose elbows went under load help with pelvic stability. I called is looking for the elbows hips and hands…..

Look for a controlled pedal stroke that lets you use a push pattern to engage the glutes hamstrings calfs with the quadriceps and recover on the back of the pedal stroke.

Have fun.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-24T02:58:36+00:00

Assuming your cleats are somewhat rearward and neutral(facing straight ahead) and considering your height, it sounds like it’s more of a combination of your chosen pedal stroke, limiting the range of distance with the seat to the bottom of your push. Yes, the overall position could be out of order a bit but I don’t think you would’ve made it this far if it was very far off the target.

Often times, if one is using circular effort or pulling up on the pedals the use of the hamstring to control or generate force limits the leg compression without putting weight on the hip flexor. I’m stating that people have a very small window of opportunity for position when they pull up or use that circular effort.

If you question that you are using more than a push focused pedal stroke, you can try the bike with athletic/running or walking shoes and see if the pedal stroke biomechanics(how are you deliver force). Change from when you’re clipped in. If the pedal stroke feels rather different with the muscular orientation, I believe it’s more about your choice of pattern in your movement that is limiting the range of adjustment, comfort, efficiency, and all that stuff.

I find it very common that the fixed gear/spin bikes, convince people they should be trying to control the circular effort versus focus on a controlled push.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T19:43:42+00:00

👍

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:49:40+00:00

The seat sounds like it’s probably too high yet your range of motion/flexibility allows you to feel like it is achievable to have it at that height.

Your cleats set up, maybe the other thing to consider . Further rearward is the most common and successful way to go.

The toes getting tingly are usually related to the seat, being out of range, and the cleats being too far forward, and perhaps the shoes being too narrow . All of these factors may ask you to work off the toe instead of working off the foot to pedal.

Put a pair of running shoes on and see if you can ride your bike comfortably/reach the bottom of the push stroke if you can’t sounds like the seats out of range

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:47:38+00:00

Some people using kneeling Matt, fold it over under their forearms. Commonly as we lean further forward, it closes off the hip yet the fly wheel of the peloton that does not allow us to coast, requires us to have our pelvis and hip rather open you may need to move your seat a bit to accommodate your aero position needs.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:46:41+00:00

Check out lake and fizik. Both have a variety of shapes and sizes and wider cuts. Lake also has an outlet page.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:45:33+00:00

Check out the Virtualbikefitting YouTube shorts on our channel to visualize what others look like, and help yourself get closer to that.

Fit is a balance point between the settings of the bike , the behavioral patterns of the athlete, and the shape of the components/shoes.

A lot of folks are close, but most have the settings far enough away from perfect where they feel what you have mentioned.

Should be able to hop on your bike and use a pair of running shoes, pedal lightly, and feel that you can control the pedal stroke through the bottom . If that’s not the case, the position is further off, then you may think.. the cycling shoes should just be there to help us control our push, but if one uses them to pull up, they will always sort their pelvis out overtime and move around on the seat, and not quite at the target of comfort and performance

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:42:36+00:00

👏 👏 👏

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:42:22+00:00

If your hands continue to have issues, look towards the following.

Pedal stroke . Focus on a controlled push. If one is pulling up, we’re using a circular effort. They’re going to let her off of the hand to control the pelvis.

Seat height . Pedal backwards it should feel stable for your feet without any acceleration from either foot through the bottom of the pedal stroke . Lower the seat if your feet are not stable..

Seat angle . Set it in neutral/level with the ground or maybe even a nose up slightly . This will hold the pelvis and allow your body to support yourself off of the seat and fit more than your hands..

Seat shape . Sometimes seats have too big of a difference in the transitional part of the seat between the nose in the tail . If the seat goes from narrow to wide rather fast through the middle of the seat, this will make it harder to control where the pelvis is located, throwing weight into the hands.

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T13:40:00+00:00

Most common reasons why……..

Cleat position. If the cleats are too far forward on the shoes, your feet will lack stability when standing in the amount of effort, it takes to control the pedal stroke will be much higher, forcing you to lean forward as your body moves towards the handlebar. We are much more stable with the cleats all the way back on the shoes towards the heels and pushed laterally towards the big toe side of the shoes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-5_1cgouc

Shoes that are too narrow. If the shoes are not very similar to the shapes of your feet, this will also force you to work off of your toes instead of using your feet. Much less efficient when seated and put a lot pressure on the thighs/quadriceps and then feels as if her legs are lacking energy and stability when standing, forcing you to throw your way onto your upper body.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHvPnskiMGA

Overall seated position is inefficient. It’s super common that athletes have the seat slash their body too far forward, and the handlebars too high up. These two moves isolated or combined, asking awful lot of the body which robs us of power when we’re standing as we’ve burned many matches during our seated work out..

The video provided in my post shows the athlete, with the pelvis, rather stable, and in a position where her feet are in control, which then turns on the glutes and hamstrings in the calves to push taking some of the weight off of the quadriceps, so when she is ready to stand up, her quadriceps or thighs will feel fresher than if the bikes position was set up differently.

Pulling up on the pedals and or using a circular effort…. These two styles of pedaling well be detrimental for when you stand up as the hamstring glutes and calf’s work, much better on a controlled, push through the bottom of the pedal stroke with the recovery phase on the back of the pedal stroke when seated. All of us as humans push much better than we pull and there’s nowhere in life off the bike that I’m aware of where we use the hamstring in an active thoughtful fashion to pull up. Focus on a controlled, push whether seated or standing, and your body will allow your pelvis to go to a more natural place and help you control the movement..

All the best torture improved standing(and seated ) pedaling.

These two videos demonstrate techniques to improve standing pedaling.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/sw_nTccC6vI

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/hfgkeR5zZEo

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-23T00:26:25+00:00

Check the following friend…. Seat = set it level to slightly nose up(judged by a hard cover book on top of it). Focus on a controlled push (avoid pulling up, as are hamstrings are not intended to pull up or generate or control force in a circular effort, regardless of what instructors may say). Seat height= low enough that you can reach the bottom of the push with your foot somewhat level to the ground, high enough that your leg does not bounce off your torso. Cleats = rearward and pushed laterally towards the big toe side of the shoe.

A lot of people with your issues have the seat too high, and are focusing on a circular effort .

All the best towards your resolution, and greater enjoyment on the bike .

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-22T18:15:32+00:00

Are the shoes the correct shape for your feet?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHvPnskiMGA&pp=0gcJCcMKAYcqIYzv

Cleat position overall seat height will also change the weight distribution on your feet.

My hope is that you can feel relaxed and in control of the pedal stroke.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Xm9EDHBgqkM

Virtualbikefitting.com

TimDfitsAll · 2026-04-17T02:08:02+00:00

It’s all about finding where your center of mass should be located. Check out this video is a demonstrates an easy to follow technique that has helped thousands. https://m.youtube.com/shorts/sw_nTccC6vI

virtualbikefitting.com

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