[Weav]

After about 7 miles my feet start to tingle and then by 25 miles they are numb. I think my saddle height is correct. Could it be the shoes are too tight, the cleat placement maybe? My fitter says I need a longer stem to open me up and stretch me out a bit, could that be the fix? I don't know, any experts out there that would know?

[Michigander]

As far as I know, the only thing that can cause that is blood flow restriction. So it seems to me, a number of things could cause this. Tight shoes, tight socks, tight shorts, maybe a seat that cuts blood flow off because it's too high up, or maybe the contour doesn't agree with your artery's.

If the cleats were positioned wrong, I'd be skeptical of the shoes themselves, because I'd think that would imply that they're bending in, and obviously lock in bike shoes should be stiff for that very reason.

Can't figure how stem adjustment would matter, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

[funetical]

I'd say all the above could cause it. I had a similar problem but I changed to a wider saddle on my commuter bike and it stopped.

[Weav]

blood flow restriction sounds like the logical problem. I do wear tight socks and my shoes have three straps over the top and I usually pull them fairly tight. My Look cleats can be adjusted moving the cleat forward/rearward and angling them certain ways which would put pressure on different parts of the foot on my downstroke pedaling.

I'm thinking I should try out a few new saddles. I have tried the Selle Anatomica that a friend has and it is very comfortable, hearing good things about the Cobb V-Flow saddles as well.

A longer stem would put me in a more stretched out position and thus change the way my weight is distributed on my bike.

[funetical]

I found small seats are painful.

[GTi_roadkill]

I always buy shoes a half size larger than other shoes. Your feet will swell slightly when riding from the increased bloodflow to the feet. If you're wearing shoes too small, your feet numbness could be the result. Do any of your toenails get discolored and fall off? That's another sign of shoes being too small.

[Weav]

No, they don't. Just get numb.

[chh55]

Both feet at the same time? that's odd, but it gives you a nice control system to use to conduct experiments! Try tightening one shoe as normal, on the other foot try less pressure, a different sock etc. See what works on the test foot!

[eaton]

My feet have gone numb when I've replaced cleats and didn't get their alignment right.

[tankboy]

If your pants are too tight they could be restricting the bloodflow in your legs also leading your extremities to go numb but its probably your shoes are too tight