Neck and Toes on longer rides?
Discussion
Extending distance & time on the road bike 2.5-3hrs ago now, I'm encountering two issues other than my backside which aligned to rule 5 is getting better.
My neck is getting quite sore of supporting my head in an upright position and my toes are going numb after a couple of hours. I'm moving around and changing hand positions and pedaling techniques throughout the ride to make sure I don't build up pressure points but still getting issues in these two areas, anyone got any tips.
Shoes are as old as the bike (6 years) Basic Specialized BG ones and maybe the padding from the insole is a bit thin/compressed, certainly feels like I can just about feel the studs from the Look cleats on the balls of my feet after a couple of hours as they start to go numb. Width wise they are good. I'm an 11 with wide feet, anyone got any suggestions? The DhB RC carbons look a good deal for £80ish anyone got any suggestions generous width shoes.
Neck wise? Just time & rule 5 or are there any exercises I can do to help?
My neck is getting quite sore of supporting my head in an upright position and my toes are going numb after a couple of hours. I'm moving around and changing hand positions and pedaling techniques throughout the ride to make sure I don't build up pressure points but still getting issues in these two areas, anyone got any tips.
Shoes are as old as the bike (6 years) Basic Specialized BG ones and maybe the padding from the insole is a bit thin/compressed, certainly feels like I can just about feel the studs from the Look cleats on the balls of my feet after a couple of hours as they start to go numb. Width wise they are good. I'm an 11 with wide feet, anyone got any suggestions? The DhB RC carbons look a good deal for £80ish anyone got any suggestions generous width shoes.
Neck wise? Just time & rule 5 or are there any exercises I can do to help?
Neck solution = more time in the saddle, I think. Your body just needs to get stronger... rule 5... blah, blah...
On the toes - I get this too if I am not careful. My solution has been to take the very last velcro strap (over the toes) and make it incredibly loose - literally no pressure on the foot at all.
It didn't seem to impede my ability to pedal but stopped the numb toes, as long as the MAIN strap (over the instep) was tight-ish.
On the toes - I get this too if I am not careful. My solution has been to take the very last velcro strap (over the toes) and make it incredibly loose - literally no pressure on the foot at all.
It didn't seem to impede my ability to pedal but stopped the numb toes, as long as the MAIN strap (over the instep) was tight-ish.
Neck yep hopefully better with time, feet though, I already have no pressure on the lower strap, reasonable on the middle and tight-ish on the upper, any less on the upper one and I think my foot would come out of the shoe on the up-stroke.
Trying to analyse what's happening, because the straps are loose lower down on my foot, I think my foot pivots on the up stroke, so I could actually be placing higher pressure on my balls/toes to grip the shoes against the upper strap, rather than applying upwards pressure with the whole foot against the upper.
Trying to analyse what's happening, because the straps are loose lower down on my foot, I think my foot pivots on the up stroke, so I could actually be placing higher pressure on my balls/toes to grip the shoes against the upper strap, rather than applying upwards pressure with the whole foot against the upper.
pablo said:
at a guess your seat is too high, dropping it a few mm at a time will sort out the neck complaint especially if you spend significant time on the drops.
Ha! time on the drops, I have too much of a gut atm! 
I'll look at the saddle, the stem is flipped up so I think it might be just a grin and bear it for a while, if it gets no better in a month I'll get refitted (it was 6 years ago).Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff