During my last long bike ride I found my toes going oddly numb after pedaling for a while, and I swore that I could feel small, half-pea sized lumps just under the ball of my foot. I rarely have such numbness, so I thought something had changed, like maybe the sole of the shoe was starting to fail or the mounting posts in the cleat plate had broken free and were pressing upward.
This evening I found the cause: the screws used to attach my cleats were forming bumps in the midsole of the shoe, and they could be felt through the insole. Apparently when pedaling hard for a while these would become noticeable and — I suspect — cut off a bit of circulation and cause my toes to tingle. I’m not sure why this hadn’t been a problem before, as I’ve had these same length screws in there for quite some time. Maybe my feet were getting sweatier on some of these longer or wetter rides, softening the midsole, and allowing it to deform more.
It’s been around two years since I picked up these shoes, and I really like how they fit. Had they been failing I was ready to buy another pair, but for now it looks like they’ll keep going. I was definitely in need of new cleats and Shoe Shields, as I was starting to wear out the cleats and through the protective metal plates into the sole of the shoe (photo). It was a little easier than expected to remove the old cleats and pres down the lumps using the rounded end of a Sharpie, so new cleats and Shoe Shields with shorter screws were quickly fitted and the issue seems resolved. Hopefully with the shinier and unworn bits (photo) this problem will not reoccur.
