tbonez

I was injured about six months ago and had to take six months off of the bike...I got back on tonight and realized my fitment issues haven't magically vanished in the six months I was off the bike...

- After 30 miles toes go numb..really numb
- shoulders and hands kill me. I know this is because I am rounding my shoulders and putting pressure on my hands. Im doing this because when I get aero in the appropriate position it puts pressure on the family jewels...

I realize it's going to take time in the saddle to feel "right" again but these are the same nagging problems I've been fighting for a couple of years...Any advice would be greatly appreciated from people who have faced them...

gg-madone

get a professional fit. It will be well worth every penny, period.

here's my BLIND advice:
adjust yourself before you ride, assuming you use cycle shorts/bibs.
change angle of seat: (assuming your seat height and bb fore/aft is correct)
nose up to equalize hand/nut pressure if your rotating from the hips not the back.
raise your bars if your bending over with your back.
after pedaling for a bit your feet swell up try loosen your shoes toe strap

johnny99

Numb toes usually means poor fitting or inappropriate shoes
Numb shoulders usually means poor fitness or poor core strength or poor posture
Pressure on the "family jewels" could mean your saddle is too high, or poor core strength

AndyK 

Hard to say without the usual photos or video! Could be as simple as moving your saddle down and back!?

julianfranco

Do you know where your toes are going numb specifically? I.e., the inside of your foot versus the outside?

Based on my experience, numb toes usually has more to do with cleat placement than anything else. In some instances, there are some times where a simple cleat adjustment won't work and you need a cleat plate extender of some sort, but the majority of cases are usually just a few millimeters off.

I'll do my best to help virtually if I can.

rdtompki

More information required for a proper analysis by the BF "expert" community. Pictures of you on the bike would be nice. What are you using for shoes and pedals? Do you spin or "mash" ? You can also get numb toes by not having a stiff enough sole on your cycling shoes, especially at lower cadence.

John_V 

Making adjustments to your bike yourself is a great idea if you know what to do and why you are making those adjustments. Not all of us (myself included) are lucky enough to have that skill. The only problem that I see in attempting your own fitting, when you don't know that much about it, is that while you are trying different adjustments, you are still in pain; and that makes absolutely no sense. On that note, I would definitely suggest a professional fitting. If there is a shop near you that offers the Retul system, I would strongly suggest that you look into it. If not, check out what the other shops offer and go with the one that you think is going to give you the best fit service. In any case, a fitting by someone that knows what to do will certainly help keep you from riding in pain. Just my 2¢ worth.

carpediemracing 

Fitment issues don't go away on their own.

In general if something is wrong (like your fitment) and you take a break but don't change anything, the original problem won't go away. Your fitment problems will still be there.

Numb feet can also come from soft shoe soles (like sneakers), anything that allows you to cut off circulation to the bottom of your feet.

Shoulder/hands stuff - usually caused by too much pressure on hands/shoulders (of course). Typical cause is a saddle too high and tilted down to protect the jewels (threatened in the first place by the too-high saddle height). Proper saddle height (and a more level saddle) will solve this almost instantly.

This is a picture I found doing a quick Google search: