Bicycle Mechanics - How to put the cleats on my shoes?

Cause there's no directions in the stupid bag. I thought I'd put them on today and try them out... I'm not mechanically inclined, sorry....


Koff

Whoops- they're shimano spd's.

Remove the cleat cover in the shoe. If it is the glued on kind use a screwdriver to lever it off. CAREFUL: Do not shove the screwdriver thru your hand.
The pointy part goes to the front
I like to grease the screws so after I sweat on them for two years I can get them out. Some prefer to use loctite.
Line them up so your foot will be in a natural postion when clicked in.
Side to side, make sure your ankle and heel clear the crank
Front to back, try to adjust them in a position that feels natural, where your foot would be if you just put it on the pedal.
If it is hard to click out you can lower tension with the little screws on the front/back of the pedal. If it is hard to turn your heel out enough to click out then rotate the rear of the cleat out slightly.
Lean against something and practice getting in and out a bunch, then ride around on something soft, away from witnesses, and practice a bit.
Don't be scared, but be ready to fall down a time or two, if you know you are about to stop go ahead and click out but leave your foot resting on the pedal so you can pop back in if needed.

What I normally do is this:

-sit on something that is high enough that you can dangle your legs without touching the ground. Hang your leg and completely relax it, and look at how your foot is hanging (my feet tend to hang with my toes pointed out just a tad). File this info in your head for a bit.

-You'll usually have to pop a piece of rubber off the bottom of the shoes if they are moutain shoes to reveal the holes for the cleats. Just grab the tread of the shoe with a pair of pliers and pull, it will eventually come off. Once you can see the holes, pull the liner out of the shoe, stick the backing plate to the cleat in, and losely attach the cleat with the screws. Tighten them down tight enough that you can still move the cleat with some force.

-Now is the tricky part. You basically want the axle of the pedal to line up with the ball of your foot, so you need to do trial and error for a bit to get the cleat positioned correctly. Remember to add a bit of cant if you need to from observing your feet in step one, ie: when you are clipped in, you want to be able to look down and see the same position on your pedals that you did when you were hanging your feet. You will have less strain on your knees and ankles if you go with your body's natural position.

-Keep the tension (little hex screw on the back of the pedal, usually labelled with a +/- ), really loose until you get the hang of clipping in and out. Remeber, HEEL OUT TO UNCLIP. You'll get used to the clipping out motion after some practice, but expect a few falls until you have the hang of it.

Thanks for the info. However, I was trying to put the cleats ON the bottom of the shoes. It's all moot anyway, because my friend called, and on Monday, she's going to put them on for me. After that, it'll be a matter of getting used to clipping in and out quickly...

Whew, glad that one's out of the way!


Koffee

one other thing. Don't attach the pedals to the cleat while the pedals aren't on your bike and you don't have the shoe on. It's freakin' impossible to get them off. I had to use a screwdriver on mine...I'm lucky I didn't screw up the pedal, only minor scratches.

Got it, Phatman.

Thanks!

KB