Road Cycling - Clipless n00b

Today was my first ride on my Look A3.1 pedals and Diadora Athlete ALU shoes; other than practicing on my trainer.

Didn't fall, but came close on the loop in the parking lot before starting. Otherwise clipping in & out became second nature. I have the tension on the pedals set to the max.

Within 15 minutes I had hotspots. By the end of my 16 mile 80 minute ride, the balls and toes of my feet were going numb. My feet were going numb from the hard shoe soles. My toes felt as if they were rubbing the front of the shoe too much.

When I got back to my car, another cyclist I had chatted up with recommended moving the Look cleat lower down the foot; I had screwed it on to the setting closest to my toes. I now have reversed it it's lowest setting.

Would you say I'll see improvement from the adjustment? getting used to it? or are the shoes trouble at this point?

I was very uncomfortable, sneakers and toe clips would have been better. However, I did enjoy the feeling and efficiency of being clipless.

Ps - I also flipped my step, which now shows zero rise. I'm curious to see how this adjustment will feel.

Only way to tell how it feels on you is to go out and ride. I too recently got a pair of A3.1 look's and specialized shoes.

Interesting, I got my first pair of clipless yesterday - Look A3.1 also. I have to say, after reading all the concerns here - like you, it seemed not to be much trouble at all. Maybe because it's sorta like ski boots. No doubt I'll forget to clip out sometime soon, though. They say you only do that once, then you remember ...

I actually had my cleats fit at the LBS. I asked what they were doing, and it included:
- lining up where the cleat is screwed on relative to the ball of your foot - on the theory that's where the power transfer comes through best. easy enough to check with help from someone, both by feeling for the big joint on the side and by looking at it when you're clipped in. the goal is to make sure the ball of the foot is above the axle.
- trying to measure, when you pedal, where the centerline of your foot is relative to the centerline of the bike - some people might have their heels in or out a bit. such a small adjustment that it might be hard to get right without the little gizmo they've made up to check for that.

And presumably setting them fairly loose to release for newbies, if the system supports that adjustment.

Of course, that's for starters and subject to how it works in practice. You might Google on fitting bicycle cleats and see if any other info pops up.

I got the moderately priced Specialized Carbon shoes (list ~150 or so), they seemed comfortable enough.

The toes rubbing part might be a sign that the shoes are too short, unfortunately.

Or maybe it's the way they're tightened up. To a small degree, you can keep the toes from hitting the end by keeping the lowest adjustment a bit tighter.

But overall I'd say (from my experience with athletic shoes) you want to velcro them up to a firm but not tight fit - just enough to keep your feet from moving around inside the shoes on the full range of the stroke.