Profoxcg

Well I took the plunge and finally bought some road shoes and some Look Keo clasics.
I installed the pedals, was very easy. I applied a little synthetic grease to the threads and screwed the pedals in. Easy install. Not alot of torque as per some threads. (if you guys want to add something let me know)

Any how, my shoes MAVIC
https://www.mavic.com/road/products/avenir.301234.9.aspx

have some sort of grid. I placed the cleats as per the instruction (keo manual) and tightened the screws over the washers and such.

What are the lines on the shoes for? How do they work in relation to the centermark on the cleat?
How do you determine the lateral placement and fore and aft placement of the keo cleat on the shoe?

This is what I have done:
I place the cleat in such a way that when I press on the pedal the ball of my foot seems to be transfering the force towards the cleat and onto the axis on the pedal. However this is what my cleats look like isntalled on my shoes: Is this correct or should both lines be the same?








In addition, does mavic sell replacement ratchet pieces just in care I need to replace them in the future?

thenomad

You look good. Cleats will be placed differently for each person and for each leg.
You want to hop on your bike and let your foot hang down naturally and see if your toes point out or inward (duck-footed or pigeon-toed). Each cleat should be positioned for a neutral foot position when pedaling.

The cleat should be positioned to that the pedal spindle is roughly in line with the ball of the foot, some prefer the spindle to be slightly behind the ball of the foot for long term comfort.

I use the inside line on the cleat to make sure my right and left foot are roughly the same spot. Then, you need to position the cleat so that your foot is in a neutral position. You'll feel the cleat float a few degrees left and right when attached. You want to have some movement in both directions. For me, the centerline of the cleat does not follow the centerline of the shoe.

From the position in the pics it looks like you are pigeon-toed. My cleat angles out the other way. Rear of cleat aims toward the outside of my heel.

Profoxcg

hi yes, i wanted my shoes to point inwards a bit..
Well acording to what your just told me I am good to go.

BTW, yes I noticed that there is some "twist" like movement on the cleats when on the pedals. I am glad that is normal. I was reading the manual and aparently different color look cleats offer a greater of less range or motion in that axis.

Metzinger

Most riders prefer cleats that allow some float.
I also ride with Keos and needed to step up to the red cleats to allow my knees more freedom of movement.

well biked

The lines on the shoe are just reference points, I don't even pay attention to them. Just position the cleats so that you're comfortable when pedaling. In my case, I always have to allow the front of my right foot to point outward more than my left foot, so I install the cleats at a different angle on the right and left shoe. Again, whatever's comfortable.

I have those same shoes and cleats, btw, I think you will really like them.

Profoxcg

thanks, ^ yes so far i like them. Although I only rode for a short time last night. Im going to get lunch to day so I will put them through more testing.

FIVE ONE SIX

black = no float
grey = 4.5 degrees of float
red = 9 degrees of float

basically, most people use the grey ones. people that use the grey ones and want a little more float because of their knees will switch to the red ones. me personally, i use the black ones, because i prefer no pedal float...

i will say one thing though, be careful when you put your feet down, because those cleats are pretty slippery on the road. they have a newer version, with a grip on the top and bottom, that prevents the shoe from sliding out from under you if you have to stop fast and put your foot down at an angle. look into them...

https://www.rei.com/product/769821?cm...:referralID=NA

also, make sure that you thread and tighten the phillips head screw under the rubber cover in the middle of the cleat, if your shoe has a 4th hole in the center. that way, you just loosen and remove the outside 3 bolts and the cleat comes off, but the center plastic part stays bolted to the shoe so you don't have to go through the process of aligning the new cleats again. i think all of the newer shoes in the last year or two have that 4th hole in the middle, i know my sidi's from 2 years ago have it...

Profoxcg

I want to try the black ones also.

johnknappcc

I love the no-float's, personally, but I don't have any knee issues. I had the red ones for a single ride (it was an experiment) but it felt like the shoes were basically "floating" on the pedal, and I didn't like it.

Cleats are cheap, if you don't like them, you can resell them on ebay (that is what I did with the red ones). I was only out about 6 dollars.

mikesjo

Good to know those lines are just for reference. On my left foot I have the cleat at 1 on one side and 0 on the other. The right foot they're both at 1.

How much force do you guys tighten these down at? I put a lot of force on both of them and the left foot keeps moving from 0 to 1 when I clip out. On my first 20km ride with them this felt fine so I'm leaving it like that.

I guess the other question I should ask is how easy is it for you to unclip? I'm using the keo sprints and they seem a bit tight to get out of even though I've loosened the left foot a few turns. These are my first set of clipless pedals so I have nothing to compare them to. I'm also using the same shoes as the OP.

Soil_Sampler