Bluestraveler

I ride an 09 Madone 4.7 which I bought used last year. I put my old Shimano SPD PD-A530 pedals and used SPD 2bolt cleats and introduced myself to riding clipless last summer. I'm upgrading to Giro Factor shoes and Shimano Ultegra 6700 carbon pedals and SPD-SL cleats. I am wondering if I should use the SM SH 12 cleats (blue) with 2* float or the SH 10 (yellow) with 6* float. I'm new to the SL type cleat and am 64 but don't have serious issues with my knees. I don't want to create any knee issues either. Please advise and thank you for your help!

clones2

I advise the yellow. I use them with my ultegra 6700 carbon pedals as well. Those cleats and those pedals are a nice tight fit.

darb85

never never never use the blue floats. ever.

hueyhoolihan

you are SOL. i'm loving my new zero float cleats.

ftimw

I was clueless about spd-sl cleats too. Used yellow for a short time. New shoes, new cleats. I got the blue. Have at least 500 or more miles on them. Why not blue?

bt

red for me

bt

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ano-cleat.html

LansingWes

I just ordered a set of blues. For me, yellow was too much float but I didn't want to go to the opposite extreme with zero float (red). I'm hoping the blue cleat will be a happy medium. But like any contact point, there's no one "right" cleat. Find what's comfy for you and use it.

lolguy

I recently switched from the yellow to the blue and while it takes some getting used to, I'm okay with them. A bit less float but not totally restrictive.

Looigi

Consider that flat pedals (and walking, running) have infinite float. I use various clipless systems with various amounts of float. On those with a lot of float, my feet seem to know which way to point on their own. With little float, I need to take care to align the cleats so as not to restrict my foot to an unnatural angle.

darb85

due to the fact that most people, a vast majority dont have perfectly aligned tibia to their femur. That cause the knee to need some rotation, 2 degrees of float is not enough, it maybe for shorter rides, but you may find on longer rides that it causes issues

fstshrk

1) SPD-SL cleats are extremely sensitive to the curvature of the shoe sole. If you have one foot that floats freely and the other one does not. Look at using a shim to make sure the cleat is flat where it engages to the pedal.
2) Switching from SPD, use the yellow cleats for sure.
3) If you have not bought the pedals already, I would skip the SPD-SL and use the Keo 2 Max from look. I have tried both pedals (and I mean I used both interchangeably for 1.5 years) and the Look Keo 2 Max is a better pedal with a better cleat and the pedals last forever.

fstshrk

That's probably because Shimano SPD-SL does not have true free float like Speedplay or Look.

zvez

I went from the yellow to blue cleats after getting a precision bike fit. At least 1k miles on the blue cleats and haven't had any issue.

ftimw

I must admit that when I did my first century I did experience hot spots, I chalked it up to new shoes not broken in. But I don't remember any knee trouble. I may give the yellows a try again on a longer ride to see if it's better.