Shimano® Road Pedal & Cleat Installation

[thermalfinder]

Shimano® SPD-SL and LOOK® Road Pedal
Cleat Installation and Alignment
by - James Robert Steel


A comprehensive do-it-yourself pedal installation article.

Oh boy, new pedal time! My LOOK pedals had 10k miles
on them and were squeaking and the cleats were
popping out of the pedals at inopportune times.

- Jimbo

[A.Winthrop]

Hello JimBo,
.
Neat instruction sheet!
.
I've got mid-80s Shimano 600EX platforms with toe clips and
straps but they all have those "wings" the triangular plate
that bolts down over the clips... OR... act as the front
fixture for securing Shimano 3-bolt cleats, which have a
slot towards the rear that locks down onto the edge of the
platform body's face plate.
.
The cleats in your pics look similar but not quite the same
as my cleats. I wonder if mine were an earlier version?
.
In any case, the basics of your instruction sheet would apply
to installation of my cleats too. I haven't tried them yet
but may do so on one set of pedals to see what they're like.
.
So thanks for the instruction sheet.
.

[thermalfinder]

One would probably need to write several articles to cover the many brands and styles of pedals.

I haven't used SpeedPlay. What are they like? They seem to get good ratings.

As you noted the trick for virtually all pedal systems is comfort and alignment such that the knees and feet don't ache.

- Jim