saluki3

I am relatively new to clipless pedals and have a question about adjusting SPD's. I have one set of PD-A530's I bought as I was not sure about going without a platform at all. Now that I am hooked, I bought a set of PD-M520's for my hybrid. The release tension on the A530's was perfect out of the box. The M520's seem to have a good release tension, but allow a lot more lateral movement of my shoe - one more than the other even though the cleats seem to be staying attached well enough. It seems to be the same regardless of which side of the pedal I am on.

Before I mess around too much with the adjustment I was hoping someone could advise on whether the release tension will change the lateral shoe movement or not, or is there another adjustment I can/should make.

DTSCDS

The amount of side-to-side movement is called "float" and is designed to give your knees some movement/relief. Different pedals are designed with different amounts of float and is not adjustable (there may be pedals where it is adjustable, but I don't know of any). Some pedals do offer 2 versions of cleats with different amounts of float built in. I believe the pedals you have will accept 2 different cleats--1 with 5 or 6 degrees of float and another version with no float. The amount of float will be the same on both sides of the pedal.
The amount of force it takes to release the cleat IS adjustable. For new users it is probably best to make them as easy to release as possible and then work your way up from there as you get more familiar/comfortable with them.

HillRider

Shimano MTB-type SPD pedals all offer 8 degrees of float and are not adjustable for the amount. They also have two cleat types available, one only releases to the inside or outside (SH51) and the other releases is more planes (SH55). Get the SH51. As noted, the amount of effort to release is adjustable with the tension bolts on the pedals. Be sure to adjust both sides the same.

saluki3

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate the info and advice provided by folks in this forum! It is especially useful to those of us who are getting back into biking and finding the technology has advanced a bit in the last 30+ years.

Andrew R Stewart 

Shoe sole interference can affect clipping in and float. Andy

asmac

Unless you're a high performance rider who's concerned with possibly unclipping during a powerful upstroke I'd get the multi-release SH55 and adjust it with fairly low tension. It's more suitable for commuters and such. If I was a competitive mountain biker I'd want the 51s and tighten them up.