Cleat position
 

I have look pedals and specialized pro road shoes. What position should your cleats put your feet in? Should they be parallel with the pedal or should the toe point slightly outward. I'm 63, ride a carbon fiber recreationally about 30 miles each day. Thanks

They should follow the natural position of your foot. Everyone is different.

I usually set my cleats so that:

1. the ball of my foot is directly over the pedal spindle; however, it is often recommended for "spinners" to have the cleat slight forward (ball of foot behind spindle), or for "mashers" to have the cleat set slightly back (ball of foot ahead of spindle).

2. an imaginary line drawn from a) the inside edge of the front part of the shoe closest to the crank to b) the heel section of the shoe closest to the crank is parallel to the crank. Sorry, this is the clearest that I can describe this. The shoe is somewhat like an asymmetrical hourglass, so I'm putting the widest parts equidistant to the crank relative to each other. So basically, the inside edge of the shoe is parallel to the cranks. This results in the feet splaying out slightly. But usually the amount of "free float" will take care of any resulting alignment problems. You can also set the cleats so that both feet point directly forward, if you feel more comfortable that way. Some people even set the toes inward slightly. As above, everybody's different.

3. The distance of this imaginary line to the crank (how far your shoe is from the crank) depends on the centering of the cleat. I usually try to just center the cleat in the slots (for SPD) and accept the resulting distance of the shoe from the crank. However, you can play with this adjustment, as it affects your "Q-factor" as well as how much pedal support you get to the outside.

Sorry, this is just something you have to work out for yourself. Again, everybody's different. Consider the "neutral positions" above to be your starting points.

Luis

[QUOTE=Bluestraveler;16662780 What position should your cleats put your feet in? [/QUOTE]

It depends, find an experienced local fitter if you are not satisfied w/ your cleat placement and have your position evaluated.
I'm "about" your age and will be changing to new shoes/cleats this Spring w/ a full note book of data for >40 years and still dread the process.

-Bandera

Watching this short video may be useful: How To Set Up Cleats For Clipless Pedals - YouTube

https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...leat-position/

I moved all my cleats back after reading this.

I moved all my cleats back - and became more cautious about tire overlap.

And produced more power while allieving knee pain.

Blues--are both your feet and legs the same length? I'd start with the cleat in a position closest to the arch and see how that feels. If you get some knee pain you might need to adjust the cleat on the leg where the knee is hurting. Like others have said, keep you foot motion "normal". I've seen folks toes point just about every direction.

I was told it's a better placement, esp for us who respect saddle time as much as 'revolutions spun'.
The fast twitch, sprinter & crit boys, and even tri guys might not prefer such a rearward position. Type of saddle, chainstay and crank lengths and other things affect optimal cleat position. I'm sensitive to Q-factor and prefer doubles over triples. Lots of things can also go into knee pain, but glad you solved with cleat position.

Old style Look pedal = nice wide platform.

This ^.
When you make adjustments, make them small. Like 1 degree or mm at a time. You don't want to make big adjustments because it's easy to over compensate for an issue.