Switch from yellow Shimano cleats to blues?
 

Anyone here who switched from yellow Shimano cleats to blues? James the bike fitter from Francis Cade's YouTube channel says there isn't much difference between the two. My current pair of yellows will need to be replaced soon and the LBS only has the blues in stock, though I could order the yellows online. I was wondering if I should give the blues a shot or stick to what works, what do you think?

Never know unless you try. It's all about how much float you want or might need isn't it?

I'm SPD, so you probably should ignore me.

Feeling too much float? I find some limited heel angle adjustment to be a good thing. Interestingly, I just put some Garmin Rally pedals that fit Shimano on one bike and got a bit more float than I expected; pedals just aren't as tight around the (yellow) cleats as the 105 pedals. That incremental float bothered me for about 15 seconds and I didn't notice it the rest of the ride. What I like about having some float is that it seems to ensure happy alignment for my knees. Maybe not, but seems that way.

Give them try as you my like them. Yellows have 6 degrees of float, blues have 2 degrees of float and reds have no float. One thing I will note is that blues and reds will need to be more accurately setup than the yellows need to be.

Yes, 3 or 4 years ago. I'd take no further advice from James from this point forward. He is right, there isn't much difference, in terms of the actual float difference, but the difference in feel is noticeable and huge. If you have your cleats set up properly, (l/r angle of the heel) and you aren't wildly floating l and r through the pedal stroke, the blue cleats will feel much more connected...in my experience. The red cleats (no float) are pretty extreme, and even many pros don't use them, as some float is more comfortable than none. But, definitely in this case, if a little is good, more is not necessarily better.

I went from yellow to blue to red.

there is a MASSIVE difference between yellow and blue. But if your pedal tension is too low, it'll feel the same because you'll be partially disengaging the pedal without realizing it. Tighten those pedals up.

blue to red is on another level. You have to get it within probably 0.3mm of your *perfect* position for it to feel right. Probably within 1mm for you to be able to ride with relatively little pain. That being said, this is actually a good thing.

The reason I did this to myself was because I was always in immense pain when riding on yellows. I realized that I was relying heavily on the float of yellows because my cleat alignment was so awful. Turns out I needed a slightly wider Q factor too. I only realized this because the red cleats forced me to reckon with my poor alignment.

IMO, if you "need" float while in the saddle, your cleats are set up wrong. Period. I've spent months tweaking my red cleats and I can say that many of my mysterious aches and pains have disappeared. Saddle discomfort, lower back pain, foot pain, knee pain, IT band pain and even hand numbness somehow. I used to have my cleats absolutely slammed back but now I can push them farther forward and get more ankling for a smoother stroke. I can get as low as I want (without my legs hitting my belly) for as long as I want. My sustained power is through the roof. I used to struggle to average 130W for a couple hours. The other day I did 190W for 3+ hours. With no training. Just riding a couple times a week. I'm probably less fit than I've been in years but I find myself setting power PRs left and right (for seated efforts at least. I know my fitness has degraded because I've gotten quite sluggish out of the saddle).

If you ever feel like something besides your fitness is holding you back, and you can't *quite* use all of your off-bike strength on the bike, IMO it's worth experimenting with blue cleats. Red cleats might be a touch too far for most people. Also, buy some cleat wedges to experiment with. The goal is to eliminate *all* lateral knee movement under high torque. And your foot should be evenly loaded. You shouldn't have to roll your foot.

Oh and before anyone says this. Yes. I got a professional fit. 3, in fact. Spent hundreds of dollars. No fitter is going to be able to adjust your cleat position to within 0.5mm for you. That's something that takes weeks, if not months.