newracer110

hey guys, just got a road bike and I went to the shop to replace the platform pedals with Speedplays (shop owner's recomendation based on me saying I want something VERY easy to clip in/out of). So I have the shoes and pedals and I'm wondering how do I position the cleat? Is there an online guide or something. Right now it's in the middle I guess. It's on there and I have no idea if I'm losing power the way it is set up.

FIVE ONE SIX

have the shop owner check the cleat placement with you on the bike, on a trainer...

mpearson76

+1 to 516's comment--get help from the shop if the staff are competent bike fitters, but I am afraid that too few bike shop managers are competent at this, so you may be on your own. If so, middle is a good place to start.

First, with fore/aft adjustment, check to see if the pedal spindle is comfortably under the ball of your foot. If not, adjust, but if you are unsure, I would say to err on the side of cleat too far aft. You'll lose power that way, but the consequence of cleat too far forward can be pain, which you really don't want. Remember though, you are changing your hip angle when you adjust this, so if it is much different than your natural position on the platforms, you may need to adjust the saddle fore/aft to compensate.

Second, you have to get that lateral adjsutment right, and again I would start in the middle, but this is tricky because of the stress that a poor adjustment can do to your knees. You have to be very conscious of your knee alignment and make small adjustments until it is just right. Rule of thumb is that medial (inboard) knee pain means feet too far apart, and lateral (outboard) pain means too close together. A tight IT band can also mess up your knee alignment though, so it is good to learn some stretches to be able to keep your knees tracking straight up and down directly over the pedals. If you are new to clipless, I advise a stretch routine that will loosen up these muscles that you probably have not had an excuse to stretch before. Try putting the outboard side of your calf on a table (knee and foot on the table in front of you, as if you're crossing your legs, but standing up), and lean forward, stretching your butt and the outboard side of yor thigh, where the IT band is. If this is tight, it will pull your knees apart while pedaling, your legs won't track right, and you'll wonder why your feet and knees hurt despite adjusting your cleats into every possible position (my experience with this was no fun).

Next, you need to get that float adjusted if you have purchased the zero line of pedals (otherwise disregard this part). I would start with the float unrestricted, and then dial in the screws a little at a time on either side until you have 3-6 degrees of float (or whatever you need, depending on your particular biomechanics--some like all that float, and others like to dial it back to restrict unnecessary movement) but make sure your cleats aren't regularly rubbing up against the float limiter or you may have it too restricted. Hitting the float limit occasionally is no big deal, but don't tweak your knees by trying to restrict the float too much. I would use the restriction judiciously to prevent unnecessarily difficult cleat disengagement and excessive foot movement.

Finally, you may need to adjust the varus/valgus angle by getting a Lemond LeWedge shim or two to compensate for any forefoot varus/valgus (or leg length discrepancy--which is more common than you may think). I would be careful doing this without proper guidance, but they can make a world of difference if need them.

And my last bit of unsolicited advice--get some arch supports! It helped me more than new shoes did. I like the Specialized Body Geometry inserts--they're really supportive and inexpensive. Others like the Superfeet cycling inserts. These are good choices on a budget, and worth every penny, imho.

In_flames

I use a cd case, Tighten up the bolts just enough to move the cleat, but not enough for it to move on its own.

-Lay the shoe on its inside edge
-pull the cleat as far towards the heal as it will go
-take the cd case and lay it flat on your table or work bench and against the shoe/cleat
-tap it against the cleat untill you have it where you want, and tighten the bolts down
-All the cleats ive set, I put them as far towards the toe as they will go, Everyone likes them that way.

yeamac 

Nice overall post, but the consequence of a cleat too far back can also be pain. I know, because I had a shoe where my cleat screws came loose, and I retightened, but I did not realize the cleat had moved farther back (aft) on the sole of my shoe. Took me a while to figure it out, but moving it farther forward back to the original location finally solved my problems with pain.

mpearson76

Good point. I think I should have said all else equal with respect to body position (your hip angle, etc.), you're betteer off with your cleats *a little* too far back than a little too far forward. So cleats a little bit too far back with the corresponding compensation in saddle position should, in most people, merely rob you of power. I suspect that the pain that you experienced was due to moving your foot forward without adjusting for the fact that you effectively moved the saddle backward for one half of your body. I doubt (but I could be wrong), that you would have experienced the same pain if instead of accidently moving one cleat, you had moved both cleats back slightly and the saddle forward by the same amount.

johnny99

A cleat that is too far back can over-compress your arch, causing pain unless your insoles have a lot of arch support.

John Wilke

If I may ask ... why? If it's too easy, you may pop out at a very inconvenient time (to put it lightly).

jw

kmart

Hmm...I think the shop just sold you those pedals because they're the most expensive...SPDs are usually the cheapest type of clipless pedals and are also very easy to clip in/out of. Still, Speedplays are kickass pedals, but for other reasons (low stack height, for one).

webist

I really like my Speedplays. I hated the Shimano Ultegra or 5400 or whatever they were. Speedplays are much simpler and more comfortable.

Big R

Easy there...there are several reasons that the shop might have recommended the Speedplays.

Some Speedplays are on the expensive side, others not so much.

Speedplays are not inherently a better or worse value than any other pedal...just a matter of price/performance/preference.

...and there's a very good reason SPDs are the cheapest type of clipless pedals--especially when you're talking road bikes.

Machka 

I like my cleats quite far back ... not so much I have to drill extra holes or anything, but I've found that having the cleats back has stopped my hotfoot and eased Achilles strain.

As for angle ... don't just assume that you are supposed to have your toes pointing straight ahead. That might be right for you, but I suspect it is wrong for most people. Instead, stand like you normally do. Just stand up, relax, maybe walk a few steps and then stop in a comfortable stance. Now look at your feet. What direction are your toes pointing? Whatever direction that is, make sure they are still pointing in that direction when you set up your cleats and get on the bicycle.

Trying to straighten your feet with your cleat position, because you think that's how it should be, will only lead to knee problems. You've been walking with your toes pointed in some direction or another for however many years you've been walking ... that's normal for you now.

I learned that the hard way.

oilman_15106

Why don't you ride over to the LBS where you bought the stuff and at minimum have them judge how it looks I think the best way to do this is put the bike on a trainer and have someone take a look at it.

shawneebiker

https://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?...ers07-26#Cleat

Cyclologist

Let's say you go through all this trouble and supposedly find the perfect Q-factor (side-to-side position) for your cleats. What then when you switch from a triple to a double or switch from a double to triple?

This is something I've been wondering coming from a hardtail mountain bike commuter with a mountain triple and toe cage pedals with no adjustability to a road bike double with clipless pedals. There is a HUGE difference in Q-factor. What should I do if I have become accustomed to the mountain triple over the years since putting my cleats waaay inward so that my feet are further apart doesn't even closely approximate the distance on my mountain bike.

San Rensho 

Adjust the cleats so they are snug but still move on the shoe. Put one shoe on and clip in. Move your foot around until you are comfortable with the fore-aft and sideways adjustment.

Take you foot out of the shoe carefully so you don't disturb the adjustment. Flip the shoe over and using a pen or scribe, mark the outline of the cleat on the shoe. Take the shoe out of the pedal and realign the cleat using the outline you have marked. Repeat for other shoe.

giantcfr1

Very good and I agree but I thought pedals were designed so you can tighten the bolts of the cleats, without removing from the pedal. I don't know what a speedplay pedal looks like from underneath though.

San Rensho 

On my Look alike pedals, I can get one or two of the bolts, but not all three.