Talk to me about float and clipless systems
 

Hi. I tried a Shimano SPD system last year. Within weeks, my knee pain was severe. I adjusted cleats till I was blue in the face. Gave up and put MKS touring pedals and half clips on my road bike. Pain free every since.

I'd like to try clipless again. Our group rides are faster and faster, and while I'm hanging, I'd like to think I'd be more efficient if I were properly shod.

I'm coming to think that the reason I had pain is that I had so little wiggle room. I shift my feet on the flat pedal constantly. I also know that SPD's I had only had 4 degrees of float.

I know that eggbeaters have 6 degrees.
I've seen some shimano road pedals that look like the 'look' pedals that have 11 degrees of float.
I've seen the speedplays with 25 degrees of float (I wish these things didn't cost 125 dollars).

I've also found a pedal called bebop that has alot of float.

The road pedals would be the cheapest for me, and that is a concern. Would that 11 degree of float be sufficient? Can someone link me to a good budget set? Or should I save for the speedplays.

Some people like float, and others insist on zero float. You shouldn't need much if the cleats are positioned and aligned properly. Personally I prefer some float and have used SPDs on mountain bikes and my road bikes for years. They way I have mine set up, my feet natural fall in the middle of the float, meaning that the cleat isn't determining the toe in or toe out of my foot. If I align a straightedge longitudinally with the center of the cleat, it passes through the toe of the shoe and about 1" to the outside from the center of the heel of the shoe, which means my toes are pointing out a bit. That's what works for me. What works for you will be different.

Get speedplay. I have used the X5 which has a lot of float but I'm using Zero now. It has less float. So far no knee pain and I'm pretty happy with the Zero. I have never used any other system.

I believe you can get adjustable speed plays. Probably the best bet but like looigi said, if adjusted right you shouldn't need a ton. I went from spd-sl shimano with float to no float cleats and love it. To each his own.

Float is defined as the amount of movement you have to either heel-in or heel-out. Speedplay systems allow for a large degree for heel-in and heel-out, Look/Time/Shimano allows for a maximum of 9 degrees. It's also not true that once you are adjusted you do not need float, because your leg move relative to your pedal throughout its pedal stroke, float is continuously needed. That said, it's impossible for a rider to adjust his own pedals with any degree of accuracy, bike fit session ought to do that for you.

Here is a good review of the Bebop pedals. I really like mine and would recomend them to someone who has had previous issues with knee pain.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...one)?highlight=

Feet sliding and twisting around on the pedal is often a fit issue. A person that is properly fit will usually not need a lot of float with their pedals. With that said, having float makes it easier to find your natural foot position while pedaling. As an example, my feet twist all around on my Speedplay pedals without varus wedging (most people have this to some degree). With the wedges, my feet are quite still on the pedal.

This site has a list of causes and resolutions for knee pain based on where the pain is located. http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm You can try making some of those adjustments and see if it goes away. It may be more complicated if you have multiple issues attributing to your knee pain. To make matters worse, it may be different for each side of your body. It isn't uncommon for people to have different size legs, feet, foot shape, etc that all can contribute to your position on the bike and your pain. You may want to consider getting fit by a professional if you continue to struggle. Otherwise, here are some good links for you to learn more about fitting yourself. There is a wealth of information on his blog that can help you if you want to go it alone.

You can go here to learn how to set the proper placement of the cleat on your shoe http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...leat-position/

You can go here to learn about foot correction starting with proper arch support, then wedging, and finally shimming.
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...-arch-support/
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...art-2-wedging/
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...rt-3-shimming/

Here is one on seat height http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...ard-can-it-be/

From a fitting perspective, I think Speedplay pedals are the best because of the float and adjustment. They have independent fore-aft and lateral adjustment which I think makes it easier to get the correct position, and the huge amount of non-centering float makes the cleat angle less critical which also makes it easier to get the correct cleat position.

i would suggest you pay your LBS to fit you on your bike. The money you pay would be well worth the cost.

My Time IClic pedals have been great with the hacked up knees. 7000+ miles and no knee pain.