cleat shoe adjustment

which color cleat do you have? red grey or black? Black is fixed, grey allows 4(?) degrees of rotation, and the reds 10. If you feel like your issue is a toe in/out issue, you may want to switch cleat types. Otherwise, it's just a matter of finding what feels right to you.

i have the grey cleat, if i tighten the release presure will that take up any play in the pedal? also now i think of it, it does kinda feel like my toe is turned in a little, how should i adjust the pedal to correct that? thanks again

ncbiker82 said:

i have the grey cleat, if i tighten the release presure will that take up any play in the pedal? also now i think of it, it does kinda feel like my toe is turned in a little, how should i adjust the pedal to correct that? thanks again

- since its your 1st clipless system , adjust the cleat-retention loosely. Makes it much easier to un-clip.

- as for the cleat-on-shoe positioning , its a fair bit of trial and error to get your 'best' position. For me , the ball of the foot is very-slightly ahead of the pedal spindle , if not , I will get calf-pain.

- if you're experiencing knee-pain , its probably the side-to-side/diagonal positioning which you've got to get right. Start by looking at how your foot splays naturally , and try to duplicate that.

cheers.

.

If by saying "tighten up the play" you mean reduce the ability to freely turn your heel in or out within a range of movement without unclipping, the answer is no.

And that is a Good Thing - the 4-10 degrees of rotational play is vital to the health of your knee.

I suspect a seat height problem, but we need more detail. If you could share a little more about where your knee feels sore (eg, behind the kneecap, at the back of the joint, the sides either side of hte kneecap, or elsewhere) it would help.

Some useful information here, and help with some self diagnosis on cycling related knee pain.

cptips.comknee.htmOpen ↗

also google for knee pain and cycling

Mike

the knee pain is coming from the knee cap towards the inside of the leg, i looked at my seat and it looks to be moved to the majority foward, so would moving it back some help? im not sure why now sinice i have been riding its bothering me when i had the cage style pedals it didn't have it or notice it, but i really like riding w/ the clipless so im no where near thinking of going back.

ncbiker82 said:

the knee pain is coming from the knee cap towards the inside of the leg, i looked at my seat and it looks to be moved to the majority foward, so would moving it back some help? im not sure why now sinice i have been riding its bothering me when i had the cage style pedals it didn't have it or notice it, but i really like riding w/ the clipless so im no where near thinking of going back.

If the seat wasn't changed since the pedal change, and the pain only occurred with the new pedals, then I would leave the seat alone, especially if it's comfortable and not making things numb.

Try backing out the cleat screws a little, so that when you are clipped in and riding, they can shift a little bit, but not so much that they slide around while pedaling. This will slip the cleat into your natural position. After the short ride, tighten the screws down all the way. This worked for me.

ncbiker82 said:

the knee pain is coming from the knee cap towards the inside of the leg, i looked at my seat and it looks to be moved to the majority foward, so would moving it back some help? im not sure why now sinice i have been riding its bothering me when i had the cage style pedals it didn't have it or notice it, but i really like riding w/ the clipless so im no where near thinking of going back.

Interesting discussion on cleat position here.

Dave

j.r.hawkins said:

If by saying "tighten up the play" you mean reduce the ability to freely turn your heel in or out within a range of movement without unclipping, the answer is no.

And that is a Good Thing - the 4-10 degrees of rotational play is vital to the health of your knee.

I suspect a seat height problem, but we need more detail. If you could share a little more about where your knee feels sore (eg, behind the kneecap, at the back of the joint, the sides either side of hte kneecap, or elsewhere) it would help.

I'd just like to ask, what is the accepted practice in adjusting the spring retaining mechanism? I bought a bike with some old Look pedals, so I bought my first pair of new shoes (for years!) and fitted red cleats. I fitted them where I thought would be OK (I've always used shoe plates, toe clips and straps). I seemed to have to twist my foot a fair way to release it so I slackened off the rear spring. This made it easier to detach but still required a fair bit of movement, and also allowed my fot to slide about a little too much. I've since tightened them slightly and I've had no problem with riding. They are far more comfortable than with toe clips strapped up. But I still have to twist my foot ,more than I imagined , to release it. What is the difference in the different coloured cleats? The shop I went to only stocked the red ones and I assumed they were all like this - apparently not? I await words of wisdom - even sarcastic ones......
Albert

well last night i adjusted the cleats a little and still same affect as i was on the trainer in less then 10min my knee was starting to feel the slight pain, so i looked at how my seat was when i sit on in a refelection and it just looked like i was sitting to far forward so i move it back slightly, and wow does it feel better! i road 18mi today and no pain at all the only pain i picked up is my elbow was killing me lol. so thanks for all the adivice and links

the red ones which you have are 9 degrees of float and grey is 4.5 and the black has 0 float. float meaning your foot moves left to right.
What is the difference in the different coloured cleats? Albert[/QUOTE]

ncbiker82 said:

well last night i adjusted the cleats a little and still same affect as i was on the trainer in less then 10min my knee was starting to feel the slight pain, so i looked at how my seat was when i sit on in a refelection and it just looked like i was sitting to far forward so i move it back slightly, and wow does it feel better! i road 18mi today and no pain at all the only pain i picked up is my elbow was killing me lol. so thanks for all the adivice and links

the red ones which you have are 9 degrees of float and grey is 4.5 and the black has 0 float. float meaning your foot moves left to right.
What is the difference in the different coloured cleats? Albert

[/QUOTE]
The degrees of float tell you how many degrees you can freely rotate your foot, before you start pressing against the release mechanism. Since the pivot point for this rotation is under the ball of your foot, it mostly feels like swinging your heel in and out. If your release tension is set hard, then you will feel little or no resistance within the float range of your cleat, and then it will almost feel solid beyond that. If you have the release tension set light, then you will feel resistance as you move your heel past the float limit, but it will feel like more of a gradual transition. Plus, as the cleats wear from lots of clicking-out (usually on on leg more than the other, depending on which foot you normally put down at stop lights), it can get easier to click out, to the point where you might need to tighten up the tension a bit.

With ski bindings, the binding release tension is set based on your weight, as well as ability, with lower release tension advised for beginners. But to some extent, it is not a bad idea to have the tension be as low as you can have it without resulting in inadvertant release.

It is not too different with pedals - if you can click out easily, and are not inadvertantly releasing when pedaling hard (esp. if you pull up on the pedals when going up steep hills), then you probably have them adjusted tight enough. If you are coming out of the pedals on hills, then tighten them down a bit.

One other tip on placement - tighten the screws enough so that the cleats are sort of in place, but are still loose enough that you can intentionally move your foot into different positions on the pedal (as someone above suggested). But when you think you have a good position, carefully ease your foot out of the shoe (or even have it unstrapped to begin with), while leaving the shoe clicked into the pedal. If you then flip the shoe over while in the pedal, you should be able to tighten at least one or two of the screws with the shoe in the pedal, such that nothing shifts when the shoe is then removed. Then tighten the rest of the screws further.

I played around with look style pedals and cleats for 5 years and could never get them quite right. Recently bought a pair of speedplay zeros and I will never go back. 15degrees of float and once you get used to them they are fantastic.

I had the exact problem you had when I first got cleats - initially my local shop set up my cleats and both feet were pointed pretty much straight ahead. Howver liek was previously mentioned I personally think you need to have your toes pointing close to the position that they are when you stand with feet about shoulder wdth apart and relaxed.

In my example when I stand relaxede both my feet are turned toes out a few degrees. Once I replicated this on my cleats - hey presto no knee pain ever since!!

If you stand with feet toes out like most peopel especiall;y those with wider shoulders then I'd definietly try turing the toe out a bit. Easily done by looseing the two rear screws on the cleats and turning them slightly. Keep the front one tight so as not to mess up the forward / backward position. You should only change one think at a time to eliminate the probelm ie if you move say the toes out and at the same time slide the cleat forward then you don't knwo which helped - coull have been the toe out / could have been the cleat forward!!
A tip - if ever I adjust anything on my bike like seat / cleats - mark eth original on felt tip marker so you can change back if you totally stuff it up!! - I've done that before!!

ncbiker82 said:

well last night i adjusted the cleats a little and still same affect as i was on the trainer in less then 10min my knee was starting to feel the slight pain, so i looked at how my seat was when i sit on in a refelection and it just looked like i was sitting to far forward so i move it back slightly, and wow does it feel better! i road 18mi today and no pain at all the only pain i picked up is my elbow was killing me lol. so thanks for all the adivice and links

the red ones which you have are 9 degrees of float and grey is 4.5 and the black has 0 float. float meaning your foot moves left to right.
What is the difference in the different coloured cleats? Albert

There is some relationship between pedals and seat position. Different makes/models of pedals have varying "stack height" which is the distance from the bottom of your shoe to the pedal axle. If this changed when you replaced your pedals, a seat adjustment may be necessary.

meatman said:

I had the exact problem you had when I first got cleats - initially my local shop set up my cleats and both feet were pointed pretty much straight ahead. Howver liek was previously mentioned I personally think you need to have your toes pointing close to the position that they are when you stand with feet about shoulder wdth apart and relaxed.

In my example when I stand relaxede both my feet are turned toes out a few degrees. Once I replicated this on my cleats - hey presto no knee pain ever since!!

If you stand with feet toes out like most peopel especiall;y those with wider shoulders then I'd definietly try turing the toe out a bit. Easily done by looseing the two rear screws on the cleats and turning them slightly. Keep the front one tight so as not to mess up the forward / backward position. You should only change one think at a time to eliminate the probelm ie if you move say the toes out and at the same time slide the cleat forward then you don't knwo which helped - coull have been the toe out / could have been the cleat forward!!
A tip - if ever I adjust anything on my bike like seat / cleats - mark eth original on felt tip marker so you can change back if you totally stuff it up!! - I've done that before!!

if you sit on a table with ur legs hanging freely you will see the natural direction the foot points in. Often each foot will be slightly different so you can match this a little more on the cleat direction. The ball of the foot should be over the pedal axel for most people,