clipless pedals



nathang

New Member
Jan 29, 2004
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I am about to go clipless(after my torn achillies has mended)
How do you determine the optimum position for the cleats on your shoes ???
 
Originally posted by nathang
I am about to go clipless(after my torn achillies has mended)
How do you determine the optimum position for the cleats on your shoes ???

I'm no expert but to me it makes sense having suffered a torn Achilles tendon, that you would want to positioning the cleat as far back (closer to your arch) as possible in order to alleviate the load/stress on the tendon.
 
Originally posted by nathang
I am about to go clipless(after my torn achillies has mended)
How do you determine the optimum position for the cleats on your shoes ???

I'm no expert, but if you scroll down the posting list you'll see a thread called "My first Clipless experience"

Last week was my first experience using them and I was fitted by a VP from Shimano, North America...he's also an avid Cyclist, so here's what he told me:

1. Take your Cycling shoes off and stand in your Socks on a polished floor, walk a few steps forward, stand still and look down at your Feet to see whether your Toes are pointing outwards, straight or inwards...

2. Set the rotation of your Cleats so that when you clip your empty shoes into the Pedal they will emulate the angle of your Feet in your natural stance, this saves the first time Clipless user worrying about rotating the feet to hunt for the Clips and also it allows your Feet to clip in their natural position....

3. Another way, he told me, is to ride around on platform Pedals, look down, take note of the angle of your feet to the bottom bracket center line or Crank arm and set your cleats on your shoes so that your empty shoes will clip into the pedals at the same angle....

To begin with, set the Cleats fore and aft as close to the balls of your feet as possible, but with your Achilles problem, as someone already said, it might be best to set your cleats as far towards your heel as possible...

But anyway, he did tell me that the above method is only a starting point to help a newbie such as myself clip-in easier and a few adjustments will be neccessary as time goes on....

At the moment I'm just gratefull when I manage to clip in without too much "hunting" and swearing, and I manage to remember to clip out when I stop at a Traffic light...remembering to change down to an easier Gear for a comfortable would be too much to ask at this point... :(

Good luck, I hope this helps...and I hope your, erm, Achilles Heals...;)