Moving to clipless

smacl

I just bought my first set of clipless pedals and shoes. I picked the pedals based mainly on being easy for a novice, and also suitable for occasional non-cleated use. While a bit nerve wracking at first, a couple of spins in (~100k), I'm getting used to them, but have a few questions;

- The legs are much stiffer than they would have been for the same spins in flat pedals, particularly above the knees. I'm guessing this is primarily down to using slightly different muscle groups, but also note there are a fair few adjustable positions in the shoes. Any advice on how to select optimal position for the cleats in the shoes (e.g. there are two sets of holes and fair scope for lateral movement) ?

- Similarly would you change the saddle position? In the new shoes I'm pushing more with the front of the foot, whereas I would have been using the arch.

- Did you make the transition from flat to clipless gradually, or just go for it? I'm doing a 120k spin in the Wicklow hills over the weekend, and intend to use the new gear, but am wondering is this pushing my luck.

thanks,

Shane

seamus

smacl wrote: »

- The legs are much stiffer than they would have been for the same spins in flat pedals, particularly above the knees. I'm guessing this is primarily down to using slightly different muscle groups, but also note there are a fair few adjustable positions in the shoes. Any advice on how to select optimal position for the cleats in the shoes (e.g. there are two sets of holes and fair scope for lateral movement) ?

- Similarly would you change the saddle position? In the new shoes I'm pushing more with the front of the foot, whereas I would have been using the arch.

It's all a matter really of trying and testing and tweaking until you get the position that you want - that feels comfortable.
You will be using different muscle groups because you're effectively being forced to pedal correctly now - pedalling on the ball of your foot as opposed to the arch will give you maximum power transfer.

General rules for cleat positioning (for me) are on the ball of your foot, roughly in line with your second toe. You will feel it yourself if the balance is off - if either foot feels too far forward/back/left/right, then you can adjust the cleat position to compensate. If you start to get pains or numbness in your sole, then something's wrong.

You will probably have to adjust the height of your saddle upwards a tiny bit - cycling on the ball of your foot, you now have more reach than you did before.

Did you make the transition from flat to clipless gradually, or just go for it? I'm doing a 120k spin in the Wicklow hills over the weekend, and intend to use the new gear, but am wondering is this pushing my luck.

I just went for it tbh. After a couple of weeks, cycling without clipless pedals will feel weird and noticeably more difficult.

cdaly_

seamus wrote: »

General rules for cleat positioning (for me) are on the ball of your foot, roughly in line with your second toe. You will feel it yourself if the balance is off - if either foot feels too far forward/back/left/right, then you can adjust the cleat position to compensate. If you start to get pains or numbness in your sole, then something's wrong..

OTOH, my cleats are as far back in the shoe as they will go. That puts my foot further forward with the pedal axle around the front of the arch rather than the ball...

doozerie

The choice of fore/aft cleat position is a very personal one. The traditional method was to have the ball of your foot over the pedal spindle, but there is growing support these days for a cleat position in the middle of your foot instead. There are interesting arguments supporting both views but ultimately you have to decide for yourself which you prefer. It's been discussed here before, so threads such as this one have some links to follow for further info.

Another thing to consider is the distance from your foot to the crank (left/right positioning of cleat on shoe) - some shoe and cleat combinations give some variability here, others don't. Feet closer to the cranks works for me but this varies from person to person.

And then there is the rotation of the cleat position to determine how "parallel" your feet are to the cranks. Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is to aim for a position such that your feet are the same as the position they adopt if sitting on a ledge with your feet hanging in mid-air, so that your clipped-in position is not trying to force your feet to adopt an unfamiliar position (can lead to joint issues). Pedals+cleats with built-in float tend to make the exact position here less crucial so long as the "right"/natural position for you falls within the range of float/movement provided by pedals+cleat.

smacl

@doozerie, thanks for the links. Reading the material there, I'm going to try the cleats at middle foot position, after having a few spins with them in the forward position. I'll post again next week to note the difference.