Cleat float

JayRoc

I've been putting off making the switch from toe-clips to cleats for ages now, primarily because of the natural angle of my feet...they tend to duck out slightly.
Any lower body training I have ever done where I can control the angle my feet sit at, squatting, running, whatever, I just let my feet drift to a comfortable angle and I've never had a single knee twinge from it.
Whereas anything that strongly constricts my feet straight ahead will begin to hurt my knees after a while because they're being forced out of their natural angle and being turned in quite uncomfortably.

But now, I've decided after a couple of years faffing about (with things like the guide dogs Mizen to Malin ride and a spin the odd Sunday) to get a little more into cycling, it really is time to sort out the cleats if possible.

The way I understand it, the more float I get, the more lateral movement my feet will have and the less constriction on my knees, is that essentially it?
But will a lot of float mean I will be more likely to unclip accidentally while pedalling?

Any recommendations for a first set of SPD's? (I ride a Giant SCR-4, by the way)

Ta muchly

Chips Lovell

JayRoc wrote: »

The way I understand it, the more float I get, the more lateral movement my feet will have and the less constriction on my knees, is that essentially it?

That's it more or less. There is also some scope for the positioning of the cleat on the shoe, which is also something you should experiment with to find the optimum position for your feet.

JayRoc wrote: »

But will a lot of float mean I will be more likely to unclip accidentally while pedalling?

No. If anything, it would be harder to clip out since with float there is some range of movement before the disengage mechanism is activated.

niceonetom

different systems offer different amounts of float, from none at all (eg spd-sl red cleats) right up to bloody loads (eg speedplay system).

i use spd-sl with yellow cleats which give 9^ of float (i think). look reds are very similar.

float is really there to allow for how much your feet might twist on the pedal with each stroke - not with the initial in/out angle of your feet - that's accounted for in how you set the cleat on the shoe.

you have a fair amount of freedom as to how you position the cleat on the sole of you shoe - so you'd have the cleat fastened witht the centre pointing more towards your big toe giving you a more duck-footed position on the pedal.

how easy it is to engage/disengage witht the pedal is controled by a tension spring in the pedal (or the cleat for speedplay) and doesn't really have much to do witht the amount of float. if anything more float would make it slightly less likely to clip-out accidentally as you'd have to turn your foot further before depressing the clip.

copacetic

I know everyone just recs the pedals they have but if you are looking for float, speedplay are your man. I have them and find them amazingly comfortable compared to my look pedals. It isn't so much that I need the float for my knees, I just like being able to move my feet around a little and let them find their own position for comfort on long rides.

The only downside is their big upside -the float, i.e if you like your foot to feel 'locked' in they aren't for you.

JayRoc

Brilliant stuff lads, exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for, cheers.