How to set up SPD - SL Cleats

godtabh

Just got a pear SPD-SL shoes/cleats.

They seem very "flexible" regarding postion of cleat relative to shoe. What is the best way to set these things up?

Lumen

Stick them in the middle until you have a reason not to.

godtabh

Lumen wrote: »

Stick them in the middle until you have a reason not to.

Thanks for the reply

By middle are you referring to the shoe?

Wishbone Ash

Yes. There is 2 or 3 cms of positioning available.

I prefer them as far forward as possible but others prefer them at the rearmost point. As Lumen says try them in the centre first. Bring the allen key with you and adjust if necessary until you get your preferred position. You can also adjust the direction of your shoe by moving one side forward or back more than the other.

Darkglasses

Boo-urns!

Sit up on a high table or stool, and let your feet dangle. If your legs are like mine (i.e. a little bit ****ed), they will point in mad directions. While you obviously don't want your feet pointing out nearly that much on the pedals (n.b., not even close to that much!), I would use that as inspiration for your cleat position. I think that will give your feet a more natural feeling in the pedals rather than just stuck in the middle pointing forward.

godtabh

And here is me thinking it would simple be a matter of screwing the cleats to the shoes!

colm_gti

When I got a bike fitting done, he adjusted the cleats too.

What he done was got me to stand with my heels against the wall and measured from the wall to the widest part of my foot on each side. He then measured from the heel of the shoe to where the widest part of my foot would be, marked it and joined them up with the bottom edge of the cleat...if that makes sense?

Probably not perfect, but it got rid of my knee pain anyway...

Mr. Skeffington

General rule of thumb is that the centre of the ball of the foot should be over the centre of the pedal axle.

Some people advise a cleat position a bit further back to reduce any strain on achilles tendon and also to prevent hot foot. Cleat 10mm further back which leaves the ball of the foot 10mm in front of the centre of the pedal axle is the result.

Cleat rotation is also important, for this consider the normal way your toes point when walking, if you walk with toes pointing straight ahead then cleats should be straight. If your toes point slightly in or slightly outward than your cleat rotation should be adjusted accordingly.

Other things which may need to be considered are leg length discrepancies and the tracking of the knees. However your best to consult a specialist bike fitter to solve these issues as they are complicated to sort out, requiring shims & wedges.

As Lumen points out the best starting point may be to centralise the cleat and to work from there.

Lumen

godtabh wrote: »

By middle are you referring to the shoe?

No, I meant in the middle of the whatever ranges of adjustment (fore-aft, left-right) are available to you.

There are advantages to moving the cleats close to the centre of the sole, but these are counterbalanced somewhat by greater toe overlap and slightly awkward clip-in (in my experience).

godtabh

Getting the bike back from the shop in the next day or two (in for a tune up_. I'll put the pedals on and try out the cleats as Lumen described