| With regular pedals and toe clips your foot can move | | | | rotational float so your foot will find it's correct position |
| a bit to find it best position. With clipless pedals your | | | | naturally. Speedplay pedals have a rotational |
| foot is held in a fixed position so it is important to get | | | | adjustment on the cleat to adjust for this. |
| the cleat placed properly for your unique bone and | | | | Side to side placement |
| muscle structure. | | | | This one is hard to do on your own as it has to do |
| Installing the pedals is easy but putting the cleats on | | | | with pedal stance on the bike. If your feet are too |
| your shoes can be difficult with the variations of | | | | narrow or too wide your knees won't track properly |
| adjustments available. Most cleats are adjustable front | | | | over the pedals. |
| to back, side to side and rotationally for angle. If you | | | | A few things to look for. |
| get the set up of your cleats wrong it will put foot, | | | | - If your knees flair out wide when pedaling, your feet |
| ankle and knee out of alignment. Over time this can | | | | are probably too close together. Move your cleats |
| lead to pain and potential long term injury. | | | | towards the inside, closer to the bike. You may also |
| The easiest route to proper cleat placement is to head | | | | need to put a spacer on your pedal to move it out. |
| into the shop and get me to position them for you. | | | | - If your knees lean in towards the top tube it can be |
| ItâEUR(TM)s cheap and will save you a lot of | | | | indicative of either too wide a stance or fore foot |
| potentially painful trial and error. If youâEUR(TM)d | | | | varus. This is a tendency for the big toe to sit higher |
| like to do it yourself, the following guidelines will help | | | | than the baby toe. 90 per cent of people's feet sit this |
| you get set up with the least amount of problems. | | | | way because we we're made for walking not riding. |
| Fore-Aft Placement | | | | Most cycling shoes have a flat toe box, so your foot is |
| In bare feet, feel for the joint (first metatarsal phlange | | | | forced flat with each pedal stroke. The fix for this is |
| joint for you anatomy junkies) under the ball of your | | | | either shimming your cleats, orthotic insoles or a |
| foot at the base of your big toe. To pin point the | | | | combination of the two. By aligning your foot, you'll get |
| location of the joint wiggle your big toe up and down. | | | | more power to the pedals and reduce the chance of |
| Put your shoe on and check for that point. Lightly mark | | | | overuse injuries to your knees. I recommend the |
| the sole with chalk or marker. | | | | Lemond Lewedge shims to correct for forefoot tilt. |
| Now place the cleat based on the following chart. | | | | Leg Length Imbalance |
| Size 36-40 5mm behind the ball of the foot | | | | If you feel like you can't ever find the right seat height |
| Size 41-43 7mm behind the ball of the foot | | | | you may have a leg length imbalance. Riding with an |
| Size 44-46 9mm behind the ball of the footabove Size | | | | imbalance can lead to knee problems as well as hip |
| 46 10 mm behind the ball of the foot | | | | and lower back pain. With this if one leg is getting |
| Check each foot separately as one foot is usually | | | | correct extension the other will be over or under |
| bigger than the other changing where the point of the | | | | extending. This can be from actual bone length |
| big toe joint is. | | | | differences or a structural imbalance in the hips. If the |
| Rotational Placement | | | | difference is less than 6 mm then it usually isn't much |
| Your feet have an angle they naturally sit at. Your | | | | of a problem, but anything more than this should be |
| cleats should be set up to put your feet in this position | | | | corrected. The general rule is to correct for half of the |
| on the pedals. | | | | difference, so if discrepancy is 8 mm we adjust your |
| To find your foot angle, sit on a high bench or sturdy | | | | shorter leg 4 mm. |
| table with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. | | | | This can be accomplished by shimming your shorter |
| Holding your feet level, lean forward until you are in | | | | leg cleat and moving the cleat of the long leg back |
| your riding position. | | | | slightly. This is just an example because depending on |
| Look at the angle your feet sit at. I use a large | | | | whether the difference is in your upper or lower leg, I |
| protractor to measure the angles of each foot. | | | | will use different techniques to correct for it. Think of |
| This adjustment will apply mainly to Shimano and Look | | | | your feet as your base of power. If your base is |
| pedals. If you use Time pedals there isn't much angle | | | | unstable, you will not get the power to the pedals. |
| adjustment but the pedals themselves have lateral and | | | | |