Cleat set up and rubbing of Shoe on Crank

Mrdeece

The back of my right foot rubs on the crank and is wearing my shoe. I use Look Keo pedals and have the grey Cleats. I have set up the cleat inline with Looks recommendation. i.e. The mark on the side of the cleat is inline with the ball of the foot joint. I have moved the cleat as far as possible to the left (when viewed from the top of the shoe) so that my foot is as far away form the pedal. The cleat is also pointing straight. I do not have any knee or feet hurting issues. It is annoying as my new Specialized Pro Road shoes are wearing away I was wondering if other people had this issue and what they did. P.S. I do not have the issue with the other foot

cougie

Can you try just angling the cleat and see what happens ?

Maybe you do have a funny pedalling motion and you do turn the foot as you pedal ? Can you use less float ?

redddraggon

I also have the issue, I walk rather "duck footed" which means I prefer to walk with my feet pointing out. Unfortunately clipless pedals don't seem to allow for this, on my halfords bike I've got a bit of shiny chainstay where I've worn down the paint.

TBH I don't think there's much you can do about

Mrdeece

Thanks All. I try angling the cleats to see if this helps or purchase some black cleats to reduce the movement.

Raph

I have the same problem - before low-pro cranks (when cranks used to be at right-angles to axle) it was a lot worse. I still ride a track bike with old campag cranks, and there's only one pair of shoes I can ride with on that bike, all others have soles for walking and hit the crank.

If I stand with what feels like my feet parallel, when I look down they're actually pointing way outwards. You might be the same - duck-footed as mentioned above. This means the only to get comfy is to re-adjust the angle of the your feet on the pedals. I've done this just enough to be able to ride - I remember years ago when I changed from clips and straps to SPD, going through a period of sore knees as they got used to the different angle, since I couldn't any longer just pedal with my foot further out on the pedal.

I'd adjust the cleats so that your heel clears the crank, and see if your knee(s) can get used to that angle. You might have to concentrate on different muscles than you're used to - I found that to start with I had to rely more on the downstroke and build up some strength there first, then the rest of the stroke followed and I got used to the new position without too much strain. My ideal foot position would still necessitate cranks coming out at a 45 deg angle... but one has to make do!

PS - on a couple of pairs of off-road shoes I have, I've sawn off the bit of the sole that hits the crank, it's only taken off 1/4" or so, but it makes enough difference to get a better angle. And it's made no difference at all to walking on them.

keebo

My winter boots rubbed annoyingly on the crank arms - I put a washer of a suitable thickness between pedal and crank arm. Problem solved!

Monty Dog

I wouldn't try and 'force' your foot into a neutral position by using the black cleat - you'll just exert twisting force on your knee which could lead to problems. Best way is to try and find a shoe / pedal combination that allows you to cycle in your natural, heels-in position. Time pedals offer two cleat positions for lateral float that might provide additional outboard room for your heel - or equally, find a pedal with a longer spindle, or use a couple of pedal washers as suggested - depends how much rubbing / overlap there is