New CPlus - position of cleats, wrong

sgbman

The article says to place the ball of your foot 5-7mm in front of the pedal spindle.
I always thought it should be directly over the top.
To tell people to do this could result in all sorts of problems.
:evil: :evil: :evil:
Not sure if I trust anything in this magazine anymore.
Look at the picture of those pedalclips in a later review, with one fitted upside down. That might cause injury, unless your feet face in opposite directions. :roll:

Alex_Simmons/RST

sgbman wrote:

The article says to place the ball of your foot 5-7mm in front of the pedal spindle.
I always thought it should be directly over the top.
To tell people to do this could result in all sorts of problems.
:evil: :evil: :evil:

I would suggest that for most road riders that is a pretty good bit of advice (to have ball of foot in front of pedal spindle), indeed I think most probably need a bit more than 5-7mm. ROT - bigger the foot, the greater the distance in front.

redddraggon

sgbman wrote:

The article says to place the ball of your foot 5-7mm in front of the pedal spindle.
I always thought it should be directly over the top.
To tell people to do this could result in all sorts of problems.
:evil: :evil: :evil:
Not sure if I trust anything in this magazine anymore.
Look at the picture of those pedalclips in a later review, with one fitted upside down. That might cause injury, unless your feet face in opposite directions. :roll:

5-7mm sounds more correct for me than right over the pedal spindle.

andrewjoseph

Research is beginning to show that it may be more efficient to have the pedal axle further back towards the instep.

Several pro road cyclists have been shifting the cleats back towards the arch of the foot for years, even dremeling the shoes to allow for the cleat position.

For most people, comfort is the main criterion, giving ballpark figures is useful but must be followed with 'do not continue if discomfort is noticed'

inseine

I forget the name but there are shoes available, for which the makers claim great things, which place the cleat much more near the centre of the foot.

vorsprung

inseine wrote:

I forget the name but there are shoes available, for which the makers claim great things, which place the cleat much more near the centre of the foot.

Biomac
Artilcle here

http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/biom ... c2-shoes-1

It seems to me that it is logical that a tiny bit more power can be generated if the pedal is at the ball of the foot or possibly slightly ahead, towards the toes. The extra leverage and the use of the calf muscles would come into play. The "centre cleat" people say that most power comes from higher up the leg and it is asking for trouble putting stress on the calf

So for lower stress riding the pedal at the arch of the foot would seem to be a better idea

For long distance riding (that's what I'm interested in) this seems to be accepted as a reasonable and good idea. Some people who ride without clip in pedals position their feet like this apparently. But no commonly available cleated shoes allow a radically positioned ( ie in the arch of the foot ) cleat. I just put my cleats more or less on the ball of the foot but err back on the arch side rather than forward on the toe side.