Cleat position

Dirk1978

I have just purchased my first pair of SPD SL's and have connected the cleats; however when I am out cycling my big toes tend to go numb, so I need to re-position my cleats.

Grateful for any advice on which way I should move the cleats. I remember seeing an article on BikeRadar about how to position them.

Cheers

CiB

Stand in a relaxed manner with your feet in a comfortable position, toes level. That's the angle your feet should be on the clips.

jgsi

Dirk1978 wrote:

I have just purchased my first pair of SPD SL's

Cheers

:?: Why cleats in 1st instance ? Presumably you have new shoes... might they also be cause of numbness?

flasher

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/s ... eats-24284

But as JGSI says it could well be the shoes, they're notorious for coming up small!

Mark Alexander

I'd have thought that the shoe fitting rather than the cleats were the cause of this. If the shoes fit then they are effectively a cover for your foot. The position of the cleat is about getting the power through whilst not damaging your knees, ancles and other bits of your legs.

mattward1979

I have to disagree with the above and say that numbness will most likely be due to cleat position...

You Instantly know if the shoes are too small when you put them on... We have all been screening shoes in this way since we were kids.

Cleats on the other hand will exert pressure on parts of the foot that can disrupt bloodflow or restrict nerves, so numbness occurs.

Sit on a worksurface in your kitchen and dangle your feet. Look at how your feet naturally angle, and try to emulate this with your cleat position. This is far from a definitive way of doing it, but a good starting point that allows you to modify the setup to get a decent alignment!

John.T

Your cleats could be too far forward. You want the ball of your foot (the back big toe joint) to be over or up to 1cm in front of the pedal spindle. You should also set the cleat angle so your ankles just clear the crank if you push them inwards. It is all right saying you should let the feet hang and then copying this angle. If I did this I could never turn the pedals.

nferrar

I've recently (last couple of years) started putting cleats as far back as they'll go on most shoes, I find the traditional ball of the foot over the axle still feels a bit like I'm riding on my toes and I can get some hot spots. Since moving the cleats right back my feet have felt much better (especially on longer rides), no clue if my power has dropped as a result as I'm not really training just riding these days

macondo01

Re forward and backward position - have just moved my cleats back on my commute bike spd shoes. Its made a real difference to the pain I was experiencing in my sacro-illiac joint and bottom. The forward position created too much leverage and strain. I mention this because cleat position can make a dramatic difference. It is really really worth getting right.