2 weeks in - some questions

grantsteve

Pulled the trigger on a road bike a couple of weeks ago with the intention of trying to get myself fit and to lose some weight - am loving it so far!

I have a couple of questions having done my first few rides, the longest of which was 20 miles this morning.

I am using Look Keo pedals with the grey cleats that came with them and Mavic Peloton shoes. After all my rides my feet are sore. I get some pain on the balls of my feet, presumably from pushing through the smaller surface area on the cleats, and fully appreciate I probably just need to MTFU a bit about that and get used to it, but I also get pain on the outside of the foot, down the outside edge. I'm careful not to fasten the shoes too tight, or not tight enough, but am wondering if its something to do with the position of the cleats? The shoes have 2, 1, 0, -1, -2 markers down each side and I've set both cleats to 0 and the foot position feels natural enough when I'm sitting on the bike and pedalling gently. Is there a magic answer to move the cleat this way or that?

Secondly, I'm having some issues with shifting between the small and big rings on the front. I have a Cannondale Synpase with Tiagra shifters and find I need two full pushes or two clicks on the levers to change up / down. I'm guessing its not supposed to be like this?! Shifting on the back is much slicker, one push or click and the gear shifts smoothly. Is it easy to sort myself or is a trip to the LBS in order? Unfortunately my bike was mail order from a shop 3+ hours drive away from me :oops: (although it was £200 cheaper than anyone local was prepared to do).

Thanks guys

Grill

Your first issue is due to lack of support. Look into Specialized BG footbeds and adjust your varus angle 1,5 degrees at a time.

I don't really understand what you're saying with your second issue. The first click should be to trim and after that a push (and sometimes hold) will take you back to your big ring.

grantsteve

Thanks for the footbed suggestions, I'll take a look.

Perhaps my second issue isn't really an issue then judging by your response. I assumed that the gear changes on the front would work in the same way as they do on the back, i.e. it only one push on the brake lever or one click on the smaller black lever to change.

When I'm on the big ring at the front I need to click the small black lever twice to change down to the small ring - the first click doesn't move the derailleur far enough to move the chain on to the small ring. Similarly, when I'm on the small ring I need to push the brake lever in twice, both pull pushes with a hold at the end of the second push, to get back up to the big ring. The first push only seems to move the derailleur enough to rest against the side of the chain (and make an annoying noise).

Grill

Yup, that's the trim.