Major Cleat/SPD Pedal Issues

BlakeysFC

Had my SPD pedals fitted today.

Just been trying to/practicing clipping-in/clipping-out in them and I feel absolutely hopeless.

Been trying for 45 minutes, managed to get my right foot successfully clipped in about 15 minutes ago, then twisted my foot to get out of the SPD and it moved the cleat on the bottom my shoe, scratching the plastic on the sole of my brand new shoe in the mean time.

I fitted the cleats perfectly on the bottom of the shoe (or so I thought) so why am I having so much trouble? The video I watched said not to tighten to cleat to the shoe too much as it could overthread the bracket in the shoe?

I'm at am absolute loss as to what to do and desperately need some help.

What the hell am I doing wrong? Feel extremely frustrated and ready to send the shoes/pedals back to the shop ASAP

Tom Dean

Tighten the bolts enough that the cleat doesn't move. You will get the hang of clipping in.

Zendog1

Have you adjusted the tension down to minimum? See here http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 617303.pdf

Should be real easy once you've done that.

tiredofwhiners

BlakeysFC wrote:

scratching the plastic on the sole of my brand new shoe in the mean time.

Seriously ? You're going to be having a dicky fit the first time you go across a gravel patch then. How do you get on with normal shoes on rough surfaces ?

BlakeysFC wrote:

I fitted the cleats perfectly on the bottom of the shoe (or so I thought) so why am I having so much trouble? The video I watched said not to tighten to cleat to the shoe too much as it could overthread the bracket in the shoe?

You do however need to tighten it up enough so that it is actually tight and won't scratch the shoe sole. You need to tighten them up more.

BlakeysFC

Thanks for all the replies so far guys.

I adjusted the tension down to a minimum on the pedals, which is how I managed to get my right foot clipped in in the first place.

It was just when I clipped out that I had the whole problem with the shoe cleat twisting round. I've now tightened them up as much as I can (without over-tightening them...hopefully) and all I can do now is hope for the best I suppose.

If they twist round again whilst I'm out on my ride tomorrow I'm screwed Guess I'll just bring a multi-tool and have to adjust it the shoe cleat by the side of the road if I have to.

mesteph

was going to post a new thread but I might as well hi jack this one if you don't mind me Blakeys!?

Looking to bet my first clipless pedals, I need to know the basics. Do you buy the pedal first then the shoe? Does the shoe or the pedal bit come with the cleat? Excuse my stupidity but would hate to spend money and realise I've got it all wrong.

tigert

Both sets of Shimano Pedals that I have bought came with cleats.

You just need to make sure that the shoes you buy are compatible with the cleats.

mesteph

OK thanks, so can buy either one first, just need to make sure they are compatible

teisetrotter

You have to have them tight on the shoe. Never had mine slip and I generally have them at about 50% on the tension. Quick forceful twist and you are out.

They definitely not designed for any namby pamby moves.

wastegate86

mesteph wrote:

Looking to buy my first clipless pedals, I need to know the basics. Do you buy the pedal first then the shoe? Does the shoe or the pedal bit come with the cleat? Excuse my stupidity but would hate to spend money and realise I've got it all wrong.

need to buy both pedal and shoe
just remember theres 2 types spd (mtb) and spd-sl (road)
you usually get the cleat with the pedal but make sure its listed when buying as they're really expensive to buy seperate

BlakeysFC

Wastegate86 wrote:

mesteph wrote:

Looking to buy my first clipless pedals, I need to know the basics. Do you buy the pedal first then the shoe? Does the shoe or the pedal bit come with the cleat? Excuse my stupidity but would hate to spend money and realise I've got it all wrong.

need to buy both pedal and shoe
just remember theres 2 types spd (mtb) and spd-sl (road)
you usually get the cleat with the pedal but make sure its listed when buying as they're really expensive to buy seperate

I went with SPD rather than SPD-SL, purely because I wanted a pedal that had a big surface area and found the touring pedal (A530) Shimano was pretty much perfect to give me reassurance in my early days with SPD's.

I made a mistake though when I bought my shoes/pedals. I thought the cleats would come with my shoes, when I opened them up I found out they didn't, so I ordered some on the net for £20, then realised when I had my SPD-Pedals fitted at the shop that they were in the SPD pedal box the whole time :oops: Oh well, suppose I've got spares now anyway!

In other news, I went for my first ride on my SPDs today and I have to say I don't know what I was worried about! Everytime I got clipped in within 3-10 seconds of pushing off from a junction/traffic lights and managed to successfully unclip on approach to traffic lights/junctions so I didn't do the dreaded 'SPD-Fall' in front of a queue of cars thankfully!

The only (slight) problem I had with them was that I found my knees/legs hurt a hell of a lot more than normal after my ride, this is probably just a minor adjustment issue with the cleat though I'm guessing?

dai_t75

BlakeysFC wrote:

The only (slight) problem I had with them was that I found my knees/legs hurt a hell of a lot more than normal after my ride, this is probably just a minor adjustment issue with the cleat though I'm guessing?

This is what I am worried about... can I ask how the shop set your cleats up in the first place? I ask as I will be setting up my own next week for the first time.

BlakeysFC

dai_t75 wrote:

BlakeysFC wrote:

The only (slight) problem I had with them was that I found my knees/legs hurt a hell of a lot more than normal after my ride, this is probably just a minor adjustment issue with the cleat though I'm guessing?

This is what I am worried about... can I ask how the shop set your cleats up in the first place? I ask as I will be setting up my own next week for the first time.

I set the cleats up myself and just 'hoped for the best' in the position of them.

I'm going to play around with the saddle height (as I felt lower on the bike when I rode yesterday) so may need to put this up a tad to compensate for the added height/depth of the SPD pedals and my shoes/cleats. If this doesn't solve anything I'll adjust the cleats on the bottom of the shoes and see if this helps.

rubyrider

I've only been road cycling for 3 months but when I first got my SPD-SLs I just made adjustments when I was out on the road for the first few rides. I'd set them up to be too much toe in at first and they didn't feel right. I think it can end up hurting your knees if they're not right for you.

I did read somewhere about the fore aft positioning of the cleats regarding power and comfort - sorry I can't remember where or what. It may have been the book 'Maximum Performance for Cyclists' which I borrowed to help me set my bike up. I just went with what felt right but I had used SPD pedals on my MTB for years. My MTB SPDs had quite a lot of float and the positioning didn't seem as critical - for me anyway.

BlakeysFC

Noticed my right SPD Cleat was loose about half-way through my 15 mile ride today, so tried my best not to take my right foot out of the cleat until I got home....

Was about 1 mile from home taking a shortcut through my local park, when I encountered ALOT of people walking through and had to take my feet out of the cleats, the left one snapped off fine, but the right...well it didn't, and was now stuck in the pedal

I managed to get the verge next to the cycle path to lean my left foot on whilst I struggled to get my right food loose from the pedal, unfortunately it was well and truly stuck in there, so I ended up having to take my right shoe off with one hand, whilst still leaning against the verge with my left food.

Managed to take my shoe off just, and then managed to yank the shoe clear of the pedal, then had the humiliating 1 mile walk back home in my SPD shoes...that was fun

feelgoodlost

I don't know what pedals you have, whether they're SPD's or SPD-SL's but I've only recently switched to SL's and I found a good technique was to move your heel inward first and then in a quick motion, outwards. Rather than just trying to snap your heel out over from it's natural position in the cleat. You'll also find that as your cleats start to wear in a little more, the whole process becomes a lot easier and it'll not seem like such hard work just to clip in/out! Give it a couple of weeks and you'll be fine...

QuarterPounder

I had my first run in my new look keo easy pedals and spd-sl shoes on Saturday, glad to say it went well. It is a bit scary to start with but after a while clipping in and out became automatic, just make sure you practice plenty before heading onto the roads and try to anticipate stopping well before you need to.

Still, nothing worse than the panic of trying to get your feet out when you feel the bike tipping.

Htron

BlakeysFC wrote:

Noticed my right SPD Cleat was loose about half-way through my 15 mile ride today, so tried my best not to take my right foot out of the cleat until I got home....

Was about 1 mile from home taking a shortcut through my local park, when I encountered ALOT of people walking through and had to take my feet out of the cleats, the left one snapped off fine, but the right...well it didn't, and was now stuck in the pedal

I managed to get the verge next to the cycle path to lean my left foot on whilst I struggled to get my right food loose from the pedal, unfortunately it was well and truly stuck in there, so I ended up having to take my right shoe off with one hand, whilst still leaning against the verge with my left food.

Managed to take my shoe off just, and then managed to yank the shoe clear of the pedal, then had the humiliating 1 mile walk back home in my SPD shoes...that was fun

I had the same issue with one cleat working loose. I now always carry a small multitool in my saddle pack to ensure I can tighten it on the go if necessary. It's been a learning experience for me as a beginner!