Cleat position

Schoie81

Hi guys,

I've now got the same pedals on both my road bike and my MTB. Got the pedals set up last year on my road bike and done 1000+ miles with no problems at all. I then got the same pedals for my MTB and thought it'd be the same, but my feet seem to be less comfortable on the MTB. I guess the riding position and set up of the two bikes is different, and so is it likely that the cleat positions on my shoes needs to be different depending on which bike I'm riding? Ie.e one position wont suit both bikes?

andrewjoseph

i ride with same shoes on mtb and road bike, i don't have to swap cleat position around. i think it most
likely your position on mtb needs to be tweaked a bit.

Schoie81

Thanks Andrew, that's what I hope to do - don't really want two pairs of cycling shoes on the go at the same time, and I definitely don't want to be adjusting the cleats every time I swap bikes. Will try some other tweaks first then.

wongataa

This: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/insigh ... d-Cleats-0 shows you how to get your cleats in the ideal position on your shoes.

Initialised

wongataa wrote:

This: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/insigh ... d-Cleats-0 shows you how to get your cleats in the ideal position on your shoes.

Thanks for that, really useful guide. Hopefully the adjustments I've just done will help me get more power out of my left leg, it had been feeling a bit wrong and slack since I got some new shoes.

Schoie81

Looking at that guide, there's no mention of a difference between road and MTB set up so the cleat position is more connected to the shape/size of my feet than it is to the bike I'm riding. So it seems I definitely need to look elsewhere for adjustments on the MTB.

Thinking about it now, when I first used the pedals on the MTB I did feel straightaway I needed to make some adjustments compared to the flat pedals - so maybe I didn't adjust the saddle enough (or possibly too much...)

andrewjoseph

try and replicate the relative positions of the mtb to the road bike. I.e. measure from the pedal at bottom of stroke (usually in line with seatpost angle) to the top of saddle. also from middle of bar grips to where you sit on saddle on mtb, set similar on road bike from saddle to middle of hoods.

the other thing to bear in mind is the Q factor (measurement from middle of frame to middle of pedal) will be less on road bike, so it may feel like your feet are closer together. i don't notice it myself, but others do. you can get pedal spacers to help widen the road bike stance.

wandsworth

Schoie81 wrote:

Thinking about it now, when I first used the pedals on the MTB I did feel straightaway I needed to make some adjustments compared to the flat pedals - so maybe I didn't adjust the saddle enough (or possibly too much...)

I'm sure there's more to it that this, and you'll need to experiment, but I found that when I went from flat pedals to clipless on my hybrid (and on a road bike, changing from the get-you-home flat pedals it came with) I needed to raise the saddle a bit. Maybe 1cm or so. Even small amounts can make a difference.