To Float or Not to Float? That is the Question.

bernithebiker

Need to change cleats again soon, (Shimano SPD SL with DA 9000 pedals)

Always gone for the blue model, 2' float.

There is yello (6') and red (0').

I angle my feet out slightly, 'duck' style, but I noticed that my feet are always pressing against the inside edge, i.e. I'm never really using any of the float.

So given that 0 float is supposed to be more efficient, (no parasitic movement of the foot), is it worth trying red cleats?

0ced0

get them if you're curious to try, but also get a pair of the ones you're accustomed to.
be ready to change back at the slightest hint of knee discomfort...

cougie

If you're happy with what you have now - why risk injury by using less float?

I can't see you gaining anything.

Anonymous

If your feet are always pressing against the inside then I would have said that they were not set up properly.

I thought your foot was meant to be in the middle of the float?

daniel_b

Carbonator wrote:

If your feet are always pressing against the inside then I would have said that they were not set up properly.

I thought your foot was meant to be in the middle of the float?

Exactly that.

I had mine set up originally too straight, and found I was always pressing against the extreme edge of the float, loosened the cleats, and rotated them very slightly, and have never had any issues since, foot sits in the middle of the float, and totally comfortable.

I use Look 4.5 degree ones.

bernithebiker

cougie wrote:

If you're happy with what you have now - why risk injury by using less float?

I can't see you gaining anything.

I guess because I don't really like the feeling of having movement in my cleat; normally I don't feel anything, but if changing position, coming out of the saddle, etc. then sometimes I feel the play, and don't really like it.

Can't lose much by trying the red ones, can easily go back to blue if need be.

This is quite interesting;

https://mycyclecoach.wordpress.com/2015 ... -no-float/

Anonymous

If your foot moves then you could need the float I thought, but you could try them and see.
I am a big advocate of trying things, even white bar tape!

If you centered your blue cleats then you would have less outward movement.
I would try that first (unless you like the red colour),

bernithebiker

Carbonator wrote:

If your foot moves then you could need the float I thought, but you could try them and see.
I am a big advocate of trying things, even white bar tape!

If you centered your blue cleats then you would have less outward movement.
I would try that first (unless you like the red colour),

My foot very rarely moves, only when changing position really.

But if I re-adjust the cleats, (to even more duck like) to centre my foot, then I guess I would use the float more.

Question is, do I need to?

Anonymous

I don't get how your foot would change position.
It needs to be where it needs to be doesn't it?

Just get the red cleats. Not sure how you would know where to put them though if you feel your foot would change position by moving the blue cleats that have float.
The nice thing about cleats with float is that it lets you find where your foot naturally falls.

bernithebiker

Carbonator wrote:

I don't get how your foot would change position.
It needs to be where it needs to be doesn't it?

Just get the red cleats. Not sure how you would know where to put them though if you feel your foot would change position by moving the blue cleats that have float.
The nice thing about cleats with float is that it lets you find where your foot naturally falls.

What I mean is that for a good 95% of the time, my cleat is pushing against it's inside edge (heel in). I'm not really using any of the float available.

So one possibility would be to move the cleats slightly to even more 'duck' style (heel in, toe out) so that I force my foot to use the float.

But I am happy with my foot position and think I pedal well, with fast cadence and no knee issues.

So if I place the red cleats in the same position as right now, it will be interesting to see if I miss the float at all.

DeVlaeminck

Report back how you get on. I'm tempted to try zero float myself, prefer the grey keo to red so maybe zero float would be that bit better again. Suppose there is an argument if it aint broke why change but then I thought red keo were ok before I tried the grey.

W12_Lad

I was thinking about trying the red cleats for zero float until I mentioned this to the bike whisperer while having a bike fit. His opinion was that it would give me no benefit but could be the cause of many problems and be a nightmare to fit accurately if I needed to do it myself.
This made a lot of sense to me and I now don't worry about the "what if" factor.

buckmulligan

I'm thinking of giving the red ones a try. I've used the blue 2-degree ones for a few years now but earlier this year I went back to trying some yellow ones and absolutely hated how sloppy they felt; now my interest in the red zero-float ones is certainly piqued. As others have said, it's worth a try, they're not exactly expensive!

One issue that I could foresee is your foot unexpectedly popping out if you do have any unidentified lateral foot/knee movement in your pedal stroke. You say that your foot is resting on the inside 95% of the time, well how much is it moving the other 5% of the time? How about when you're climbing or sprinting? Zero float means zero tolerance for lateral movement, so you might find that you need to wind up the tension on the pedals to stay clipped-in in those situations.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

bernithebiker

So 1st ride on the new red (zero) cleats today, 80 odd km, more than I wanted to do, but had to see family at the beach!

First impressions are really good. Super solid feel to the pedal, no slop, or play, just good, firm contact. It feels like you're really locked into the pedal; I think if I went back to blue (2'), it'd feel like the cleat was loose or the pedals had bearing play.

Didn't push too hard on the ride, but got the odd knee twinge, nothing painful, just my legs adjusting I guess. Post ride, legs a bit more achey than usual, but again probably just a bit of adaption going on.

So too early to say for sure that there's no issues, but looks good so far. I'm prepared to bear a little adaption time / discomfort if it means I can keep these cleats on, as they really feel good, and I feel more powerful in them, even if that's gonna be mostly psychological.

https://www.strava.com/activities/588913345