Cleat advice....

Lady Venom
Lady Venom Posts: 213
edited August 2009 in Road beginners
Ok so I am new to this, am about to buy a bike tomorrow after much research and trying out various bikes I have settled on the Bianchi C2C Alu, hopefully with the Campag Xenons if I can get a good price, if not it will have to be the Sora and upgrade over time.

Been looking at cleats, and was wondering whether being a beginner, what float I need? I see the 4.5 (red) look cleats are pretty popular.... I have knee alignment issues with one knee through a muscle imbalance in my quads and need to work the inside more than the outside to keep my knee cap tracking correctly - would 4.5 suit this, or should I get fixed?

My understanding of float is that it's horizontal movement?

Slightly worried about the cleat thing, never used before but I guess it should be ok, I'm pretty strong!


LV

Comments

  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    hopefully with the Campag Xenons if I can get a good price, if not it will have to be the Sora and upgrade over time.

    Go on, barter them down, GET THE XENONS :D

    As for pedals, I would have thought poor knee tracking would be exacerbated with floating cleats. Certainly I never liked the 5 degrees of "swivel" in the Look Keo's (though strangely the Wellgo RC-715's I have now seem to absolutely fine and feel fixed despite apparently having float). Some float is quite resistant like mine because of the metal cleat. Others like the Look Keo's use floppy plastic cleats so they jump out of line with no provocation. At least that's what happened for me.
  • Lady Venom
    Lady Venom Posts: 213
    Yeh I did notice they were plastic..... I'm going to try and barter them down if they have my size, I didn't realise they had it at first!
    Can't afford new pedals so they looks the bianchi comes with will do for now. Guess I should go for fixed then?
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    Plastic.........never been a fan of it really. Prefer metal :P

    Where abouts in the UK are you based? I know of one or two Bianchi dealers in the North West who are good.
  • I have major knee issues (OCD took huge chunk of bone & cartilage from right knee so my tracking & alignment changes all the time) and red does it really good for me.....Float means I can move from heel almost touching crank to being 'pointing in' and anything in between. Fixed would be useless for me.....Having said that I can also easily run on Keo Grey cleats as long as I get the central point right....
    Briceyinstockport
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    Is it just me or do metal cleats really not seem to swivel so much? I never had any trouble on Shimano SPD's until I switched to Look Keo's. With them I had no end of trouble unless I chose fixed. Even then problems happened when the front tip started to flex as it wore down (I broke loads of them). Since I got the Wellgo RC-715's, no problems at all.

    (Of course I KNOW I could have gone back to Shimano, but you DON'T do that with a Campag croupset, wheels and seatpost).
  • Mark73
    Mark73 Posts: 146
    Hi - In essence cleat choice is all down to personal preference and as with all things cycling everyone has their own opinion on exactly what's best! I have tight ITBs and have had a few probs with me knees in the past (mainly due to running) and I use the grey Look cleats with no problems at all. FYI I also used to ride the black cleats (which have 0 float) and never had problems with them either.

    IMHO I would suggest if you are prone to knee problems/issues that you should speak to someone at your LBS. Some of the better shops have shoe/cleat fitting services which would probably be really useful for you if you are unsure. If you can, you should also try a few different types to see which feel most comfortable.

    Good luck and keep us posted.
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    Hi - In essence cleat choice is all down to personal preference and as with all things cycling everyone has their own opinion on exactly what's best!

    Agreed.

    I kind of wish I'd never switched from the SPD-style cleats systems as I've not noticed any performance drop-off from switching from Diadora Carbon Road shoes to SIDI Dominator MTB shoes. If anything I might be going a bit quicker because the SIDI shoes support the foot far better.

    And that brings me to another point. You DON'T wear pedals, you DO wear shoes. It's vital that the shoe supports your entire foot, taking into account your foot arch shape. Sometimes, injuries that seem to be caused by pedals and cleats are actullay caused by poor shoe fit.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    PianoMan wrote:
    (Of course I KNOW I could have gone back to Shimano, but you DON'T do that with a Campag croupset, wheels and seatpost).

    Why not?
  • Velonutter
    Velonutter Posts: 2,437
    dennisn wrote:
    PianoMan wrote:
    (Of course I KNOW I could have gone back to Shimano, but you DON'T do that with a Campag croupset, wheels and seatpost).

    Why not?

    I have to agree with PIanoMan as well, when you have a Campag Record Groupset, wheels etc. you have to keep the Tart side up and not lower ones standards...lol

    My Campag Record (Look Clone) Pedals look like they have started to grind and I am totally lost what to go for as Campag are bringing new pedals out next year, do I just grin and bear it or go for a temporary fix?
  • bobpzero
    bobpzero Posts: 1,431
    PianoMan wrote:
    Plastic.........never been a fan of it really. Prefer metal :P .

    maybe if look & shimano & possibly speedplay considered making carbon composite cleats?

    speedplay does have a aluminum base plate, available from jim walker tho im waiting 2-3 weeks just for speedplay zero dust cap replacements to arrive.
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    YES PLEEZE. I've always thought carbon would be a good cleat material. Let's have Carbon cleats for REAL, not just the name "Look Keo Carbon Cleats". Carbon my a*** :evil:

    As for Speedplay, don't get me started on them and the problems I had.......... :evil:
  • Lady Venom
    Lady Venom Posts: 213
    Muchos thanks for all the replies - I think I'll gve fixed a try as from what Pianoman is saying they have some movement anyway being plastic. Fingers crossed the bike shop has the xenon in my size! Didn't realise there was such a margain between Campag entry level and Shimano.
    I've spent a bit more than planned on shoes as I've always found footwear to be vital. Got some Specialized BG Torches which were the best fit out of the ones I tried.
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    Xenon is of course thought to be equal to Sora, but Shimano have "cheapened" their low range groupsets including the 2200 to the point that Xenon is a little more expensive (though technically it's been discontinued, it's still available on some ready-made machines).
  • bobpzero
    bobpzero Posts: 1,431
    PianoMan wrote:
    YES PLEEZE. I've always thought carbon would be a good cleat material. Let's have Carbon cleats for REAL, not just the name "Look Keo Carbon Cleats". Carbon my a*** :evil:

    As for Speedplay, don't get me started on them and the problems I had.......... :evil:

    wow. :lol: problems with speedplay?
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    Yep, couldn't get them to engage no matter how I loosened them or tightened them. Then they wouldn't come out when I forced them into the pedal. Just trouble all round. Incidentally, I'm not alone, I know someone who was the OPPOSITE and had them constantly releasing on him.

    It doesn't matter now - I like my Wellgo's, I LOVE my SIDI's :D
  • bobpzero
    bobpzero Posts: 1,431
    man you had it bad. after many years of spd single and double sided, i went for the speedplay zero with chromoly spindle and then after a couple of stupid accidents (nothing to do with the pedals :oops: ), then i tried the look keo with fixed float cleats and now im back to speedplay zero with titanium spindle. i love my sidi's too :D