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Set up the shoes and pedals


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How do i set properly my shoes and the pedals? What is important, and what are the mistakes i can expect? Please help.Confused

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I am no expert but what works for me is the following:

 

1) The shoe with the "L" inside or on sole goes on the left foot

2) The shoe with the "R" inside or on sole goes on the right foot

3) Place the right foot with the correct shoe on. on the pedal on the RHS of the bicycle (facing forward to front wheel not saddle!)

4) Place the left foot with the correct shoe on. on the pedal on the LHS of the bicycle (facing forward to front wheel not saddle!)

 

A common mistake is to do the opposite of above and this can result in

 

a) severe embarrasement or

b) serious accidents or

c) excruciating pain in the feet and private parts from the awkward seating position if not following point 3 & 4. or

d) all of the above depending on how many points were not followedBig%20smile

 
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Pop - i - you're funny! It does kind of explain why my 1st couple of years of cycling was so uncomfortable (and lonely)

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Forgot to mention:

1) Hot Tip #1 the "pointy" end of the shoe goes in front of the toes.

2) If you find that there is only one inch for your foot & toes, but 3+inches for your heel - chances are you ignored Hot Tip#1!!!Big%20smile 
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On a more serious note though, there has been a lot of talk recently about fitting cleats right under the arch of the foot. However, the only shoe that I am aware of that allows this out the box is some custom German job that goes for 500 Euro per pair...

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Basic rule states ball of foot over pedal axle. Cleat position to be set so that there is some float both sides of neutral.

 

 

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..but seriously people...how about some guidance..?!  

 

Ok will try, but not easy to put into type..Embarrassed

 

There is no hard and fixed rule on how your cleats should be, only a basic set up procedure used as a starting point and then you have to work out what works best for you as you?re cycling progresses. The easiest way to do this is to set your bike up on an indoor trainer, make a few initial adjustments to achieve the settings described below, then once you think it is right, ride some more to warm up a bit and then re-check your settings are correct and note any unusual or comfortable feelings in your feet and knees, hopefully everything feels good.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Basically you have 2 settings to consider, forward / rearwards and longitudinal (toe in or out).

 

a) First off you need to make a mark on the outside of your shoe that you can see when the shoe is clipped into the pedal, this mark should indicate where the centre of the ball of your foot (COBF) is.

 

b) Secondly you need to determine what the natural angle of each foot is (toe in or out), do this by sitting on the edge of a table with your quads parallel, shins perpendicular and soles parallel to the ground, looking down make a note of the angle of each foot, this would be the +/- angle you want your feet/ shoes to be in when clipped in.

 

a) Forward / rearward cleat position

Basically with your foot clipped in, the crank arm parallel to the floor and pedal in the forward position (9 'o clock), you want to adjust the cleats so that the COBF is centered over the centre of the pedal axle, in other words the mark on your shoe should be in line with the centre of the pedal axle. Setting the COBF slightly (1 -10 mm) behind the pedal axle centre is ok and normal if you have a larger than normal foot (<?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Normal for Male = +/- size 9) or experience numb / painful toes on long rides.

 

b) Toe in / out

For most people with pedals that provide a few degrees of float, aligning the cleats so that the shoe is parallel to the centre line of the bike is a good beginning point, however with a little effort you can make sure by doing the following:

 

The idea is to try and set the cleat so that the foot can resume its natural position (step b above) when pedaling under normal load. Note that sometimes the left and right foot will be slightly different when compared to each other.

Depending on what type of cleats / pedals you have and the amount of float they provide (anything between 0 ? 9 degrees, float = free movement between the point where you feel resistance when trying to clip out). Ideally the cleats should be adjusted so that the natural position (as seen in (b) above) is in the centre of the pedal float range. This will allow your foot to naturally move into a natural position while under different pedaling loads.

SwissVan2007-05-18 02:01:02
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