Have I attached these cleats on correctly

[brychan]

Just put the cleats on my cycling shoes for 1st time, I am concerned if I put them on correctly. Are the cleats supposed to protrude over the side of the shoe?

Thank Mike

[TrevA]

Yes, that's fine. Mine are set up pretty much the same. The cleats are actually wider than the sole of the shoe at their widest point.

[brychan]

Yes, that's fine. Mine are set up pretty much the same. The cleats are actually wider than the sole of the shoe at their widest point.

What is the allen key screw at the back of the SPD pedal for? See new images

[thirdcrank]

With cleats, it's not just a matter of fitting them in the right manner - correct position is crucial. If it's wrong, your foot will be locked in the wrong position which may be uncomfortable or worse. Your feet need to be in their natural position on the pedals. I don't know if every cleat system enables this but try riding without the cleats fitted and then fit them where the soles are marked by the pedals,

[brychan]

With cleats, it's not just a matter of fitting them in the right manner - correct position is crucial. If it's wrong, your foot will be locked in the wrong position which may be uncomfortable or worse. Your feet need to be in their natural position on the pedals. I don't know if every cleat system enables this but try riding without the cleats fitted and then fit them where the soles are marked by the pedals,

.

Sorry but you’re not making any sense I think it would very difficult to wear shoes without using the cleats on SPD pedals, and how is the pedal going to mark your shoe when it would keep sliding off the pedal without cleats.

There is a very tiny adjustable margin of millimetres when screwing on the cleats to the shoe, it might need some minor adjustment but nothing major to cause any major problems

[thirdcrank]

... Sorry but you’re not making any sense ...

From British Cycling:

Your cleats and pedals are a key contact point between your bike and body. Not setting them up correctly can result in poor performance, discomfort and even injury. Here we show you how to position your cleats and look at the common tell-tale signs that something may not quite be right.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowl ... d-pedals-0

[foxyrider]

Yes, that's fine. Mine are set up pretty much the same. The cleats are actually wider than the sole of the shoe at their widest point.

What is the allen key screw at the back of the SPD pedal for? See new images

Its a tension adjustment screw. Out of the box they are usually set in mid tension, I would encourage any new user to reset to a slacker setting until they are happy with entry exit. Check the fore-aft position of the cleat is correct - it should put the ball of your foot over the pedal axle - it looks like you might have them set too far aft.

As an aside, other brands of pedal don't always have this adjustment and have a fixed tension - my current 'best bike' pedals don't even have a spring as such, just a carbon plate so no adjustment possible. Not a good idea for new users, i've had 30 years of practice in getting the cleat position right!

If you look at others shoes you'll see that the very popular Look Keo cleats (for example) are not as wide as the Shimano and don't extend beyond the sole in the same way. As far as I can tell the two 'horns' on the Shimano cleats are nothing to do with the pedal interface but are intended as an aid to walking!

[Cyril Haearn]

Just like saddle and bars, it is worth experimenting with different positions

[brychan]

Just like saddle and bars, it is worth experimenting with different positions

I have a bike trainer so I going to practice clipping in & out on that till I get really used to them, my main concern is stopping & starting at lights & roundabouts, so I want to spend several hours on a bike trainer before going out on the road

Thanks all Mike

[TrevA]

Whilst you have fitted your cleats correctly, you may find that you need to adjust them fore and aft and possibly also the angle that the cleat sits on the shoe, which affects your toe-in/toe out. I ride with my heels in and toes out, so I've angled my cleats to allow this.

The Yellow cleats have 6 degrees of float which allows a certain amount of movement of the foot, when clipped in to the pedal, which allows your foot to find its most comfortable position.

The adjustment screw at the back of the pedal is the spring tension of the release - so adjusting this makes it easier or harder to clip in and out. I've never felt the need to adjust them, but if you are using them, say on the track, you might want to tighten them up to stop your shoes coming out of the pedals by accident. I've never unclipped by accident on the road, even when sprinting for the cafe.

[Brucey]

looking at your photo the cleats are set at completely different angles to one another. Unless you are happy with your left foot toe out and your right foot toe-in, I think you will be desperately uncomfortable with that setup.

cheers

[TrevA]

looking at your photo the cleats are set at completely different angles to one another. Unless you are happy with your left foot toe out and your right foot toe-in, I think you will be desperately uncomfortable with that setup.

cheers

+1. To start with at least, I would set both cleats up the same. You can put the shoes sole to sole to check this, or take measurements from parts of the shoe to the cleat to check. Some shoes have measuring marks to assist with this.

[Mick F]

What I did from going from normal pedals to clips and straps, was to see where the marks were from trainers. By using cleats on cycling shoes and knowing where the marks had been on trainers, showed me where the cleats should be on cycling shoes and clips and straps.

It was a small step to use clipless pedals as I knew where the connections should be from before.
Experience has told me throughout the years where my feet should be even with a few different pedal systems.

My advice is to suck it and see.
Have a go, and adjust as you think necessary, but in my opinion, you'll be fine fairly quick.