Fit issue

I recently put speedplay pedals on my Madone. The set up was done by the LBS at my northern home and I was fitted with these pedals on the bike. But I took them off and used my power grips. I was comfortable on the bike with the power grip pedals on rides up to my longest, 57 miles. Nothing hurt.

Now I finally bit the bullet and went clipless. It turns out that I have no problem clipping in and out. But, things just don't feel quite right. Yesterday was my second ride with them. I went 12 miles and the outside right of my right knee bugged me a bit, especially for the first 2/3 of the ride. I also felt like I was sliding forward on my saddle. My saddle is level. I've always been happy with this saddle and have about 1200 miles on it.

Ideas? Is my saddle placement a bit off? Or the cleats on the shoes? Anything that I can try before trying to hunt up a bike shop?

It could be the positioning of the where your foot is on the pedal. My husband had an issue with the first set of clipless pedals he tried. He had a lot of issues with his feet. Bought another set, different style and he hasn't had any issues with those. So that could be part of it. I haven't had real issues that way, just a semi fear of having my right foot clipped in so I use the type that has clipless on one side and platform on the other.

Try moving the cleats farther forward on your shoes (farther away from your ankles - may be the reason you're being pulled forward). You can probably tell by feel which direction your knee is being torqued and make an adjustment in the cleat rotation. Bring whatever tool you need to adjust your cleats with you on your rides - have it easily accessible in a jersey pocket and be prepared to make tiny tweaks every five or ten miles until it feels right.

Okay, I'll experiment. Thanks.

I thought about this a little more ... I've been doing it for so many years it's kind of natural and I don't think about it much.

When cleat rotation is off, the feel is as much in my foot inside my shoe, as it is in my knee. I might not notice it until I get knee irritation, but if that happens, it's my foot as much as anything I'll be paying attention to.

Fasten your shoe slightly loosely, get on the bike and clip in, relax everything and let your knee and ankle track the way they want to, and feel which side of your shoe your toes are pressing against. Then rotate the cleat so that your foot naturally wants to center inside your shoe.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I thought about this a little more ... I've been doing it for so many years it's kind of natural and I don't think about it much.

When cleat rotation is off, the feel is as much in my foot inside my shoe, as it is in my knee. I might not notice it until I get knee irritation, but if that happens, it's my foot as much as anything I'll be paying attention to.

Fasten your shoe slightly loosely, get on the bike and clip in, relax everything and let your knee and ankle track the way they want to, and feel which side of your shoe your toes are pressing against. Then rotate the cleat so that your foot naturally wants to center inside your shoe.

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Great idea! I'll try that today. Looking at my cleats they already are adjusted so that they bring me as close to the crank as possible, so I can't move them inward any more than they are. So I hope that I don't need to!

Speedplays have a very low stack-height. That is, they are not very tall, and while the cleats look massive and thick, the pedals sit IN them so your feet are very close to the spindle. So your seat height will have to be checked. If you did not adjust the seat height when you removed the Speedplays and put your old pedals on, you were riding with a lower effective seat height and your body is used to that length. With the Speedplays, you are extending your legs further with each pedal stroke. This will make you feel like you need to slide forward to compensate for the greater length, to get closer to the pedals. Maybe mount the old pedals again and have a friend measure, with you on the bike, the distance from the saddle to the bottom of your lower foot/start of shoe bed, with the cranks vertical. Then do so with the Speedplays.

The thing about Speedplays that is one of their strengths IMO is their float. As long as the cleats are installed correctly with the spindle under the balls of your feet, your legs and knees should not feel like they are being held in the wrong position as your feet are free to pivot into the position that your legs dictate. So Rotating the cleats may not provide much noticeable change as your feet are not locked into an arbitrary angle to begin with.

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Originally Posted by tzvia

Speedplays have a very low stack-height. That is, they are not very tall, and while the cleats look massive and thick, the pedals sit IN them so your feet are very close to the spindle. So your seat height will have to be checked. If you did not adjust the seat height when you removed the Speedplays and put your old pedals on, you were riding with a lower effective seat height and your body is used to that length. With the Speedplays, you are extending your legs further with each pedal stroke. This will make you feel like you need to slide forward to compensate for the greater length, to get closer to the pedals. Maybe mount the old pedals again and have a friend measure, with you on the bike, the distance from the saddle to the bottom of your lower foot/start of shoe bed, with the cranks vertical. Then do so with the Speedplays.

The thing about Speedplays that is one of their strengths IMO is their float. As long as the cleats are installed correctly with the spindle under the balls of your feet, your legs and knees should not feel like they are being held in the wrong position as your feet are free to pivot into the position that your legs dictate. So Rotating the cleats may not provide much noticeable change as your feet are not locked into an arbitrary angle to begin with.

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+1

After my ACL surgery my ortho would not let me ride with my Speedplays, or any clipless pedal system. My fitter changed my saddle height to accommodate the flat pedals. When I went back to clipless my fitter readjusted the saddle height.

When my fitter makes changes on my bike he recommends keeping my rides short for a couple of weeks, not more than 10 miles, as the body needs to adjust to the changes.

IMHO, don't change anything. If you're still having problems after a month or so see a fitter. That way he can see if there is something wrong with your original setup. If you make changes the fitter won't be able to see what the first setup was and won't have a base to start with.

I tried the loosen the shoes tip and my right foot wanted to be more on the outside. I tightened the shoes a bit to go for a short ride, before messing with the cleats. I had no knee issues so maybe it is a case of adapting to a different system. If I have any more problems though I may move the cleat outward a bit.

Also, this is kind of weird, but I wore my new Shebeest shorts, which are not slippery unlike the shorts I wore on the ride where I was sliding on my seat. I didn't slide at all. I think before making a change I'll do a few more rides. I ended up riding 15.75 miles this morning.

Now for the bad stuff. Half way into my ride three dogs came out after me. I determined that I could not easily outrun the dogs, so my plan was to stop and put the bike between me and the dogs. While slowing down and before I could disengage the pedals, the lead dog and I got tangled up. I went down, clipped in. The dogs took off. I had to undo my shoes to get out of my right pedal. I am pretty skinned up. A driver stopped and helped me out. I started crying like a baby.

The dog owners came out and watched everything from their yard.

I managed to get myself together, got back on and rode home.

My knee hurts, but not from the pedals.

I am having post trauma here. What if those dogs had been really agressive? There I was, trapped in my pedals, on the ground.

I pulled out the pepper spray and mounted it on my bike.

I need a hug.

Goldfinch, generally Speedplays do not release when you are in a crash... at least, that has been my experience. But, I still would not use any other pedal.
I just unclip lying there in road, on my side, no having to take the shoe off. I guess if you're cognizant enough to do that, it's fine, if you're not, you have worse problems. But, with dogs nipping at me, I can see why you are freaked out.
I had a dog issue in my neighborhood a couple of years ago. When I saw I wasn't going to be able to outrun the dog, I immediately unclipped, before I even stopped and just rested my foot on the pedal. I mean, I unclipped right away, on one side, before I made my decision as to what to do. As you did, I decided to stop and put my bike between myself and the dog and scream my head off. And, to top it off, I was at the beginning of a little hill. The owner (my neighbor) heard me screaming and called the dog away.
I am sorry this happened, but this also happened to me with spd pedals (not releasing in a crash), in a busy intersection, so I would chalk it up to something that happens, not necessarily related to Speedplays.

I managed to unclip my left foot when I was on the ground, but I just couldn't twist out of the right. I had fallen to the right. Yes, I figure that I should have unclipped as soon as I saw I had a dog problem, but it happened so fast. I am sure that my lack of experience with clipless did not help

(((((((goldfinch)))))))

Hope you heal up quick. That s*cks. Is there a leash law where you are? You might report them to animal control.

I doubt there is a leash law here in this rural part of Texas. I'm just not taking that route ever again! Thanks Oak.

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Originally Posted by goldfinch

I doubt there is a leash law here in this rural part of Texas. I'm just not taking that route ever again! Thanks Oak.

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So sorry to hear you had a tangle with some dogs, very glad to hear that you got out of it without major injury {{{{{Goldfinch}}}}

(((((Goldfinch)))))

And +1 about the stack height.