Cleat position matters

22/11/24 19:22 Filed in: Gear

I recently retired a pair of shoes. This took my newest shoes out of the "pain cave" and onto the road. I had ridden them several times on the trainer and found them to be fine. But as soon as I got them outside, they felt weird.
I double checked the cleat position against all the old shoes I've got with cleats still mounted - and they looked identical. But it felt unstable out of the saddle.
I took the time to slide the cleat approximately 1 mm further rearward on the shoe, and the difference was remarkable. There is no discernible difference when seated, but standing feels correct again.

One test I try when I put new shoes into action is to ride one new shoe with one old shoe (both combos) on the trainer against a load to ensure they're correct. And these shoes passed that. I'll have to throw in a standing sprint effort for future checking.

The bottom line is that differences between shoes means that even perfect replication of position doesn't mean that the position is perfect! To be perfect requires a bit of testing.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Cleat position matters