Floating Cleats
trimonster
Posts: 35
in General Chat
Further to my post about knee injuries from pedals, I have found floating cleats. I assume that by floating they allow more movement during the pedal stroke. Has or does anybody use floating cleats?
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The only argument I can think of for fixed cleats is more efficient power transfer perhaps? I would say this isn't a significant gain, should it be true, to run the risk of injury.
Tom
I went to Evans to get some cleats that you recommended and discovered that that the Shimano Cleats i have already are their version of Floating cleats (black with yellow tips). Are these good enough?, the website recons they give 4 deg of movement. I will quite happily get the red ones if they offer move movement!
One problem with too much float, and this is only a personal comment is that the extra movement from knee and ankle meant I was loosing power when I was pedalling and then wasting precious energy trying to play catchup.
[image]local://970/D38CDB2CABB44696BF717CC7992DB4DC.jpg[/image]
sorry for any confusion about colour and the amount of float the offer, im only really familiar with Look pedals. Four degrees sounds ok to me but may be worth a try if the things TTX Pro dont work out. Maybe see if Evans can advice you on cleat position too. Hope you get it sorted.
Tom
I am pretty sure tightening the tension screw won't adjust the float of the cleats. It is purely there to alter the amount of force required to remove your foot from the pedal. The float is based on the geometry of the cleat versus the pedal and therefore on most systems can't be altered. I may be wrong but that was my understanding. I agree with the point about most people using floating cleats, I'd far rather avoid knee injuries than get that little bit more power. With a fixed cleat you are at quite high risk of causing 'tracking' injuries within the knee.
I do totally agree with you TTX re: bike position is the first thing that should be checked. That person in the piccie looks a bit hard core! Depending on your bike experience this may not be the best example picture as he is ankling which takes practise but is certainly where most people (including myself) would like to end up.
Check it out, about ankling!!
The guy in the photo is strongly emphasising the pointing of his foot at the bottom of the stroke (my subjective view based on the fact that most people are adviced to keep the foot flat) , may be natural or deliberate. Either way not sure if it is a good representation of how to set up saddle height but as before it's quite an individual thing...And top of all that, I've already proved I know nuffin!
I'm off to rethink my life [;)]