Fixed Cleats: best way to find the correct angle
 

For those of you who use fixed cleats, what is the best way to find the right angle of your cleat position. I've decided to start using fixed cleats because I love the locked in feeling they provide, but before riding more miles with them, I want to make sure they're in the right position so I don't get injured.

Fixed cleats? Like zero float?


The angle would depend on your natural gait.

I wonder if anyone naturally has a gait where the foot's angle would/should be the same through the entire pedal rotation?

Since fixed cleats were used exclusively for at least the first 60 years of bike racing, the foot angle throughout the crank rotation is likely not something that warrants worrying about. I used them myself from the mid-'60s to the mid-'80s without issues.

To the OP: among my friends who used nailed-on cleats, we'd ride with a new pair of shoes without cleats until the pedal cage left marks in the soles of the shoes that made it obvious where the cleat slot should go. Something like that approach should be adaptable to clipless pedals.

I'm a long time convert to zero-float cleats. To set the cleat position, I sat on the edge of a table and let my legs dangle over the edge, paying close attention to the angle my feet stabilized at and set my cleats to mimic that position when clipped in. It took a couple of rides to fine tune the positioning - not surprisingly each foot ended up at a different angle. While you're in the fine tuning phase, listen to your knees they will complain the loudest from a misalignment. If I ride cleats with float now, I feel that my feet are side-slipping and losing power through the downstroke.

The problem with riding with loose cleats for positioning is that unless you can take your shoe(s) off without unclipping and then mark the cleat position on the sole, you'll lose it from the force of unclipping.

I use the Ergon tp1 cleat positioning tool

I have one and it's great once you've set up the cleats the first time. I always do a "test ride" on my indoor trainer before making a final tightening. I have had to make adjustments during that test ride.

Shimano SPD-SL I use have float. As for how to get the right position? Read/watch videos, then ride. Adjust the cleats, ride again. Adjust cleats, ride again. Adjust cleats, ride again, happy.

I use 5° float cleats and have absolutely no sense of looseness or side-slip. Low float cleats are a brilliant solution to the issue of getting cleat placement right. And make no mistake: I rode nailed on cleats for many years.

Regarding getting zero float cleats placement right is a problem. Without toeclips to hold the foot in place you can't ride very far without cleats to imprint the bottom of the shoe. Best way I know is to mount the cleats loosely, mount the bike on a trainer stand and pedal for awhile. Then have an assistant tighten the bolts for you without letting the cleats shift.