SPD cleats sideways left/right movement

[wood1e]

hi
I have just moved from a mountain bike with SPD cleats to a Road Bike with SPD cleats. They both have their own cleats.

And something I have noticed, having no experience of a road bike is that the 'left/right' movement of the my feet when in cleats means that sometimes the heel touches the back part of the frame, I think it is called the 'Chain Stay' and also the actual pedal 'Crank arm'

but on my mountain bike, this doesn't appear to happen, or I should say I have never noticed it before.

I have tighten up my road bike cleats as much as possible, 1 half turn before I really struggle to get my feet out!! . I seem to struggle with the actual twist movement, in generating enough power to break free of the cleat, especially as the shoes (cheapish from halfords) have some movement as well.
No matter how tight I go there is is still this left right floating/movement.

Is it just the way it is.? Is it that my body/legs are probably in the wrong position - this may well be the case I am fat and not new to cycling. .

Anyway, just looking for ideas, solutions, etc.. Maybe try different cleats?

 

[cyberknight]

i ride mtb spd cleats on my road bike, no reason to change to road shoe/ pedal combo unless your putting out pro level watts and your after minimal gains is the easy answer
dependant on the colour of your cleat they have varying amount of "float" to allow your foot to move left /right .
if you decide to persevere with road style shoes , this is a helpful link
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/bike-fit/cleats-explained-how-to-set-them-up-correctly-23575
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/how-to-install-and-adjust-cycling-cleats/

 

[HLaB]

hi
I have just moved from a mountain bike with SPD cleats to a Road Bike with SPD cleats. They both have their own cleats.

And something I have noticed, having no experience of a road bike is that the 'left/right' movement of the my feet when in cleats means that sometimes the heel touches the back part of the frame, I think it is called the 'Chain Stay' and also the actual pedal 'Crank arm'

but on my mountain bike, this doesn't appear to happen, or I should say I have never noticed it before.

I have tighten up my road bike cleats as much as possible, 1 half turn before I really struggle to get my feet out!! . I seem to struggle with the actual twist movement, in generating enough power to break free of the cleat, especially as the shoes (cheapish from halfords) have some movement as well.
No matter how tight I go there is is still this left right floating/movement.

Is it just the way it is.? Is it that my body/legs are probably in the wrong position - this may well be the case I am fat and not new to cycling. .

Anyway, just looking for ideas, solutions, etc.. Maybe try different cleats?

Do you mean road bike SPD-SL's changed from MTB SPD's ?
If so its probably an instability in your knee which might not manifest until you are a bit tired. The amount your foot can move isn't influenced much by the tightness of the cleat retention but the amount of float on the cleat it self eg

You can go for less float but that can constrain that natural knee movement and injure your knee. I think mtb spd cleats offer 6deg, the same as the yellow spd-sl's but its hard to get them set up identically first go and your riding position is slightly different anyway, so you may have to tweak them to reduce or avoid the heal strike.

Even if its mtb spds on both bikes (MTB & road) and you have managed to get them set up identically the different riding position between mtb and road can exasperate the instability and minor tweaks will be needed to reduce or avoid the heal strike.

 

[Tomm Williams]

I actually prefer the amount of float offered by SPD cleats and pedals, I find it more comfortable for my way of riding. My heels were also striking the chain stays on occasion so I rotated the cleats to allow my heels to sit farther outward. This was a simple manner of twisting the cleat while tightening and also positioning it as far to the inside of the shoe as possible which resulted in the foot sitting farther outward when mounted.
These were only subtle changes but made a great difference to me.

 

[cyberknight]

I actually prefer the amount of float offered by SPD cleats and pedals, I find it more comfortable for my way of riding. My heels were also striking the chain stays on occasion so I rotated the cleats to allow my heels to sit farther outward. This was a simple manner of twisting the cleat while tightening and also positioning it as far to the inside of the shoe as possible which resulted in the foot sitting farther outward when mounted.
These were only subtle changes but made a great difference to me.

my set up although similar has less angle on the cleats , i must have a less knees out stance

 

[Ian H]

Tightening the pedal won't reduce the amount of float. Adjust them so you can release easily but not unintentionally.

 

[davidphilips]

First thing to try is fitting your mtb pedals to your road bike, if problem is fixed then it could be cleat position on your road shoes, still hitting stays then either bike set up or hate to say this and hope i am wrong but maybe your road frame is just not for you.
Tightening cleats or trying to keep your foot from whats comfortable is perhaps not good.
Addig this as having thought about this maybe moving your cleats in as far as they can go along with moving your cleats back a bit may help with clearance?

 

[spiderman2]

hi
I have just moved from a mountain bike with SPD cleats to a Road Bike with SPD cleats. They both have their own cleats.

And something I have noticed, having no experience of a road bike is that the 'left/right' movement of the my feet when in cleats means that sometimes the heel touches the back part of the frame, I think it is called the 'Chain Stay' and also the actual pedal 'Crank arm'

but on my mountain bike, this doesn't appear to happen, or I should say I have never noticed it before.

I have tighten up my road bike cleats as much as possible, 1 half turn before I really struggle to get my feet out!! . I seem to struggle with the actual twist movement, in generating enough power to break free of the cleat, especially as the shoes (cheapish from halfords) have some movement as well.
No matter how tight I go there is is still this left right floating/movement.

Is it just the way it is.? Is it that my body/legs are probably in the wrong position - this may well be the case I am fat and not new to cycling. .

Anyway, just looking for ideas, solutions, etc.. Maybe try different cleats?

Ive had the same problem in the past.Found the bike geometry is different on mountain bike and crank arms were slightly wider and further from the chain stays , only 10 mm on each side but made a difference.It known as q- factor.

 

[Peter Salt]

If I understand correctly, the OP had a MTB with SPD cleats and now got a road bike and is using the same SPD cleats (not SPD-SL), and the problem is that he rubs the crank arms and chain stays with his heels on the road bike but not the MTB. I think that what he describes as 'left/right' movement is clockwise/anti-clockwise movement - i.e. float.

One thing to look at, is MTB vs road bike Q-factor - in this case I mean the distance between left pedal centre to right pedal centre. It's likely narrower on the road bike. Being used to a wider stance on the MTB, your feet are trying to stand wider and flaring. You may want to experiment with +4mm extended axle pedals or pedal spacers.

 

[Tomm Williams]

my set up although similar has less angle on the cleats , i must have a less knees out stance

I’ve tried a more forward position and it always results in pain. Odd looking I know but I can pedal for hours on end.

 

[fossyant]

Just adjust the cleats so the road shoes miss the cranks when tilted inwards. It's down to road pedals and shoe positioning being narrower (Q factor).

 

[youngoldbloke]

I use pedal washers to move the pedals out a fraction of an inch to cure this.
Tip - use alloy sump washers with the appropriate inside/outside diameter/s - a fraction of the cost of washers sold specifically as "Pedal Washers" by cycling retailers.

 

[cyberknight]

I’ve tried a more forward position and it always results in pain. Odd looking I know but I can pedal for hours on end.

if it works it works 👍