cleat position
Wondering what the EN guidance is to positioning the cleats? Does the guidance change when going from traditional road racing to long course triathlons? I have heard that mid cleat position helps the IM run and does not hurt the IM bike power. Wondering if people here have experience with this?
Thanks as always,
Jim
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Comments
For Ironman, I put my cleats as far back as possible on my shoes, so yes, more mid-foot. I also have them slightly rotated towards the middle with the right side a little more than the left side, but that is more around the geometry of my knees and my particular bone angles. Having your cleats far back will create a slightly shorter lever arm so yes theoretically you can produce slightly less power at your peak power, but you should never be spiking your power during an IM anyways. So this will be slightly easier on your calves over 5-7 hours...
I think many Roadies and particularly Sprinters move their cleats all the way forward to get the opposite effect. But lets be honest here, we're only talking about a few millimeters so who knows if it really even does anything...? I can tell you that if the "twist" on my cleats is off by even a few degrees, then my knee will hurt during and after any ride longer than an hour.
I do NOT change my cleat position for Road riding or IM riding. 90% of what I do is Triathlon training and racing, so my cleats have been the same for the past 2 yrs for everything and I have no intention of changing them. Todd at TTbikefit helped me tweak my cleat position just by looking at my bike videos during the fit process.
If you have not trained with that cleat position I would not move them at all for a race which could be a recipe for disaster. Even if you toe in or out a MM you could be setting yourself up for major knee problems.
Nothing you decide to do different on race day is going to make you faster and may even hurt you in the long run.
Suppose you switch up to race wheels , 404, 808 disc etc they may make your bike a bit faster however your power, HR and RPE should be the same as in training.
What matters in an IM and is a haus rule is patience and discipline.
Also of great importance is the varus/valgus angle.
Point is, cleat adjustment should only be considered in the context of an integrated fit between body and bike. I don' think it should be done in isolation from an overall bike fitting. And if your bike fitter has not at least looked at your cleat position, it's not a complete fitting. My bike fitter has always considered both side to side and fore aft placement of my clears (angle doesn't really matter with my Speedplays.)
Todd @ TTbikefit did mine when he set my bike up a few months ago.
What Al said.
Change the cleat position and you're changing your position on the bike, cleat position is a part of the bike fit as a whole. I'd also be reluctant to assume there is such a thing as 'mid' position or 'forward' position, that would be assuming every shoe maker drills the holes in the soles in exactly the same position yet I doubt there is an official standard. (How could there even be a standard when shoe sizes vary, shoe widths vary, etc etc?)
When I got my most recent bike fit, probably 60 minutes were spent on my cleats, positioning and shimming them.
To me, it's important enough that, while I have a pair of road and a pair of triathlon shoes, they are the same brand with the exact same sole, and the cleats are set up identically. While I'm a bit compulsive, I think that keeping the variables constant keeps my pedaling mechanics the same, and this makes an injury less likely.
So, bottom line to me is that you should keep the positions the same in regards to road vs. tri riding, since the cleats are placed, theoretically, where you are the most biomechanically efficient.
Here's a link to an article (with a few more links within it): http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/03/midsole-bike-cleat-running-performance.html