I'm having a bizarre issue with new Powertap P1 pedals I just received. On recent-model Specialized (2014?) and Sidi (2010?) road shoes, both with stiff carbon-reinforced plastic soles, the soles curve in the front/back dimension maybe half a millimeter more than the cleat does over the space where the cleat is located, and this flexes the cleat ever so slightly when it's bolted to the shoes, just enough that the cleat will not engage properly with the pedal. On one side, the pedal won't pop into the back of the cleat at all, on the other side it semi pops in but not sufficiently to actually hold the cleat.
Interestingly, the exact same issue occurs with my old Look-style cleats when bolted to shoes, i.e. they won't click into the Powertap either (and will click in just fine with my old Look-style pedals). Also, the Powertap cleats click into the pedals just fine when unattached to shoes, so the issue seems to be that the shoes ever so slightly deform them. I have the pedal engagement tension at its lowest (and shipped) setting, but not surprisingly, cranking it higher doesn't change the underlying issue. I have an extremely thin plastic shim from my fitter under one cleat, not the other, and both sides have the issue, so that's a non-issue. My cleats are pushed back toward the mid-foot as far as possible, which probably exacerbates the issue, and also in toward the bike as far as possible, but cleat screws don't allow much placement flexibility, so we're talking about modest differences.
I was able to "solve" the issue by putting an extra cleat washer between the cleat and the shoe where the front screw attaches, and as I suspected, this meant the cleat didn't deform at all and worked perfectly. If anything, that cleat washer is too thick for that purpose, ideally I'd find a washer that was half or 3/4 that thick, so we're really talking about a small fraction of a millimeter here (I'm frankly surprised that little deformation is enough to make the pedals dysfunctional).
I'm relatively confident I can rule out both defects (in shoes, pedals, or cleats) and user error (installing cleats and using pedals isn't rocket science, and I've used Look-style cleats and pedals for many years). I called Powertap and spoke to a nice guy (Brandon) who did the verbal equivalent of throwing up his hands, i.e. he was as baffled as I am.
I took a bunch of pictures, which I'd be happy to upload. I thought we had that functionality now, and I'm not that much of a Luddite, but I don't see any way to get pictures into this post.
Interestingly, the exact same issue occurs with my old Look-style cleats when bolted to shoes, i.e. they won't click into the Powertap either (and will click in just fine with my old Look-style pedals). Also, the Powertap cleats click into the pedals just fine when unattached to shoes, so the issue seems to be that the shoes ever so slightly deform them. I have the pedal engagement tension at its lowest (and shipped) setting, but not surprisingly, cranking it higher doesn't change the underlying issue. I have an extremely thin plastic shim from my fitter under one cleat, not the other, and both sides have the issue, so that's a non-issue. My cleats are pushed back toward the mid-foot as far as possible, which probably exacerbates the issue, and also in toward the bike as far as possible, but cleat screws don't allow much placement flexibility, so we're talking about modest differences.
I was able to "solve" the issue by putting an extra cleat washer between the cleat and the shoe where the front screw attaches, and as I suspected, this meant the cleat didn't deform at all and worked perfectly. If anything, that cleat washer is too thick for that purpose, ideally I'd find a washer that was half or 3/4 that thick, so we're really talking about a small fraction of a millimeter here (I'm frankly surprised that little deformation is enough to make the pedals dysfunctional).
I'm relatively confident I can rule out both defects (in shoes, pedals, or cleats) and user error (installing cleats and using pedals isn't rocket science, and I've used Look-style cleats and pedals for many years). I called Powertap and spoke to a nice guy (Brandon) who did the verbal equivalent of throwing up his hands, i.e. he was as baffled as I am.
I took a bunch of pictures, which I'd be happy to upload. I thought we had that functionality now, and I'm not that much of a Luddite, but I don't see any way to get pictures into this post.