Road Bike Shoe Makers: Who on earth are you drilling holes for under your soles?

Triathlon Forum
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I regard myself as a generally average proportioned person in that none of my body parts are major outliers compared to the regular population.

For 18 years I have generally been frustrated by where the road bike shoe makers put the holes in the sole for your cleats. Way back in the day, when we wore toe clips, you first rode without the clip till you saw the mark the pedal put in your shoe, then you aligned the plastic clip and secured it to your sole. Now, it seems they put the holes (for me at least) such that even if I slam the cleats all the way back I feel like I am riding on my tippy toes (forget the ball of the foot).

Two years ago I finally got so frustrated, that I took my then 2 year old carbon shimano road pedals (I was and currently still use the old SPD-R system) and I drilled the holes so I could slide the metal plate inside the carbon a whole 7 mm further back (initially started with 5 mm and then went further back.

I posted about it here:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=103719;search_string=drill%20holes%20devashish%20paul;#103719

and there was a short discussion here:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=604322;search_string=drill%20holes%20further%20back;#604322

Over the next couple of years, I became more comfortable on the bike and generally posted faster bike splits (I also improved my technique and training). But the best part was that nagging achilles and plantar fascia injuries gradually got much better.

This week I bought a new pair of Nike tri shoes, having totally forgot about my hole drilling escapade. Once I mounted the cleats (all the way back), I noticed the tippy toe feeling and immediately my PF and achilles could feel the additional load. So I just went back to my old shoes as I did not want to drill a brand new pair. I’d rather find another pair. The Nike shoe looks like the carbon fiber sole is made in the same factory as on the Shimano shoes. They are absolutely identical.

Anyway, I was wondering if there are any brands where the hole is generally further back. Incidentally, on my Louis Garnea and Pearl Izumi MTB shoes (both have SPD), I can get the cleat as far back as I want. I might try one of these brands hoping their road cleat holes are also further back.

Does anyone have advice?..or do I just take the drill to the new Nike shoes?

Dev

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Rocket7 maybe?

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I totally agree with you. When I worked at Time Sport USA we commonly had to Dremel the cleat hole slots farther back for riders like Roberto Gaggioli.

If you position the center of the cleat 1/3rd of the way back down the length of the shoe sole you are OK, any farther back and most current configurations don’t cut it.

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The cheap solution is to just take the drill to the $179 CDN Nike Tri shoes rather than go to Rocket7 :-). Aside from the location of the cleat hole, the shoe fits nicely. The only problem is that when I go to a three hole type pedal like Look, Time RXS/RXE or the current Shimano road pedal, the location of the three holes may be too close to the toe and the cleats only have so much travel aft. At least with the old SPD-R I have the option of going back further by drilling the sole.

5

I agree completely with your rant. This is one of the reasons I buy DMT shoes, they seem to have the cleat holes further down the sole than any other shoe. Take a look at them, they have pretty nice road and tri shoes.

6

I had this same gripe about my tri shoes from Shimano and then I switched to the Specialized Tri Vent this year. Wow, what a monumental difference. I can actually feel the pressure being distributed across my entire foot as opposed to on the front of the ball of my foot.

Are there any shoe industry people that post or lurk here at ST? Because this is a legit complaint you/we have. I thought I was crazy for thinking this about my shoes.

7

That’s very interesting. I seem to have the opposite problem: My look cleats are jammed as far forward as they can go and I sometimes feel they should move even a bit more.

Does shoe size have anything to do with it? My feet are at the larger end with a 47 SIDI. Maybe I just have my cleats in the wrong position.

8

Love this post, I’m the exact opposite, I’m slammed all the way foward trying to get the pedal right underneath the 2nd met head, maybe I’m doing this all wrong;)
.

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It looks like there might be a market for adaptor cleats. The manufacturing would be pretty cheep. You would not need to sell a million to make money. Any takers?

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The difficulty is in not adding stack height with the adaptors. If you could make me an adaptor with zero thickness I am definitely keen.

As for the early posts I totally agree, my cleats are pushed all the way back and could do with a few more mm. I’ve heard its common for Raam riders to drill new holes to get their cleats back, I also gather a lot of sprinters like their cleats further forward.

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Paul–

I just bought 3 pairs of PIs from the PIoutlet (killer deal). They are the only pair that feels like proper cleat fitting–and you name it, I have owned it/race in it/tried it.

Tonight in spin the instructor (very smart lady) tried to get me to changed my heel pattern and I immediately felt it in my knee–so what works for one—

if you need a pair of cheap PIs I will be heading out there again in a few short weeks. Let me know…and if you were men’s m, or women’s m…omg KILLER deals!

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Which PI outlet?

I am using some older Shimano road shoes and have my Speedplay cleats all the way back…

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Dawsonville up 400. It is before North Ga outlet on the right next to the pizza place (if you hit HD you just missed it).

If you go, ask for John. He was VERY patient with me and even helped me find $30 running shoes!!! I think I paid $60 for the old blue PIs (was ashamed at how dirty the old pair is compared to the new ones). I dropped them off with Patrick at all3 (LG just didn’t feel right) for cleats, but not sure how far back the cleat can go. I just know they are the identical pair I bought from Patrick in 2002 (?). They have a pretty wide selection.

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I was thinking of just making a replacement cleat with bolt holes in a different location. I think this could be done pretty easily for Shimano and Look cleats. I use Campy pedals, which would be a bit tougher because you would also have to machine a new engagement hook. The thickness would be identical to the original manufacture’s cleat. You might have to build in some stiffeners if the bolts end up too far from the cleat engagement points but I doubt that would be a problem.

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Bump…I am interested in hearing other stories/gripes. I’ll take a look at DMT

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it would be a lot easier to modify your shoe than to fabricate a custom cleat.

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A Question. Exactly what does moving the cleats all the way back do? Is one’s foot now more forward or also going back from the pedal. I can never get it straight & with a leg discerpancy have to spend time making micro adjustments. Sometimes I can never get one foot to go where I really want it to be. I did try drilling but I didn’t really know what I was doing.

Barb

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Dawsonville up 400. It is before North Ga outlet on the right next to the pizza place (if you hit HD you just missed it).

Is that the one that used to actually be at the outlet mall? I didn’t know they’d moved; I thought they closed down.

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If you slam the cleat all the way back towards the heel, there is more of your forefoot over the pedal axle. Picture walking up stairs on your tippy toes vs flatfooted pushing on each stair with your heels. This is the diff (to some extent) between cleat forward and cleat back.

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Check out the Specialized Tri-vent. I just got a pair a couple of weeks ago and the first thing I noticed when I was mounting my cleats is that the screws are at the very bottom of the cleat to get them in the correct location. These are Look cleats and I use the 1/3 back to the center of the spindle method for my cleat placement. If I wanted the cleat further down on my foot, I have the entire slot length available for adjustment.