Anyone else buy into the midfoot cleat position? What are people’s experiences of it?

(before i get the Makita out)

Go for it, Ive been using them for about 5 years now and its free power and better efficiency, so its a no brainer.
Saddle hight does have to go down a fair bit though.
My awesome super lightweight home made mid sole cleat shoes 🙂

This is a picture of the second or third pair I did ~

The triatherletes seem to love it………says it all 😀

I think it saves your calf muscles over a more forward position. Probably good for TT’s or triathlons. I think you lose a bit of “snap” though.

I used to run a really rearward cleat position, it felt good. Have since moved them forwards though.

Did a bit of reading into it a while back.Seems to help run times in tri by not over working the calves in the ride.Also does’nt penalise mashers who can’t/don’t spin circles-again good for triathletes 😉
Would just be odd off road….

Been thinking of trying it for a while, to see if it alleviates the excruciating hotfoot I get on longer rides. I’ve tried pedalling with the instep when the hotfoot kicks in on the mobile, and it does seem to feel better.

What shoes are you using bob?

Try some different insoles?

Tried pretty much all of them, currently in bonts with orthopedic insoles, cleats as far back as they go but after 3 hours on a warm day it’s agony, Only stopping and pulling off the shoes “resets” the pain.
It doesn’t happen in winter…

Bizarre. I found I got a hotfoot on my right foot in a pair of shimanos. I put an extra layer of something under the insole which cured it.

Try moving your cleats forward a bit?

Im suffering with Achilles tendonitis at the moment, and thought this might help – by help I mean less painful

willber – Member
Im suffering with Achilles tendonitis at the moment, and thought this might help – by help I mean less painful

For the price of mtb cleats/pedals and drillnig shoe’s, it could be worth spending the money on a bike fit, which will probably sort it, and any other issues you have?

DT- I think I’ve tried pretty much every combination of everything! Have convinced myself I have a morton’s neuroma :-\
Problem is, it affects about a dozen rides a year, and goes away in the autumn so I forget about it. Then about now, I’ll go for a ride on a hot day and get a rude reminder…

You could try some of these 😀

Edit

Have you tried these http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/esoles-efit-footbeds

lightman – I’m curious about how you drilled and fitted a plate to attach the cleats, as I’m looking at doing that to my rather expensive S-Works shoes (which are admittedly still heavier than your Adidas footy boots) so I can mount SPD cleats without using an adapter. Don’t really want to get it wrong! Any useful tips?

What do you mean adaptor?
All you need to do is line up where the cleats will go and drill a couple of holes.
Until a found carbon, my shoes were a bit of a pain to do. Having a carbon kit really makes it a lot easier to do things like that.
But, because of where the cleat goes, you have to make sure you can still pedal and not have the toe box hit the crank.

Willber
Mid sole cleats are actually very helpful if you have any Achilles issues as the ankle and calf are not needed for pedalling.

Adapter because they’re road shoes and only come with 3 hole “Look” drilling. I’m not actually looking at going midfoot, simply drilling new holes between the current ones. Once you’ve drilled the holes, do you use a standard cleat plate inside the shoe? Do you use any sort of jig to help get the holes in the right place, or just mark and drill?

Ah, got you.
Yeah, just a standard plate cut in half. You can actually buy a two bolt one instead of cutting the standard 4 bolt one in half, or you could just use a nut and washer!
For drilling the holes, I just try and make sure its as straight as possible and mark the holes then drill away.

The alternatives….?

http://cyclingboom.com/image-type/cycle-chic

Just fyi its not a magic cure for achillies tendonitus.

The only cure is to find the cause.

I was a long term sufferer with massive physio bills and trying all the tech tricks likethis

The cure was a good physio in the form of gluptons wife who identified everything in my legs was bein pulled tight by my lower back. Play violin on my hamstrings so you could.

Lots of core and stretching sorted it- hasnt bothered me in 3 years.

Other causes may be classic over use or poor bike fit.

This is interesting as it replicates the position you tend to ride with flats. I like the way you feel more in control of the bike going downhill on tech stuff, and landing jumps places less stress on your ankles when you’re centred like this.

This is a joke right? Haha lolz

Not sure if trolling or just stupid.

You can actually buy a two bolt one instead of cutting the standard 4 bolt one in half

Can you? I’ve had a good look and can’t find any – not sure if I’m just not searching for the right thing. I could just cut a 4 bolt one in half, but it seems a dedicated 2 bolt plate would be so much neater.

Blimey, I though I was the only footwear bodger. Here’s my ‘winter boot’ bodgery – normal cleat position though!

hei hei your doing flats wrong.

is this for real ? whole point of your foot is to take the shock rather than transferring it into your back. This is like running on your heels (like joggers do).

is this for real ?

Ha, its the STW wind up of the year. You’ve been had sonny.

Isn’t this just replicating the seat/pedal position a very slack seat tube would give?

I was always given to believe that a position more over the pedals (ie a steeper seat tube) was better for sprinting or racing, whilst a slacker angle was better for steady power over long distances.

Have ideas on the subject changed that much?

Funniest thread for ages!

aracer
They’re hard to find, here’s some on Amazon US.

For anyone looking for more info/testing, Joe Friel has the results plus lots of Q&A.
And another test on Cycling News.

There are only a few Pro road cyclists using Mid-sole, but loads of tri-athletes and a few mtb’ers.
Here’s World Champ etc…….Susanne Ljungskog, who has been using them since around 2006 from what i can tell ~

Was always tempted by a two position system – toe for power uphill etc
More middling for descending might try this with a knackered pair of SPD’s

Different people have different running styles..
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/04/running-technique-footstrike.html

and their own pedalling style….
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/05/pedalling-technique-what-is-best/
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/04/power-to-the-pedal-cleat-position/
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/clothing/shoes/product/review-biomac-bio-mxc2-shoes-09-34720
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/08/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-rearward-cleat-positioning-wheel-lifespan-and-corrosion_234538

It’s interesting the comments about saving your calves.
Do people experience their calves get tired cycling?
I only ask because i’ve got XS sized calves and have never really felt them doing much whilst riding.

No, you walk all day pivoting off the ball of your foot. In fact, all of your life. The body is pretty well adapted to this, so it makes sense to put a clear there.
Is this some elaborate barefoot running troll?

not a troll – i thought about it when i changed from flats to spds on my mountain bike. with spds, the cleats feel too far fwd (even when all the way back). When i ride flats i tend to have the pedal spindle running under the arch of my foot, but with spds, i can only get my foot as far back as the ball.

Ive kinda got used to that position now, but when descending it deffo feels better having the middle of the foot over centre of the pedal, rather than the ball – as with spds (to me that it)

When i ride flats i tend to have the pedal spindle running under the arch of my foot

Ahhh, you’re one of those. Everyone has a riding buddy who does this. They can’t quite bring themselves to tell them, hoping they’ll just grow out of it.

To be fair, I have to admit that when I ride flats I have the pedal somewhat further back on the foot than when riding SPDs – though that may be partly to do with mostly also having one wheel less when riding flats!

Never really thought of it but a more rearwards cleat position makes sense in terms of minimizing knee and possibly hip angles when sat down pedalling I can see why tri riders would like it and the benefits for some roadies makes sense…

Interested in some of the footwear fabrication on display in this thread, DIY carbon mid and outer soles look interesting. Any tips/hints, how many ply in a mid sole?

Never really thought of it but a more rearwards cleat position makes sense in terms of minimizing knee and possibly hip angles

Unless you move the seat forwards, it actually increases the hip angle – if you do move the seat then you need to move the bars and you’ve then messed up the weight distribution. Which is why it actually seems a strange idea for TTs and triathlons where most people are trying to minimise the hip angle (given that getting as aero as possible already results in an increased hip angle, hence the trend towards steep seat angles to compensate for that). Though I guess most triathletes are quite happy to compromise their bike handling in order to improve performance on the run – I should care as I’m thinking about getting back into multisport, but I’m too old, have been riding too long with my current cleat position and have had too much red wine tonight, so meh!