I have acquired some scott cycling shoes and some time roc atac pedals. I have never tried clipless before and i tried for the first time today. Couple of questions where i screw the cleats into the sole there are 2 sets of holes why is this? second question i kinda felt like i was on my tiptoes when trying for the first time today i found clipping in and out far easier than i thought but i suppose the real test will be unclipping in a hurry (just before a crash). Where do people position the cleats to the front or back? i suppose its trial and error. One more thing i found my heels were pointing away from the bike yet when i was on flats they always kinda pointed towards the frame

for most people, the pedal axle should be in line pretty much with the ball of your foot, just back from the bottom of your big toe. put it there to start with and adjust if later on it feels like you want to.

as for clipping in and out, it just comes with time, so practise practise practise! it’s important to practise not just clipping out but doing it when you come to a complete stop, as that’s when autopilot takes over. go to the park and practise on the grass (a lot!)

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cleat-positioning

I just set mine up so that it feels the same as when I have my feet in the right place on flats. That’s usually so that its just behind the balls of my feet and so that my feet are aligned “how they fall” on the pedal, otherwise I get mega knee pain.

As coffeeking says, alignment is crucial to your knees. I’ve ridden spuds for 16 years and even now if i get a new pair of shoes i need to spend ages setting them up or my knees will be in agony. The 2 sets of holes is for your prefernece of where you want your cleats. The being up on your toes feeling is because you’ll be used to using the middle of your feet to pedal with using flats whereas with spd’s your connected so can use your ball more to exert more power

Think of a sprinter on the blocks. He’l use the toes and ball of is feet to push of and then to sprint to the line because thats where you can achieve maximun power from. After a while it becomes the norm though