Making Cleat Slots Longer

Anyone done this recently? If so, what’s the best way without a Dremel or similar?

I’ve convinced myself, probably wrongly, that I need to get my cleats further back to stop some quad pain I get when descending. Didn’t get it in my old shoes which had long slots and were probably to small for me, so pushed them even further back.

Current shoes are Crank Brothers Mallets, which are comfy and fit really well so want to try this if possible. Ta

I’ve done this, quite a long time ago now when I was first getting into riding bikes in general. Very crude on my part and I only needed 3-4mm or so. I used a stanley knife over several passes to cut / scratch out the rough shape, and then a thin round file to smooth it out and make the end of the slot rounded and neat. It made a massive difference to the way the shoe felt. IIRC I also had to cut some insole foam away from the inside to allow the sliding plate to go that far backwards, which was the biggest pain of the whole operation.

They were pretty cheap decathlon commuter type shoes though, with a not very stiff / hard sole. Imagine on a higher end shoe this may not be as easy.

I did it with an oscillating multitool, worked perfectly well for the ride or 2 until I decided they were too far back and I moved them forward again.

Thanks both. Might have to buy a cheap rotary tool and give it a go.

Drill a series of holes and file

I haven’t got a Dremmel so whenever I do the wife’s shoes I have just drilled some holes and then used a saw blade or file to turn them into slots.

Word of warning. It was easy to do with her Shimano shoes as the shoes’s soles were plastic and could be made 10-20mm further back with no problems. But when I tried it with my old 5Ten Greg Minnaar shoes it didn’t work as well because the plastic part was only a small part of the sole.

Her goal was to mimic the flat pedal midfoot position with her SPD shoes as they are all seem to have the cleats too far forward.

If it’s good enough for Fabian Barel, it’s good enough for us mortals.

Fabien Barel’s clipless pedal setup tips

Drill and file sounds like it might be the way forward. Will give it a go over the weekend.

The further back you set the cleats, the harder it is to achieve the twist you need to release.

Clipped in falls are not nice. Last instant release, followed by desperate stabbing down of foot onto angled rock can lead to months in plaster. If my memory serves me right.

I did this with some Shimano shoes years ago. I cant remember the model, white like the AM9. The problem I had was that when you extended the slots you went into a different part of the sole and then couldn’t both the cleats to the plate inside and it when I did finally manage it that plate dug into my foot. Most uncomfortable.

You can buy an adaptor, got one to convert some quocc shoes I must get around to doing

@BigJohn – it’s just practice. My wife does have her SPDs adjusted pretty tight though.

I don’t remember having any problems with the cleat bolts on the wife’s AM9s and DXs. Just remember to put some silicon gel on the inside to stop water getting in

Clipped in falls are not nice

That’s all a matter of perspective. They’re **** hilarious when you are watching.

Especially the really slow speed ones at traffic lights (and yes, I have done it before).

You can buy an adaptor, got one to convert some quocc shoes I must get around to doing