Float, a little float or no float?

in message <[email hidden]>, Mark
Thompson ('pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com'😉

Quoted message said:

Am starting track cycling, so having Not Got On with the toestraps[1],
have bought some shoes to go with the LOOK pedals on the bikes provided
by the velodrome.

With the cleats I've got a choice between:

-9 degrees of float
-something in the middle
-no float

Opinion on the net seems equally divided between the two. I've no
problems with my knees, apart from pain/discomfort when cleats/foot
position is
wrong. Would float mainly help make up for slightly dodgy cleat
placement?

Yes. Personally the red cleats suit me. If you go for black cleats you have
to get the placement exactly spot on, or your will hurt your knees.

If this is for someone else's (i.e. the Velodrome's) track bikes, those are
the choices you've got. If it's your own bike you might look at Keywin
pedals - I've personally never tried them, but have a friend who swears by
them - which have float in two dimensions, if you see what I mean.
http://www.keywin.com/crm.htm

Quoted message said:

[1] feet keep coming out, or I do them up bstrd tight and have numb toes
yet am still not secure - most likely a shoe problem rather than
something
inherent to straps I s'pose. More annoying was the inability to get my
feet in the right position, and some minor knee pain that developed as a
result.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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M- !d- PS++ PE-- Y+ PGP !t 5? X+ !R b++ !DI D G- e++ h*(-) r++ y+++
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In article <[email hidden]>
Mark Thompson
<pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com> wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

[1] feet keep coming out, or I do them up bstrd tight and have numb toes
yet am still not secure - most likely a shoe problem rather than something
inherent to straps I s'pose. More annoying was the inability to get my
feet in the right position, and some minor knee pain that developed as a
result.

I used to have problems with toestraps until I started threading them
through the back of the pedal rather than the side - I found this makes
them more comfortable and more secure.

On Oct 21, 9:29 am, Mark Thompson

pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com said:

Am starting track cycling, so having Not Got On with the toestraps[1], have
bought some shoes to go with the LOOK pedals on the bikes provided by the
velodrome.

With the cleats I've got a choice between:

-9 degrees of float
-something in the middle
-no float

I started with the red KEO cleats (9 degrees) but found that these have
too much float for me. They caused over-rotation which irritates my
Illo-tibial band - then knee pain,

I switched to grey (something in the middle). I find these to be much
better.

Too much float may cause your heels to strike the chainstays,
particularly on a track bike with a narrower rear hub.

regard,
daren

in message <[email hidden]>, Rob Morley

(') said:

In article <[email hidden]>
Mark Thompson
<pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com> wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

[1] feet keep coming out, or I do them up bstrd tight and have numb toes
yet am still not secure - most likely a shoe problem rather than
something
inherent to straps I s'pose. More annoying was the inability to get my
feet in the right position, and some minor knee pain that developed as a
result.

I used to have problems with toestraps until I started threading them
through the back of the pedal rather than the side - I found this makes
them more comfortable and more secure.

Toestraps that are tight enough to be any use are unsafe, because you can't
get your foot out quickly without releasing the strap. We used to tolerate
that because there was no other option. Now there it. Continuing to use
toestraps seems to me irresponsible, as well as pointless.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

See one nuclear war, you've seen them all.

Mark Thompson said:

Am starting track cycling, so having Not Got On with the toestraps[1], have
bought some shoes to go with the LOOK pedals on the bikes provided by the
velodrome.

With the cleats I've got a choice between:

-9 degrees of float
-something in the middle
-no float

Opinion on the net seems equally divided between the two. I've no problems
with my knees, apart from pain/discomfort when cleats/foot position is
wrong. Would float mainly help make up for slightly dodgy cleat placement?

[1] feet keep coming out, or I do them up bstrd tight and have numb toes
yet am still not secure - most likely a shoe problem rather than something
inherent to straps I s'pose. More annoying was the inability to get my
feet in the right position, and some minor knee pain that developed as a
result.

Check with the track if the Look pedals on the bikes are the older
models or the newer Keo ones as the cleats are different. I'd start with
the red float cleats until I was sure I could do without.

Stan Cox

In article <[email hidden]>

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Rob Morley

(') said:

In article <[email hidden]>
Mark Thompson
<pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com> wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

[1] feet keep coming out, or I do them up bstrd tight and have numb toes
yet am still not secure - most likely a shoe problem rather than
something
inherent to straps I s'pose. More annoying was the inability to get my
feet in the right position, and some minor knee pain that developed as a
result.

I used to have problems with toestraps until I started threading them
through the back of the pedal rather than the side - I found this makes
them more comfortable and more secure.

Toestraps that are tight enough to be any use are unsafe, because you can't
get your foot out quickly without releasing the strap. We used to tolerate
that because there was no other option. Now there it. Continuing to use
toestraps seems to me irresponsible, as well as pointless.

The OP was about track use, where getting your foot out isn't really an
issue - when you go down it's so quick you don't really have a chance to
do anything and getting a foot out wouldn't really help, while
accidental release is dangerous anyway.
As for road use, while I've had my share of toppling into hedges/onto
verges I've never had a potentially serious incident[1] as a result of
tight straps and I reckon they're safer than not being attached to the
pedals in most situations. Damage to my right knee means that twisting
out of a tight clipless pedal can be difficult, and a loose one could
cause a dangerous accidental release, so all in all I reckon safer with
straps as with clipless, and probably safer than with no attachment
system.

[1] OK, maybe one: I came off on diesel or ice or something on a
sweeping downhill left-hander and ended up stuck in the straps lying in
the middle of the oncoming lane, but there was no traffic and I had such
a bad dead leg it probably wouldn't have made much difference if I
wasn't stuck anyway - after I released my feet I had to drag myself and
the bike to the side of the road and it was a few minutes before I could
stand up.