And, what a difference it makes. having a good pedal-shoe-cleat system that is working properly can change your ride experience from a tolerable one to an enjoyable one. I have let go of  trying to know how everything works and every detail of technology. I depend more and more on my local shop and mechanics. It’s not the mechanics fault that I grabbed the wrong cleats off the shelf. It’s mine. It’s a good idea to read the instructions or at least bring your bike or shoes with you and get the right part the first time. That way you can spend more time enjoying your ride .
I recommend the Speedplay Zero pedals, easy to get in and out when you want (as long as you have the right clips), float adjustment, light weight and low maintenance. Read more about them here >

Feeling the rush of the excited crowds I wondered into the shoe and pedal side of the TIME booth for a first-hand peek at the new iCLIC pedals I had been hearing about. I wasn’t expecting a to run into a pro team mechanical manager, but that’s what I got. Straight from the drenched countryside of Northern France was Time’s Product Manager, Dominique Faure. His strong French accent made me sure of two things, I wasn’t about to beat him in a 200M sprint or in a fight for the ladies.  But that’s the magic of Interbike and I didn’t hold the language barrier between us to keep us from coming together as cyclists at heart. I came for the pedals but stayed for the conversation no matter how muddy it got.

THERMO MOLDING: INNOVATIVE RACING CONCEPTS

Dominique started by giving me a tour of Time’s pedals and the customizable shoes he’s been putting through the ringer for over a year just to get them ready for weekend warriors.  Most of the lessons he’s learned arrived from his personal experiences in the field supporting young-professional French racers on the Bbox Bouygues Telecom development team Vendée U.

Vendée U probably stands for Vendée University, as a place for the new crop of France’s next generation of racers to be cultivated in the Vendée region.  Northern France is known for having extremely wet and windy Spring seasons and the racing is notoriously uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter how fast you are the cold wind is going to make your ride miserable. That kind of Spring weather is something known to American Pro Tour racers as “getting Franced on” when referring to riding on an incredibly cold, windy and wet weather. The kind of day so wretched that staying inside on a set of rollers might actually seem attractive.

Dominique recalled one dreadful, wicked day when some of the young bucks on Vendée U came back after a harsh flooded ride and instinctively put their soaked Time shoes on top of the clothes dryer to dry them out and warm them up. Not long after their shoes had dried, the unattended kicks lost their custom fitting due to the extended exposure to the dryer’s heat. The racers called Dominique fearing the worst, that their premium shoes were probably ruined and worthless. But unlike some shoes that require a specific temperature process to mold from Dominique instructed the racers to refit the shoes themselves as they were without the need of driving into a big city bike shop.

To custom fit a pair of 2010 Time cycling shoes it doesn’t take a big production. The Time ULTEAM RS CARBON shoes have a THERMO SHAPE membrane (or TS SYSTEM) inside the upper. All you need is a hairdryer and four minutes to bring the shoes up to temperature and ready for fitting.

Hold a hairdryer at 45 degrees and 15cm from the entrance of the shoe for four minutes and then put the shoe on while wearing a pair of cycling socks. Then sit on a bike held by a rear-wheel trainer and clip in. Don’t pedal, just sit normally and patiently let the shoes cool. This idle position is beneficial because as Dominique notes, “your foot on a bike is not the same as it is walking or standing.”

After the shoe cools, the TS System has retained the shape of your foot and custom molding is complete. As for the racers Vendée U found out, these new Time shoes can be remolded and fitted repeatedly over and over. Dominique told me he molded his own pair every day for over a year while the Ulteam RS Carbon was in its developing process, “I’ve molded my own shoes well over 200 times,” he said.

And in case you forget, each pair of shoes comes with a nice instructional card inside each box. This can also be passed along with the shoes if you ever sell them or give them away giving new meaning to customization. “With the TS System you can feel the difference instantly,” Dominique added.

The TS membrane also helps with problem feet. The shoes don’t come in different widths yet, but the membrane is able to conform to almost any problem. Dominique told me one story of how he helped a racer finish an important stage race. The rider had fallen and had a severe foot injury that made pedaling very difficult and painful. Dominique went to work and after some bandage adjustments with foam and gauze he remolded his shoe using the same process allowing him to ride and finish the race for team Vendée U. Then as the rider’s foot healed they molded the shoes as the swollen foot went back down to its normal health and size.

Dominique has also learned a thing or two from triathletes like Cedric Fleureton. The lessons he has learned might help any racer ride survive a difficult effort when equipment not only needs to not just be working but performing outright.

Take for instance the external toe box on Time’s New ULTEAM TRI CARBON. Dominique noted how Cedric Fleureton once came out of the water only seconds behind the leaders and needed to keep his pace to stay in reach with them. Cedric’s weakest leg is on the bike and after he had a poor transition he couldn’t quite take the time to get his foot in his shoe. The only thing he could think about was pedaling so he rode with his foot on top of his shoe and kept his foot out for the first 10km. Because his Time shoe has a hard external toe box Cedric’s powerful legs didn’t crush the toe completely and when he had a chance he was able to slip his foot inside without being dropped or losing any time.

Listening to Dominique made me feel like I had been there myself and it was reassuring to know that most of the developments came directly from the frontlines of a pro team racing on the rainy roads of France by a product developer who has seen what it means to be race ready.

There is more to tell about Time’s shoes and pedal systems. Stay tuned and we’ll bring you more details from Time’s Interbike booth in part two of my discussion with Dominique.

Time Ulteam shoe sizes: 36 to 47 (half-sizes 40.5 to 45.5)

colors: Shiny White and Red (red sizes 39 to 47 and half sizes)

weight (size 42): 658 grams

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The you ride normally while the box monitors your foot angle. The results will tell you where your cleat should be and at what shoe position.

When finished, your cleats will be placed in the optimum position and angle.

Cleat position is significant in getting the most out of a ride. The proper positioning can limit the risk of injury and also improve overall performance.

The KéO Fit Cleat Positioning System will be available at participating retailers now.

In 2010, Look introduced The Memory Clip to help replacing cleats easier and without the stress or pain of loosing the cleat’s original position. You can read more details about The Memory Clip and compatible shoes on our page about the Look Blade pedal.

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Many riders are hampered by knee, ankle or back issues constantly. It’s a pretty common problem both on the bike and after a ride. While the solution may be found in many areas, the center of the pain is often rooted in the pedals.

Now Speedplay is offering a new tool kit to help bike shops properly fit and sell its pedals (see pictures in the gallery below.) The Pro Fit Case comes with an arsenal of tricks offering five different spindle lengths, fore-aft extender base plates, shims, wedges and cleat fastening screws. All those options make quite a bag.

Speedplay has been a popular pedal maker for a long time and this special tool kit evolved after years of customer service. Sharon Worman, president and co-founder of Speedplay was happy to announce the Speedplay’s launch into the custom world.

Because of their simple design, Speedplay has been long-lauded for their pain-free pedals virtually eliminating knee injuries. Usually out of the box a set of Speedplays would guarantee you to a pain-free ride but now the kit, enhances their design to providing a complete orthopedic adjustment. These solutions can be made to Speedplay’s Zero, Light Action and X Series pedals.

If your local bike shop is a serious enough retailer interested in custom fit, they can fine tune pedal fit to account for previous injuries, discrepancy between the lengths of your legs and foot alignment problems. However, the kit isn’t free and will cost your shop about $575 bones.

“Serotta, Trek, Specialized and Bike Fit have all embraced this tool,” said Richard Bryne, co-founder and chief executive officer of Speedplay. Bryne, who had just returned from a tour of shops in the Portland area, said the kit has also met with “extraordinary” reception from shops. Portland is a hotbed of custom-fit cycling.
“Fit has become a big part of business at pro shops. It has a real perceived value. The Pro Fit Case adds value to the fitting process,” said Speedplay sales manager David Alvarez. For years Speedplay had provided custom parts but the new Pro Fit Case combines all their development into a unique package.

If you haven’t thought of Speedplay in awhile, this might be reason to take another look.

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Check out all of Chrome’s shoes on their official website.

Actually, there are two distinct models of the shoe. One running shoe and one for everyday casual wear. The two make-ups are pictured above.

The benefits of the Lunaracer are sincerely attractive to long distance runners. The lightweight foam material makes for a ultralight weight but responsive and comfortable sole. The Flywire provides strong support without adding superfluous bulk.

Different from Nike’s typical Lunaracer, the Livestrong special edition shoes are black (Lance’s favorite shoe color) with yellow details reminiscent of Tour de France victories.

The combination of technologies raises Nike’s bar for the fastest, strongest, and lightest long distance running shoe Nike has produced. While these may help your endurance you’ll need a little bit of speed to get a pair—Nike Sportswear’s Soho flagship in New York City is one of the only retailers allowed to sell them. There will be other selected retailers offering them but when they’re gone, they’re gone.

At least until they’re on eBay. (Beware of rip-offs.)

Sold at Nike Sportswear, 21 Mercer St., NYC,

Let’s take a preview and guess what the Pro’s might be wearing this season… The DMT Dragon casual still is sporty enough to be on the bike, but it has a soft outsole and no inserts for cleats.

Specialized has a relaxed looker that comes in either black, white and brown.

These Nalini “Logho” shoes might take the cake.

You might see something unexpected the next time you are shopping for cycling shoes – lower prices on Sidi. There is planned reduction in overall pricing on Sidi shoes as early as this spring.

Veltec Sports distributes Sidi shoes in North America and plans to offset the turbulent economic climate by lowering prices by 8 to 15 percent. For example the Genius 6.6 Carbon road shoes new price is now $449.99. But all top-end shoes might also drop below the sensitive $500 ceiling.

The price reductions have been made to all carry-over stock as well as the new 2009 model year and it’s big news from one of the most popular and pricey shoe lines in the world.

The announcement comes as shoe companies have launched new shoes this spring. New models of Bontrager, Specialized and Mavic have already hit the shelves in many parts of the United States. But the Sidi price reduction actually reflects the current global economic concerns rather than in response to competitors.

In the past seven years the Italian shoemaker has seen significant gains in the United States but at that same time the value of the euro has greatly surpassed the dollar. In fact between 2002 and the start of 2009 the euro increased by 88 percent. While the dollar has declined Sidi sales have still more than doubled in North America.

Ivan Basso at Sidi Factory

Manfred Krikke, CEO of Veltec Sports said, “The price reduction is intended to stimulate sell-through and to support our bicycle retailer partners during a tough economy.”

Veltec has been distributing Sidi for more than 30 years and some of the shoe models are designed specifically for American riders. Even though Veltec will not immediately benefit from the change, it anticipates the euro to lower in the remainder of 2009 and wants to pass on the savings now rather than waiting until 2010.

Shop for the
Sidi Genius 5 Road Shoe
and other Sidi’s now.

these clipless pedal cleats need replacement

Shoe cleats last a long time and don’t require much maintenance but they need to be kept them screwed on tight. If they become loose on a ride you run the risk of loosing them and nothing can be a bigger bummer than limping home one-footed. Plus the strain of ripping the screws from your shoe can strip the fixing threads. So every few months it’s a good idea to take an Allen wrench and give the fixing screws a squeeze. But you don’t want to over tighten them either. Most cleats only need a 5Nm torque or as we like to call it at the bike shop, a two finger tight. That is about the same force it takes to screw in a light bulb. That goes for mountain bike shoes as well as road shoes.

But every year or two you might need to replace the cleats altogether. Mountain bike cleats seem to last forever because they are still usually made of steel. Road cleats are the ones that need to be replaced more often. To keep them lightweight, most pedal manufacturers make cleats out of plastic and these can wear down from walking around and normal clip-in use.

these have some life left in them

Shimano cleats even have wear marks on the edges of their systems that help to let you know when it’s time to buy a new pair. Use these as a much better indicator of cleat life than how they might feel in the pedals. A new seat of cleats will not necessarily feel tighter in your pedals – that might be the float in your pedal. But if you feel your cleats getting slicker on pavement when you walk around off the bike there might be increasing wear that needs to be addressed too.

There might be other factors as well: your shoe might pop out once in awhile when you’re pulling up on the pedal. If this happens and you haven’t replaced your cleats for a while it might be a good idea to start thinking about it. You wouldn’t want total failure on a group ride that might leave you with an embarrassing memory or someone getting hurt. It can happen and prevention is the best tool to keep you in line and riding right.

When buying a new set of cleats make sure you know the part number you are replacing. Shimano makes a new update almost every year but some pedals will take slightly different cleats. Shop for the pedal, not just your existing cleat. You might have the option to choose a floating cleat or a fixed cleat as well.

you are forbidden from riding these

I know some dudes that have never been fans of movement cleats. Old guys – meaning people that have been riding since the 70s – just don’t understand them. One of these “old dudes” I ride with says he “never has ridden them unless his were so worn out that they became floating cleats.” Ha ha. Obviously he was completely stoked when Shimano came out with the fixed red cleats. The fixed cleat aspect achieves an even tighter leg to pedal that can’t be had anywhere else. But they are best for track racing and not when you are putting in 80-250 miles a week.

While some old pro’s like Steve Tilford are fixed cleat diehards, I would recommend sticking with floating cleats because they are easier on your knees.

The other day a friend of mine brought over some clipless shoes asking me to help her mount SPD cleats in them. She has a million different kinds of shoes. I was amazed at how many different kinds of shoes she has: Specialized, Sidi, Carnac, Nike, and Shimano – it was mind blowing.

She seems to have an issue with getting the cleat forward enough or something.

After I took a look I noticed she did have a point about having trouble getting the ball of her foot over her pedal spindle. I think the problem was she had old shoes.

But her new Shimano shoes, the ones we were putting the cleats on will hopefully solve her problem once and for all. These days are a lot easier than the old days as far as shoe compatibility goes.

Back in the 90s shoes and pedals had a hard time matching up. But now as long as you have a recent pair of pedals a new pair of shoes will likely match up with them. DMT, Carnac, Shimano, Sidi and Adidas all work well. The amount of cleat problems out there are getting fewer and fewer.

The main thing you want to double-check is that the center of the cleat is in alignment with the ball of your foot, and the cleat is straight in the shoe. The bone we are looking for in your foot is called the metatarsal. Some bike fit geeks call it the met-bone for short — you can feel it through your shoe.

Getting your cleat centered over the ball of your foot is key to preventing knee pain. It’s no fun having knee pain after a ride, it will keep you from riding.

If you have any questions when setting your cleats in new shoes I suggest taking a trip to your local bike shop and having them help you. It never hurts to ask.