Step 1: Remove old cleats - If you are using old shoes, you must remove those worn out cleats. Different pedal manufactures have various suggestions as to when you need to replace your cleats. Speedplay suggest every 5000 miles or so. Remember that a worn out cleat will effect your amount of float, pedal contact and the amount of pressure it takes to engage or disengage so you don't come out of your pedal in that mad dash city limit sprint with your training buddies. If you are using new shoes, you get to skip this step. Do notice, however, the fore/aft and lateral markings on the soles of your shoes, they will be important later. 
Step 2: Install the baseplate - The Speedplay baseplate allows you to mount to any road shoe with the traditional 3 bolt pattern. Your pedals will come with two baseplates, which are not right/left specific (so if you get them mixed up I won't tell). Your pedals also come with a set of added plastic shims that you may need to have a tight fit to your shoe's sole profile. I like to place the baseplate on the shoe first without bolting down to see if shims are needed or not. In our example, we are mounting the cleats on the 2009 Bontrager RXL Shoes. (Yes the shoes really are that awesome looking...look for an introduction in the near future). We have found that the stock baseplate fits perfectly with the shoe's profile, so we will not be needing the extra shims. You can also go to http://www.speedplay.com/ to look up your shoe's compatability and shim suggestions. You have 2 bolts to choose from here (see pic below). The center bolt on the is for the top cleat plate (save it for later). The far left bolt and far right can both be used to mount the baseplate. The left (black) one is your standard bolt and should work on most shoes, and where you are not using any extra shims. The far right (silver) bolt is a few mm longer and is best used when you need to add the Speedplay shims to customize your fit to your sole, or if the shorter bolts don't seem to thread fully into your shoe. Tighten them down until they are snug...no need to be Hercules here. The bolts are all lock-tighted so they will hold.
Step 3: Install the top cleat plate - Ok, now you need to get your right and lefts correct here...luckily the cleats are clearly marked. You mess this one up, and you are on your own. Notice that the top of the cleat plate have 2 holes drilled closer together than the 2 at the bottom, to help you allign the top/bottom of the cleat. Allign all the screws with the brass wear plate on top and anchor with the 8 smaller black screw that we saved from earlier. You also now have the option to freely change the left/right position of your cleats prior to tightening down. Notice the 8-10mm of adjustibility in the two pics below. (You may want to suggest someone with experience fitting cyclist help determine your perfect cleat position, or you can use the trial and error method. Either way, you can always loosen the bolts and adjust again if they feel a little off.) I suggest tightening them down til they are snug and then backing off a half turn. If the bolts are too tight they will not allow the cleat spring ample freedom to move, and your pedals may feel too tight when clipped in. 
Step 4: Adjust the amount of float - Float is the amount of freedom your pedal system gives for lateral motion of your heel/toe while pedaling. While widely know for their large amout of knee saving float, the Speedplay Zero's give the you the ability to customize the amount and direction of your float all the way down to ...well Zero. Using a small screwdriver you can tighten the screws in to limit the amount of float, or back them out to increase the amount of float. You can also adjust them to independently to customize your heel in/heel out travel. Personally, I back out my "heel out" screw entirely and keep the "heel in" close to it's original position. Other team riders back both screws out to create a large amount of float. Conversely, tightening both screws inward will bind the cleat ring and create zero degrees of float, if that is what you desire.
Now go enjoy the freedom of your new found float!Adam Little - Hincapie/Gary Fisher/Barkley Team
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2 comments:
Those are some nice looking shoes! New cleats are always nice!
Great info on Speed play Peddles!
Well done & Thanks
Pete
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