3 is that under significant loads per pedal stroke (forcing a gear a bit), all but a tiny fraction of riders drop their heels more relative to their individual pedaling technique (heel dropping run of the mill toe down etc) than they do at lesser loads.Īnd lastly, No. Conversely, the further rearward the cleat position, or in effect the shorter the foot as a lever, the less work the muscles of the lower leg are required to do to maintain stability of foot on pedal. Bear in mind that much of this effort is not contributing directly to propelling the bike but merely to stabilising foot and ankle. That means the longer the effective lever length, or in other words the further forward the cleat position relative to foot in shoe, the greater the effort required of the lower leg muscles (mainly gastrocs and soleus ie, calves) to stabilise foot (and ankle) while pedaling. 2 is that while the foot is a lever, it is not an inherently efficient lever because the fulcrum or pivot of the lever is back at the ankle.

This is arguable advice at best and I will explain why below. More specifically, this means that the cleat should be placed so that the centre of the 1st MTP joint (base knuckle of the big toe) is positioned over the centre of the pedal axle with crank arm forward and horizontal and shoe in pedal level, as this is the convention for measuring cleat position. 1 is that most of the advice you will see in print recommends that the cleat be positioned so that the ball of the foot is over the pedal axle. When talking about cleat position, several things need to be kept in mind.

Speedplay pedal installation