New Pedals

I had a RAD pedal fit this afternoon (Rotational Adjustment Devices). The RAD fit process involves replacing your pedals with the RAD device, which is a block with a swivel part. Two colored sticks extend from the RAD device, which give a visual feedback to what needs to change in order to angle the cleat to match your biomechanics.

Pedal "float" is the angle the pedal allows your foot to move through (think of your heel as swiveling around). Foot swivel in turn rotates the tibia, which in turn rotates inside the knee joint, so getting fitted means matching the cleat angle to keep everything aligned.

Mike at Sammamish Valley Cycles adjusted my right cleat quickly. But, he couldn't get my left cleat adjusted. After fiddling with it for a while, and moving it to its maximum adjustment, he said that I need more pedal float for a proper fit. I looked down and indeed, the angle formed by the red and white sticks was indeed just slightly off.

The suggested new pedal system was Look or Speedplay. I have friends who use and love Speedplays, so I decided to go with those, especially since they offer more float than the Look pedals, so I now have Speedplay X/5 pedals on my race bike! Buying new pedals also means getting new bike shoes, so I did that too.

I practiced for a few minutes in the store and the shoes and pedals felt fine. I was able to clip out easily enough, but clipping in was slightly trickier - sometimes my foot would slide right off. No biggie, I am convinced with a little practice on the trainer I'll have it down in no time.