The alarm was set early today so peak hour could be avoided. Carving through gaps in London traffic on a totally new position and pedal system just doesn’t appeal.

First thing to note is due to the Speedplay design having the moving gubbins on the shoe rather than the pedal, you need to use cleat covers to keep dirt out of the cleats. I hate carrying extra stuff so this is annoying. You’re also supposed to lube the cleats every week. This is contrary to the zero maintenance policy I’ve applied to my SPDs, SPD-SLs and Time ATAC shoes/pedals in the past. Basically, so as long as you aren’t using totally worn cleats, you’re fine. I’ve never lubed or bothered to service these pedals and they work fine. Scherrit’s reason for using Speedplay is their ground-up design for cycling rather than being, essentially, a modified ski binding. They are also supremely adjustable and more suitable for mid-foot cleat position, which is why they are on my shoes now.

Clipping in to Speedplay is awkward for me – it operates the other way around from SPD, SPD-SL, etc. in that you don’t hook the front and push down, you hook the back and twist (at least that’s how Scherrit explained it). My method is more akin to ‘slam middle of foot towards Speedplay lollipop and hope for the best – surprisingly this seemed to work most of the time.

The Speedplay pedals also feel much more ‘skatey’ than my other setups. They probably move more freely as opposed to the centre-sprung SPDs for example.

Cycling with a midfoot cleat position does feel slightly odd, but perhaps not as weird as you might first think. It’s not difficult or anything, just, you know? A bit odd. Seated pedaling feels good. Now and then I find myself wondering what I should be doing with my toes – should I be scrapping the shoe back or is the motion more like an ankling movement. Clearly for me, with my Achilles problem, I should be minimising ankle movement and I think mostly I am, it’s just now and then I’d wonder if my feet should be moving more. After adapting, I’m sure this sensation will vanish.

I think I might be sitting a little forward on the saddle compared to previously. This is possibly one of the positional tweaks I’ll need to address or it could be nothing and just need some more riding.

At higher power outputs my right shoe in particular rubs against the crank. Perhaps I twist or roll my foot under load or perhaps it needs to be moved further out? Something to look at.

Generating power whilst seated isn’t a problem, though out-of-the-saddle efforts feels a bit strange. I’m training for long distance time trials (50mi, 100mi, 12hr, 24hr) so this isn’t much of an issue for me. At some stage I’ll have a go at a peak power test just out of curiosity.

A particular concern was the large toe-overlap now present – toe overlap being the front wheel, when turned, clipping the front of the shoe. At speed this is not an issue since you’re leaning to turn (#dontlean!), but in heavy traffic (ie. all of London) you are always weaving around cars, buses, trucks, taxis and the like at slower speeds. Peak hour could get a whole lot more interesting soon… #gravelrash

Trackstands are much harder for me now since it requires I use my non-favourite foot forward. In the past I’d turn the wheel right and have my left foot forward and be rock solid. Because of the toe overlap now, this method would mean the back of the wheel would hit my shoe and I’d possibly topple over. I can flip it around the other way so my right foot is forward but I rarely do it this way so I’m a bit unco at trackstanding with mid-foot.

Usually, when I can’t be bothered to trackstand I’d roll up to the gutter and put a foot down. This feels strange now, since the saddle is 20-30mm lower. It’s actually more comfortable to just put a foot down on the road.

Not a bad first test I would say. I’ll document some more as I adapt to the new setup. Wonder how long it will be before I order some bio-mxc2 shoes..

NB: I’ll post some info about the 2nd stage of the fitting process later