Got some new shoes courtesy of Pearce Cycles and Specialized. They look fabulous, I’m loving the ‘Boa rotary and Powerzone lacing systems’, very easy to use and adjust. They feel very light, so I weighed them. They’re 379g (size 45), that’s some 50g lighter than my old ones. Mind you, my old ones, which have been and still are brilliant, might be holding a little moisture from Sunday’s damp outing.

Fitting the cleats – It can be difficult getting the cleats set up on new shoes, but I’m lucky in as much as I’m staying with the same manufacturer, so all I have to do is copy the setup from my old ones. Also i’m lucky in that I just set the cleats in the middle of the slot, in the middle of the shoe, and don’t suffer any problems. I’m so average innit? However, I do feel more comfy with my left foot turned out slightly more than my right foot. I dunno why.

To help me line my cleats up I use a 12mm spanner. It fits just nice on the back of a Shimano cleat making alignment and micro-adjustments easier. I can see where the end of the spanner is on the old shoe, and set the new one up the same. Simple. I use a little Copaslip anti-sieze grease on the threads of the bolts.

New Shoes tip – Whenever I get new biking shoes I always phase them in. So I’ll wear them on a couple of recovery rides first, then shorter training sessions and so on. I’ll do this over a period of about a month. Legs with a lot of miles in them don’t like change, even small ones.

Scrimpers tip – Shimano cleats are the same for left and right, but once fitted they don’t wear the same. When the cleats start to wear and feel a little sloppy in the pedals I take them off and swap them over, left for right. It’s easy to do because they fit in exactly the same place, and you get more wear for your pair!