So I started using SPDs (mtb style, not SL) on my road bike probably around a month ago. Since then I’ve been having problems with them and wondering if there’s something I’ve set up wrong w/r/t cleat positioning. Basically after a few miles my feet will go numb/tingly and the soles of my feet will cramp up and be really painful. It goes away if I have a break but comes back pretty quickly. The shoes (spesh BG sport) seem very comfy to me and aren’t crushing my feet at all.

I also did my first “long” road ride of around 46 miles yesterday. My knees are feeling pretty sore today – is that just because I’m not used to using my legs in that way for that length of time, or are my cleats wrong? When the pedals are horizontal my front knee isn’t quite over the pedal axle, it’s a bit behind. Saddle is all the way forwards in the rails. I could maybe sort this with an inline post but the layback on my current post is fairly small anyway.

Any ideas would be appreciated as I don’t really want to go back to flats if I can help it.

I sometimes get the same problem (the feet cramping up bit anyway). It was way worse when I was skiing or snowboarding so I assumed it was something to do with the way my shoes fitted. However, someone suggested that because I was pretty new to skiing it could be because I was unconsciously ‘clenching’ my feet trying to get some stability which was the likely cause of the pain. I concentrated on keeping the feet relaxed and that helped a lot.

It could be that you’re just getting used to the feeling of riding in SPDs and your feet are protesting the change. Just try and relax your feet as much as possible while pedaling.

Hope that helps.

From my experience it’s probably worth having a good faff with your cleats. Going from mtb to road you’re more likely to notice little niggles and things like this because your sat in the same position for far longer.
Again from what I’ve found with the foot pain I’ve had it’s because my feet haven’t been in the right place on the pedals. So my toes are trying to claw their way back onto the pedal axle, moving the cleats back in the shoe helped. As far as cramp down the sides I found it’s the same thing. Moving my foot further onto the pedal has helped lots. If you have Shimanos it’s really easy to get that side to side and fore and aft adjustment.
You may find that slightly adjusting saddle height could help your knees, as SPDs are that little bit thinner than flats.
Next time you go out for a ride take a multi tool and have a fiddle 😉
Hope this helps.

basically it’s due to you trying to grip with yoru toes. You don’t quite notice it when mtbing, because you don’t spend that much time seated, but it’s “fairly” obvious when road riding.

pain in the ball of your foot, what shoes are you using, it may be that the shoe is flexing, and you are “feeling” the pedal through the sole, a stiffer shoe or a bigger pedal may help to spread the load reducing the pressure point.

Knee pain is harder to define, it might be use, riding a road bike forces you to pedal constantly so if you build up to quickly the knee hasn’t had a chance to adapt. It might be set up, any small error will show up because you are pedalling constantly.

Layback shouldn’t be an issue in itself, KOPS is only a guide and not a law.