Harvey Sachs wrote:
>
> 1) If an expert is someone who has done it several times,
> been photographed doing it, and has a Genuwine Shoemaker's
> Anvil, then I qualify.
Hey, all I need to be an expert is for someone to catch me in the act
and photograph it?! I've nailed 'em a number of times, dozen-ish, and
have an iron foot that Laurie thinks is décor but really is a manly
tool.
> [great advice snipped] Being a cautious type, I tend to drive
> home one nail pretty well, then check the angle against the
> crank and the wear line, then do the rest of them.
We used to take this one step further and nail about 4 nails and have the guy go ride it a bit gingerly to verify the correct position before committing. We used the nails that come with the cleats for the tentative nailing - they're usually too short to be really reliable, but being easy to pull them out if needed is a good thing in this first step.
Then we nailed 'em with longer nails that curve back when they hit the anvil, making little "J" shapes.
I forget what those nails are called but we got 'em at the local Ace hardware. Like carpet tacks but a bit more slender and a small head. The pointy end is very slender and wicked sharp; you can press them in by hand far enough that they'll hold still for nailing, no need to hammer on your fingers. Also this fine point is quick to double back when it hits the anvil.
Been a long time since I bought any. Maybe they're called "slender carpet tacks"? Length should be the combined thickness of the sole and cleat plus 2 or 3 mm for the J hook.
Yes they go right through the sole and are visible inside, right where your tender feet press down. But they come out so flush with the sole that you'll never feel the bumps unless you're akin to a certain legume-sensitive princess.
We nailed 'em like this for track sprinters and high-mileage roadies, and no one ever had a cleat come loose. In my experience they will definitely come loose if you use short nails that don't double back inside.
Mark Bulgier
Seattle WA USA