General Cycling Discussion - Squeaking Shoes

On my right downstroke, I get this very annoying squeak, like plastic rubbing against something. I have narrowed it down to my shoe. If I angle my heel away from the bike slightly (just on the very edge of my comfort zone) the noise goes away. However as I ride, my heel rotates back in and the squeaking starts again.

Anyone else have shoes that do something similar? Anyone have any solutions?

Matthew 5:29 29: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."

.. . Or if you want a little less drastic solution to amputating your foot you might try rubbing a little parrafin on the cleat of the "offending" shoe.

Hahaha, that was great... I even read it with "THE VOICE OF GOD"!

I had an annoying, very mysterious squeak one time. I thought it might be a pedal or bottom bracket or something.

It turned out that the seat was loose. :D

I've had the exact same thing happen. What I did is took the pedal off and greased everything that looked like it could move. Amazingly it worked:beer:

Originally posted by Sailguy
However as I ride, my heel rotates back in and the squeaking starts again.
Ask the doctors if they can replace that cheap plastic ankle with brand spankin' new titanium one. :D

I always tell myself that the reason for my squeak is that my left leg is shorter than my right leg and that the cleat therefore isn't as snug.

I am not an animal - with apologies to the elephant man.

If you have Look pedals, it could well be the cleats. Check to see if they're worn. If they aren't, you can lubricate the contact points at front and rear lip of the cleat. ou can use reagular bike lube or wax. I know one guy who uses Pedro's Ice Wax, and another guy who actually drips parrafin onto his cleats. You can also keep a bar of soap in the garage and rub it in the contact points before each ride.

I use mtb shoes on mtb spd pedals and the cleats are ok, but the rubber tread on the shoes squeak against the pedals with the slight rotation motion of my foot at the bottom of the power stroke.

I suppose I could cut away the offending piece but it doesn't bother me that much.

I'm going to give the wax bit a try, and grease up the pedal. The only time it really irritates, is going up a hill. The wind noise is gone, and I want to get my mind off of things so I don't have to think about the hill. But noooooo, I get to hear squeak, squeak, squeak.. YOU ARE ON A HILL BUDDY, I WON"T LET YOU FORGET IT!!!! I AM THE EVIL SHOE! :crash:

My cleats are definitely the culprit of occasional squeaks. The easiest fix I've found is an occasional spray of PAM - a nonstick cooking spray my wife keeps on hand. Just don't walk on any carpet when you get home, unless you enjoy cleaning greasy black spots out of the rug.

This is a quicker fix than rubbing things down with paraffin as suggested in an earlier post.

i still ride with toe clips with home made nylon cleats (as you cant buy them any more) i get that annoying squeak-creak thing from time to time, a couple of swipes with a sliver of dry soap on the cleat to pedal point of contact seems to fix it .

That could be a problem.

Be carefull not to over- lubricate the cleat. I did this once and the shoe slipped out during a sprint. - Almost killed myself...

Originally posted by greywolf
i still ride with toe clips with home made nylon cleats (as you cant buy them any more)
Check out Renaissance Cycles (http://www.renaissance-cycles.com/) they have cleats etc. If they don't
have any listed e-mail Baron as he can find just about
anything. They also ship worldwide.

Marty

thanks, ile check that out:)

I had the same problem once. So I bought a new pair of shoes and a new bike and viola! no more squeak!

TLN -

So you think maybe the viola had something to do with it? How do you carry the viola with you on the bike?

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself! :)

Voila has solved many of my problems. I had relationship problems once. I broke up with her, tried out others and voila I'm married. Okay so maybe it doesn't solve all problems :p but it at least makes them sound better. :D