Touring - Shimano Shoes (MT121s) cleat striking ground when walking

So I bought my shoes for an upcoming tour, I wanted MTB type shoes I can walk around in so I don't need to carry two pairs. I tried them on for the day yesterday and while they're surprisingly comfortable, I did occasionally feel/hear the cleat grinding against the ground on pavement while walking.

Taking a look at the cleat, it's basically level with the sole of the shoe (even screwed all the way down) so I don't think it's installed incorrectly. Is it normal for the cleat to crunch a bit while you're walking? It didn't do it all the time, I'd say about 50% of the time while walking on pavement I heard or felt it scraping against the ground.

I have some Shimano SPD mountain bike shoes and they do the same. It's inexplicable how on wood floors there is never scraping, but on an almost identically level stone surface there is. My understanding of hardness says that there's little to worry about. Stone is softer than metal cleats, so your cleat is just damaging the pavement, not the other way around. My understanding of geology reminds me, however, over time rivers cut through rock formations, so I avoid walking on pavement when I can.

I have the mt-41's, and they do the same thing but only on cement or asphalt. I suspect it is because, concrete and asphalt are uneven with small ridges and bumps.

Mine do the same. On smooth floors there is nothing but when you walk on concrete, you grind debris and the rough surface between the cleat and the ground. I've noticed that newer smooth concrete doesn't grind as much as older weathered concrete.

So it's probably not destroying them, then? I can avoid walking on concrete/pavement as much as possible, but these'll be my only shoes when I'm out on tour, so I won't be able to do much about it if I have to walk on this surfaces.

i wouldn't worry about the cleat itself, it should be fine on all surfaces. but a word of warning for when you have been using the shoes for a while & the treads worn down, the cleat will eventually stick out too much which can make it very slippery on wet concrete, so much so that i now will never use them again on tour, i will use trainers & toe-clips instead.

I swear cycling shoe manufacturers increase the tread thickness just enough so you get intermittent grinding when walking on pavement. A few more millimeters of rubber would solve everything but nooooo, gotta let everybody know that you're wearing goofy metal soled shoes.

As a blind man once remarked to me as I passed, "Son, you sound like a horse!"