Old thread I know but... curious to hear if this did this help at all? The only time I've had issues with Crank Bros pedals is yeah, if too much of the shoe tread is contacting the area around the pedal (then when you're putting weight on a foot to unclip it makes it even worse). In these cases I've used the provided shims for my shoes. But it sounds the opposite of what you may have.

The system alerted me to this reply. Yeah, it does seem like the opposite, and, no, I haven't tested yet. But will soon, now that the bike season is back. (Got in 100 local XC ski outings!) I'll post results...

Their Mallets would give you a platform for when you dont quite hit the pedal mech square on, every time ..

I'm not sure the shims are really addressing a problem with shoe tread contact. It moves the cleat away from the sole of the shoe. Even using Pearl Izumi All-Road shoes, which have a very shallow tread, I've had to use the shims to get enough float. I think the problem is that the top of the pedal gets pressed too tightly against the sole of the shoe otherwise.

Crank Brothers makes a tread contact sleeve to solve the opposite problem (not enough tread contact). I've used these in conjunction with the cleat shims and the result was pretty good -- not as much float as I'd have without them, but also not too much friction with the pedal body. The tread contact sleeves only work with newer pedals (2011+), and they have the downside that you need to disassemble the pedal to install them.

Another solution is to just wrap something around the pedal body. Here's a pic of Katie Compton's pedals from 2009 using such a solution:


http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/200...edal_2_600.jpg

My anecdotal evidence shows that this is true. My guess is that as you spin your shoe the cleat turns and widens the pedal until it pops out but if your cleat is worn down enough it won't widen the pedal as it gets turned. Make sense?

^^ I've been experiencing the opposite problem as of late. After 2 years of almost daily use and one season of racing, the cleats don't always stay in the pedal during harder pedaling. I'm no metallurgist, but I think it has something to do with the brass cleats being a softer metal than the steel pedal bodies...

Should be an easy fix. These pedals have been amazing thus far.

That's true, but that's actually what you want. Better to replace the cleats than the pedals. Of course, brass may be taking things too far.

I'm not following, unless you're suggesting the google lied to me about what the cleats were made of... :crash:

They are brass. What I was suggesting is that maybe Crank Brothers went too far in choosing brass. There must be something softer than steel but significantly harder than brass.

I know you said you had the double dot cleat on the right for the 15 degree release. Thats the way I run them but have you tried moving the double dot cleat to the left shoe? It may make the release different that works better for you. Its worth a try.

They do use hardened brass at least.