mihlbach

How much walking can be done on the various cleat covers (look, speedplay, etc.) before they wear through? I'm thinking about changing the pedals on my road bikes (from the discontinued Crank Brothers Quattros) and the cleat covers are entering into my decision making process.

I usually walk about a half mile with my son to school and start my morning ride from there. I usually try to walk in the grass as much as possible or even ride the bike slowly on the sidewalk with my pedestrian son, but I inevitably end up having to dismount to walk through intersections, etc. All winter long I've been using SPDs so walking hasn't been a problem. But now that its getting warm and I am riding more miles and more often on school days and weekends, I want to put road pedals back on my bikes.
I've done a lot of research and am leaning toward the Looks, but I am seeing cleat durability as a potential issue here. The cleat covers are a possible solution that will allow me to go back to using road pedals, but I have no idea how durable are the cleat covers...how long can they stand up to a bit of daily walking? Any feel for which cleat covers are more durable...looks or speedplays?

Davet

I've had cleat covers for Speedplay and Shimano cleats for several years and they're holding up well. The problem I think you might encounter is the relative difficulty in walking in road shoes more than the durability of (relatively) inexpensive cleat covers.

A suggestion may be to do your walking in some lightweight canvas or rubber shoes/sandals/flip flops etc., and then pack them away when you go riding.

mihlbach

Yeah, or force my kid to stuff my flipflops in his pack

mihlbach

I have no real trouble walking short distance with my Quattro cleats...


I know its not optimal, but which cleats (with covers) are going to be more amenable to walking short distances? My impression of the Speedplay cleats is that they are huge....

urbanknight

I'd hate to say this, but it sounds like you're the perfect candidate for mtb shoes. That, or get your kid a bike and a lock.

kbtommy

It's gonna beat up the heels of the shoes, too. I don't think any cleat covers are designed for extended periods of walking. I've got the covers for my Look cleats, but I really only use them to walk about 10-15 feet at a time.

mihlbach

I use MTB shoes frequently and want to move away from them for road riding. I am generally a lot more comfortable with road pedal-shoe stability. Plus I ride more often than just on school-day mornings and I don't want to have to change pedals every ride.

mihlbach

Sidi heels are replaceable. I've been doing this for quite some time with Sidi road and MTB shoes...its not a concern.

RacerOne

I'd have to suggest simply sticking with the SPD'sm they work just fine and are frankly designed perfectly for your situation. I hate even walking across the garage in my Looks.

mihlbach

Enough with the SPDs already....I don't want to use SPDs everyday of my life. Thats why I am asking about cleat durability and walkability, so I can make a decision on what to do.

patentcad

Cleat cover durability?

That's a new level of Frediculosity.

RacerOne

I said I hate walking across the garage in my Looks, therefore, to be more clear.. I wouldn't get those to walk half a mile in.

mihlbach

Yeah, I have no problem walking in the cleats. The distance is tiny and I ride most of it. I basically need to walk through a few busy intersections. Is it just just that you hate it or do they wear down so fast that you hate it?

mihlbach

OK Mr. Cotton Socks.

AngryScientist 

there is no way you can comfortably walk close to 1/2 mile in speedplay's thats for certain.

RacerOne

I just hate it.

Yaniel

i have a set of covers for my look keos. the covers are performance/forte brand. I don't use them that much but they might have a total of 5 miles walked in them and still look brand new. Unless you drag your feet I don't see them wearing down any time soon and think they only cost 10 or 15 bucks.

patentcad

I have seen the velo hosiery light.

Yaniel

have you tried it with covers? I can walk around all day in my sidi/look keos with covers and not be any less comfortable than in SPDs. The covers make a big difference (especially when you forget to remove them and spend 2 minutes trying to clip in).

Yaniel

but you can't wear those on the Scott.

mihlbach

Thanks, thats what I wanted to know...

mihlbach

I'LL believe it when there's and 87+ page thread about it.

hairnet

I walk around campus a lot with my LOOK Delta covers from Performance. I've only had them for a month but they don't look very worn.

jdon

The Keo cleat covers hold up better than the cleats do to walking but how about walking your kid to school, walking home and putting your shoes on there? Sometimes the most obvious solution isn't.

patentcad

I'm sure there already is.