Originally Posted by Judah
Wow, 400mi is nothing. What kind of shoes are you using these cleats on? Are they clickity-clack road shoes? I've had my current SPD cleats on my Minnret mountain shoes, which have a recessed area for the cleats so that they don't click when you walk, for over 1500 miles (about 3 months), and they are still pulling just fine.
I use Shimano SPD Sandals (SH-SD60), but I also checked the same only 400mi worn cleats on Shimano SH-MO38 mountain shoes with the same result. Both are recessed and don't click when walking.
The sad part is that when the cleat was out of box new it held very tight and I thought I had the problem solved- the cleat that I replaced that popped out much too easy as as I found when I first used on fixed bike had 2000mi, so I thought I was going to be set for at least 1000mi. On looking at the front end of the cleat while mounted on the shoe, the edge that faces the shoe (either the left or right side, I don't have shoe in front of me) looks worn, a bit cupped.
This is only happening on my left foot, which is the only foot I unclip at stops, so it is definitely a clip/unclip wear issue. But I can't afford replacing cleats every 200-300 miles or so.
Al