Originally Posted by
urbanknight
The idea of walking down even one flight of stairs on any road cleat gives me the chills, not just for cleat wear but for safety! I highly recommend you consider a recessed system as has been recommended previously in this thread. The only real downside is a bit of weight, and the upside is you can walk like a normal person and your cleats might last longer than you.
What? Everyone manages to do this just fine routinely. Walking up and down stairs with my bike in road shoes is how I start and end every road ride. Especially with grip cleats, I don't get the concern at all. Maybe if you're a clyde. Sure, walking in them wears the cleats but I've never seen any wear like what the OP has done, and I will occasionally walk a short distance in road shoes and in triathlon, sort of run (I should really get some tri shoes and practice flying mounts), even and it's never been a problem. If it's gravel the soles get scuffed, but after some point the additional scuffing doesn't really make any cosmetic difference.
MTB shoes and MTB cleats on a road bike, seriously now. What's next, baggies?