Squeaky cleats
 

How do you stop cleats from squeaking. Had to get new shoes and had to replace the cleats since I couldn't get them off the old shoes. The new cleats squeak and have been now for the past several weeks. It's annoying.

Depends on the cleat.
I had to scrape the back edge of my Look Delta cleats with a pocket knife every 3rd or 4th ride to remove the smooth surface there.
I've changed to SPD-SL and squeaking happens far less often now.

What type of pedals/cleats/shoes? Have you tried to swap the cleats between the shoes? have you tried to locally lube the cleat/pedal interface? Andy

Not much info to go on. For my shot in the dark: Both my Shimano pd-t420 squeaked until I lubricated the pivots that allow the clipping mechanism to rock back and forth slightly inside the pedal.

Get a can of spray on lube, and give your pedals a good coating.

Do understand that shoes/cleats have the aspect of being the head in the sand. Unseen, out of sight but still in your world only to resurface later. depending on the choices you make/act on this resurfacing might be frustrating. Like using a spray wet oil on your cleats which collects grime causing wear to the plastic bits of those expensive pedals. By the same token cleats which are neglected can corrode in place on your shoe's fittings. The recommendations of pedal/cleat surfaces lube I've been told are dry, wax, silicone ones.

I have used Speedplay X pedals since year 1 they came about. They have known tendencies to trap grime in the spring pockets. Speedplay suggests a wax lube (White Lightening). I have run mine dry for every mile of the, close to, 50,000 miles I've been with them. I have had to wash out th cleats a number of times but if I had waxed them this wouldn't have been much different. And if I had oiled them... Andy

I give my SPD cleats a little spritz of WD-40 when they squeak and that quiets them right down. :thumb:

I did forget that one key aspect didn't I. Before I left for my bike trip this summer I changed over to Look Keo's as the SPDs I had ridden on for years seemed to have no life to them, the pedals or the cleats. During the trip the shoes bit the dust on me but I still managed to get home before they could totally fall apart. After I bought new shoes I went to take the cleats off the old shoes but couldn't get the bolts out so I ended up buying new cleats and the only cleats the shop had on hand were the knock off ??Excel??...something real darn close to that name at least. I put them on the new shoes and quite often I end up getting the squeaking. I never had the squeaking with the real Keo cleats, only now with knock offs. Once the squeaking starts if I twist my foot a little I can it to stop as long as I keep the foot twisted.

That should help a lot. Sorry I forgot to mention it originally. Dumb on my part.

Seems to me that you've provided your answer. Replace the cleats with OEM look branded ones. Oh, and grease the bolts before mounting. Andy.