I bought a pair of Specialized MTB shoes off of Ebay. Now my question is are all SPD cleats the same? Or are they pedal specific? Does each SPD pedal brand have a specific cleat?

Thanx

Some do. On my Shimano 959's there was a slightly different cleat than on lower level SPD's I had used in the past. There was also a warning about not using cleats that were not specific for a 959.

My experience is limited to two different sets of SPD peddles and the two sets of cleats that came with each. One set was from Performance and the other was Ritchie. For the most part they were interchangeable. It was noticed that due to slight manufacturing tolerance differences, my older set of Ritchie cleats were very difficult to use with the Performance peddles. When I compared the two peddle sets there were noticeable differences in the contour of the rear spring loaded retaining cleat. Using a die grinder and polish, I was able to change the contour of the new Performance peddles and polish them at the same time. This worked beautifully.

There are lots of SPD-type pedals and cleats. Shimano itself actually makes two different cleats for some pedal models. Different cleats will sometimes give you better security for staying clipped in and easier release. In other words, mismatched cleats and pedals may work - sorta, but less than ideally. If you are in doubt, I'd suggest using what came with the pedals.

You would think that a worn cleat would pop off the pedal a lot, but the opposite is true. Since the edges of the cleat are what pushes the retention spring back, worn cleats will make it progressively harder to clip out.

One other thing. I've found the more expensive Shimano SPD pedals to be much more positive operating than the cheap ones. I was very surprised at the amount of difference.

Thanx everyone I appreciate the feedback.