For Cleat’s Sake! - an update
 

Originally posted about the rapid wear of my Shimano cleats, to the point of failure, approx. 3 months after purchasing them (along with new everything, inc. bike, on switching from running to cycling).

(https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/1243808-cleat-s-sake.html)

Whilst I didn’t feel I walked excessively in them, I cut out 99% of time on my feet in my cycling shoes (essentially the walk from the bike shed at work to the changing rooms, 50m or so) and the new pair lasted…four months.

It’s the left one that failed again (and I do tend to unclip that one more often) but, as you can see in the pictures, both are pretty shot.

I bought four pairs of SPD-SL when I first wore them out and when I’ve used them all up I’ll change system to SPD.

But still baffling! They’re meant to last a couple of years, I’m going through around four pairs per year at this point! Haha


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...522d1eb50.jpeg

Have you considered Crank Brothers pedals and MTB shoes? They may not work for your kind of riding, but that's what I use on my road bike.

It's really odd that the cleats are wearing out this fast. But your idea is good of switching to "two hole" cleats (Shimano SPD, Crank Brothers, Time ATAC, etc. etc) which can be used with shoes with bottom tread (usually called mountain bike shoes, but also touring shoes, gravel shoes, etc). A lot of these type of shoes are as good for sole stiffness and as the best road shoes, and are still highly walkable. I have Sidi Road shoes and MTB shoes and they are virtually identical except for the tread on the MTB shoes.
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Have you tried using cleat covers whenever you walk?

IME. spd-sl cleats wear out quickly with relatively few steps. They last quite a while if not walked on. I do now have cleat covers, they work and are convenient. I do prefer dual sided spd for most of my riding. I detect very little difference in the use of the two types, but for me, spd seems to simplify the process, and they last forever.

A couple of years? Maybe under ideal conditions. Maybe.

I switched from Look pedals to Shimano road pedals 3 years ago and am using the original cleats the pedals came with. Looking at them shows no real significant wear. I don't walk around in them except if I stop for food or drink. Not sure why one would walk around in them, but that is what wears them out.

I purchased Shimano cleats from the store that has everything and the rubber bumpers were gone within 2 weeks.
Purchased again from my local sporting goods store and months later still have rubber bumpers.

I guess I received a “bad” set.
Can’t believe anyone would fake them. :)

Barry

I will say...again...I've never seen anyone wear out SPD-SL cleats that fast. I've used them myself for years and I can't remember the last time I had to replace a set because they were worn that much. You're walking too much OP, or dragging your feet constantly. It's the only answer.

Get KoolKovers, rubber covers that fit over the cleat and that you can hang from your toolbag while riding. $15 (pre-COVID). Stops walking wear and makes footing on slippery surfaces far more secure. My cleats die from wear at the pedal and that takes quite a while. Linoleum floors are much more fun to walk on and and I fon't feel the money slipping out of my wallet when I walk on concrete.

OR…..bring a pair of flip flops you can easily slip on if you’re going to be walking around a bit. They’ll fit in your jersey pockets. Or….You could just carry your shoes on that 50yd walk from the shed to the road while wearing the flip flops and then just leave them there in the grass or behind a bush until you get back.

I’ve got the same type cleats and I get a couple years out of them, and that’s riding 7-10,000 miles per year, but I almost never walk further than about 20’, from the store front to the bathroom to the ice machine and back to the bike, on a smooth tile floor. I wear flips in the garage while getting ready and put my bike shoes on just 5’ from my bike, take 3 steps and I’m riding.

Plastic cleats wear as you found out. I converted to Shimano SPD pedals and MTB shoes around 7 years ago, and that's one reason why. The SPD cleats are stainless, somewhat recessed in the MTB shoes, and they allow way more float in the pedals so safer on aging knees. I have two pairs of shoes and wear the Giro's almost all the time and after 7 years the cleats on those shoes are just now starting to give me a hassle. I've gone through two sets of cleat screws in that same time frame. I replace them before the hex head wears to the point I can't get them out. The replacement screws were free from Giro.


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Queey: Does Shimano make an all-black set? I was under the impression that there are red, blue and yellow coloring, which represent differing degrees of float.

Still wondering if OP bought fakes. I’m not a lite person and sometimes ride in areas where I have to put down my foot for lights and stop signs probably more frequently than many others and I don’t wear out mine nearly that quickly.

From your original thread: "The 50 metre return involves walking down three flights of stairs. Are they so fragile that that amount of walking is the problem?"

yes. Stairs absolutely demolish cleats. I always walk extremely slowly, sideways down stairs. Get cleat covers if you're walking on stairs regularly. That's why they exist, and they cost like $13

indyfabz I assume he just wore down the cleats to the point where the colored stuff is gone

Get some other kind of pedal/cleat/shoe system and be done with it. Probably Shimano SPD (the metal kind). However little you think you're walking in those shoes, it's too much. Case closed, it's just that simple.

I don’t know what your problem is with not believing what people say (I had this issue with you on the thread I posted about the damaged handlebars, right?), but I think it probably reflects badly on you that you see liars everywhere.

Anyway, I took the following picture yesterday to show a distance I don’t walk in them…between where I stop outside my garage to where I keep the bike (shoes on floor on street, bike kept in the storage on left). That’s how few steps I try to take in them.

The only distance I walk in them is in the second picture, from the plastic door to the chair on the left. It’s about five steps. This is at work and I do it approx. 4 x per week.

Is all that “too much walking”?

Also the fact that I cut the vast majority of my walking out after the first time (the walk from bike shed to changing room, around 50m and three flights of stairs) and the rate of wear hasn’t substantially decreased suggests it isn’t because of walking in them, no?


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1ea5eac6b.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b28e56255.jpeg
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Yeh, that’s right. I originally posted the following pic in which you can see the yellow parts were almost gone after the first week!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9fb903bde.jpeg

Crossed my mind also, but first set were bought in the official Giant Store and the next four all bought from a reputable online store. I’ll attach a pic.

I’m also not light and have wondered about this stopping at lights, etc. Also, being new to cycling I can definitely say I’d panic a little when I first used clip-less and probably put my foot down aggressively. Thing against that is I almost always use my left foot to unclip and, whilst that one does fail first, they both appear to wear the same.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3bb65190c.jpeg

I could tell you are a left foot out first person. So am I. Still, I’m hard on stuff and I get much more life out of a set. You must be doing something.that a lot of others aren’t. Even with all the foot downing I do I don’t think I have ever worn off the colored parts all the way.

I use cleat covers a lot but not all the time. My plastic Looks (aren't they all 'copies' now) wear out. Have to be replaced. Hassle.

So do my expensive tires & handlebar wrap. Hassle.

Old school clips and straps will wear your commuter street shoes prematurely (a bit) too.


edit: Life's a witch.

IMO, that is the answer. I get off the bike a lot more than I used to. One of the reasons I now use mostly spd.

Because it doesn't take much to see what's happening in your case. There is ONLY one answer. If you're wearing the yellow pads off the cleats it's because you're walking too much/dragging your feet. What else would cause this? Little aliens that sneak into your house at night and chew on your cleats? At least at this point (after seeing a few of the last posts) you've come to terms w/ what everyone else is posting and know that you are the cause of the wear.

Obviously it’s me, where have I ever said otherwise? I deny suggestions that they’re even knockoffs.

I wondered if others, particularly newbies, have had similar wear and considered whether clipping in and out as a beginner causes the wear. Or stepping down at lights, but then I’d expect the problem to predominantly affect my left cleat.

I walk exactly as much in them as I say, perhaps ten steps per day. I also reduced the amount I did walk in them, by more than 90%, and guess what? Pretty much the exact same wear. Can you explain that, Einstein?

But yeh, you clearly know the problem. I’m lying about how much I walk in them, for ***** and giggles, and come and post the pics on here after I’ve ran a marathon in them 🙄

The main problem I see in this thread is the price of ShatmaNo cleats.
Replacement plastic Look compatible cleats can be had for $5. China, but they work fine.

Yeh, good suggestion. I don’t particularly mind having to replace them, just a puzzle!