I finally got clipless shoes and pedals this season!

Now I understand that road shoes are basically unwalkable due to the cleat design.

But I have MTB shoes. And I can still hear the cleat clicking on the ground when I am walking my bike through a cross walk, or walking on pavement, etc. The cleat is recessed between the treads, but it's not totally recessed. It touches the ground. Is this normal?

Here is a photo of one of the cleats, and you can see it's getting scuffed up a lot:
https://i.pictr.io/n8Lx.jpg

This pedal and shoe setup was professionally done in a bike shop. They had me up on the trainer pedalling, with a laser beam down the centre of my knee to ensure everything was aligned right.

Yes, that's normal. Some shoes are a little better than others about it.

Quite normal, depending on cleat type and position, tread depth and degree of wear etc.

Very normal to have some cleat tapping on hard surfaces. If the cleat scuffs bother you, your bike shop should have some touch up paint, or I've used rustoleum with good success.

Buy a shoe with recessed cleats. Problem solved.

?

both mountain shoes I've used had the cleat about level with the shoe lugs. I can hear it grinding on a tile floor, so I try to avoid walking on tile or on varnished wood floors that might get scratched. It's fine otherwise, the cleat isn't harmed by walking, even on concrete.

Perhaps some shoe goo could build up the lugs a little, but it wouldn't last too long.

After four years:

Thanks for your feedback, everyone.

yeah, it's normal. I really do wish the cleat section was fully recessed but it could add weight which most riders would not want. It's a tradeoff: a little bit of noise and tiny bit of wear in exchange for lighter shoes.

Yep. Its normal. Walking into the local deli for breakfast before a ride people are always staring as they hear click-click-click going down the tile floor.

Like I mentioned...they make shoes with a recessed cleat.