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Cleat life comparisons

Old 07-16-08, 04:46 PM
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Cleat life comparisons

I am currently using Time RXS pedals. My cleats are definitely worn after about 3000 miles and ready to be replaced. My old Time Equipe pedals had those two-piece aluminum and brass cleats that seemed to last years. What kind of pedals are you guys using and how long do your cleats last?
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Old 07-16-08, 04:51 PM
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Crank Bros quattro cleats. About 10,000 miles on them so far with no significant wear to speak of.

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Old 07-16-08, 04:55 PM
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SPDs - my speedplay cleats would wear down in about six months time
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Old 07-16-08, 05:20 PM
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My Keo cleats still have a lot of life left in them, with approximately 4000 kms and about 12 months of use. My other pair has 2500 kms and is even less worn than the pair mentioned above at the same point in its lifetime. Both pairs have been used WITHOUT cleat covers.
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Old 07-16-08, 05:30 PM
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Originally Posted by toshi
Crank Bros quattro cleats. About 10,000 miles on them so far with no significant wear to speak of.

+1. I assume I'll have to replace the tread pieces at some point. That should be very expensive, I'm sure...
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Old 07-16-08, 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by foresthill
+1. I assume I'll have to replace the tread pieces at some point. That should be very expensive, I'm sure...
If you send them an email they'll send out new ones for free if you tell them your old ones are worn out. I've gotten other pieces for free just by sending them an email. I've got about 4-5k miles on my quattros. They might be a little loose. I would have to try a fresh pair of cleats to see if I could notice a difference.
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Old 07-16-08, 05:57 PM
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Crankbrothers has great customer service. I bought a MTB with some low end crank brothers pedals. After 25 miles, one of the pedals decided to seize up. So I called the company, they said ship em back and they'd send me out a new pair or for $30 more, they would send candys to replace the broken smarties (both like the egg beater pedals, except for they have a platform around the egg-beater thing). I asked if I could get a pair of egg beaters instead. They said sure, but it would be again, $30. So I said fine. I send the pedals in, a week later, Candies show up I called up the company again, they looked at my claim number and saw they'd just shipped the wrong ones out, so he would ship a new pair out ASAP. I asked him what to do with the candies (MSRP is around $80) since I didn't want to pay shipping, if he would send out a prepaid package. He said, don't worry about it, and just to keep them. Score. Those will go on my other MTB.

As for cleat life. IMO, I think the Keo's do not last as long as the older deltas.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:37 PM
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Originally Posted by soma5
I am currently using Time RXS pedals. My cleats are definitely worn after about 3000 miles and ready to be replaced. My old Time Equipe pedals had those two-piece aluminum and brass cleats that seemed to last years. What kind of pedals are you guys using and how long do your cleats last?
My experience is similar, the RSX or the Impact type cleats are tiny and don't last very long. I wish they would sell just that bronze cleat to replace. I have one foot that barely moves and one that rotates all over the place so I need to replace that one a couple of times a year.
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Old 07-16-08, 08:53 PM
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M2 Racer Orb cleats have been at it for over 10,000 KM.

They are still awesome.
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Old 07-16-08, 09:02 PM
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My SPD-SL cleats have about 2500 miles on them and it's about time to replace.

The old Look Delta's I had were good for about 2000 miles (no walking surface like the SPD-SLs)
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Old 07-16-08, 10:00 PM
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spd-sl. 2000 miles. a corner broke out preventing mount. i would still make the same choice again.
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Old 07-17-08, 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by neilG
My experience is similar, the RSX or the Impact type cleats are tiny and don't last very long. I wish they would sell just that bronze cleat to replace. I have one foot that barely moves and one that rotates all over the place so I need to replace that one a couple of times a year.
The cleats are not symmetrical so you can't just swap between shoes. You can do that with a lot of pedals to greatly increase the life of your pair of cleats if you wear one side faster than the other, but not with the RSX. That said, I really like the RSX pedals and I'm not switching.

-soma5
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Old 07-17-08, 09:53 AM
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ummm....Am I doing something wrong or right....I'm on my original Time RXS cleat which have to have close to 10000km's on them...
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Old 07-17-08, 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by rbart4506
ummm....Am I doing something wrong or right....I'm on my original Time RXS cleat which have to have close to 10000km's on them...
Probably right, but certainly different! What kind of riding do you do, and how hard? My right cleat has pretty deep grooves on the brass thing now, the left one not so much. I clip out with my right foot at stops.

-soma5
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Old 07-17-08, 10:34 AM
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You guys with the Crank Brothers pedals seem to be running in first place. Keo, SPD-SL and Time seem to be around the same.

-soma5
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Old 07-17-08, 10:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Johannes
spd-sl. 2000 miles. a corner broke out preventing mount. i would still make the same choice again.
+1 I get about that much. Has anyone just replaced 1 cleat with SPD-SL? My right foot wears much faster since it is the one I put down at lights.
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Old 07-17-08, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by hammond9705
+1 I get about that much. Has anyone just replaced 1 cleat with SPD-SL? My right foot wears much faster since it is the one I put down at lights.
You don't really need to worry about wear on the yellow (or red) bits on the cleat, as they're not part of the cleat/pedal interface. You can't have worn through the whole coloured bit just from putting your foot down? I replaced my first set of spd-sl cleats around 7,000 miles and I reckon this set will last me about the same.
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Old 07-17-08, 11:24 AM
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SPD (not sl) should last jsut about forever.

I wear out the Look cleats at low milage because I take short rides and walk around in them a lot (relatively). I think the wear come mostly from walking and unclipping.
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Old 07-17-08, 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by BryanW
You don't really need to worry about wear on the yellow (or red) bits on the cleat, as they're not part of the cleat/pedal interface. You can't have worn through the whole coloured bit just from putting your foot down? I replaced my first set of spd-sl cleats around 7,000 miles and I reckon this set will last me about the same.
this is true, but i find there is a lot more "slop" in the foot I clip out at lights, as the clipping in and out motion wears a groove in the cleat.

I think most of the wear comes from in and out and walking around (I know the yellow plugs don't affect the connection, but mine are almost gone....then we're in trouble). If you ride in a city and don't trackstand every light you'll wear more than the guy who clips in and goes 50 miles straight in the same amount of mileage.
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Old 07-17-08, 11:55 AM
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Originally Posted by soma5
Probably right, but certainly different! What kind of riding do you do, and how hard? My right cleat has pretty deep grooves on the brass thing now, the left one not so much. I clip out with my right foot at stops.

-soma5
I probably ride on average of 300km's a week....

I don't race...

I always unclip with my left foot and I don't notice much difference between my two feet when it comes to movement. I do notice that on my plain RXS pedals that cleats seem a lot tighter then my RXS carbons...

This might be a stupid question, but what are the signs of cleats that need to be changed??
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Old 07-17-08, 12:01 PM
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My RXS have around 3000 and are on the edge. The little rubber treads are breaking off one by one exposing the cleat. They work and I've spent too much on my bike lately, so I'll wear them tile they die.
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Old 07-17-08, 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by hammond9705
+1 I get about that much. Has anyone just replaced 1 cleat with SPD-SL? My right foot wears much faster since it is the one I put down at lights.
Can you swap cleats left and right?
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Old 07-17-08, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by soma5
Can you swap cleats left and right?
With SPD-SL's, yes.
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