How long should road cleats last?

[Jezston]

A month or so ago, I had an incident where my crank bros mtb cleats came detached from my pedals midstroke causing me to crash. In fairness, my cleats were about two years old and were very worn

I then bought some Look Keo pedals, and suitable shoes, to get a more secure clip in. They are a bit of a pain to clip in to, but they are more secure.

Until yesterday. My right foot once again came detached from the pedal midstroke causing me to lose control - fortunately at low speed so no crash. It appears that after just a few weeks of owning such a setup, the cleats are almost totally worn out. The white 'inner' plastic at the front of the right cleat is no longer there, causing it to pop out on an upwards pull.

WTF.

Is it just the cleats that come with pedals are particularly low quality? Should I not be walking about on cleats at all? Can you buy stronger compatable cleats?

At £20 for a couple of small pieces of plastic, I'm not keen on having to pay every month for replacement pairs!

 

[ianrauk]

Shimano MTB SPD's are the way to go.
The cleats will outlast your shoes by a long way, you can walk on them no problem and the pedals are rock solid.
Done over 20,000 miles with the same pedals on my commuting bike.

 

[ttcycle]

I have Look Keos and the cleats do wear out relatively fast in London stop start conditions - buy some covers for them to prolong their life to protect them when you do walk on them.

That rubber grip stuff does come off quickly but it's when you can see the white underneaths coming through the grey/black/red plastic that means it's time to change them or when they get incredibly thin in the lip that connects in.

Have you got them at the tightest bolt setting? A few weeks is a bit quick though.

I'd change to another system if I could but it would end up costing me way too much to replace all the pedals etc on all the bikes.

BTW Decathlon last time I checked a few months ago did the cheapest cleats at circa £15. Might have gone up by now.

 

[martint235]

As above. I used to wear Look Keos for commuting. Would regularly get through a pair of cleats in a month. For commuting I'd recommend SPDs as Ian says. I've worn out one pair of shoes while on the same set of cleats.

 

[fossyant]

Don't walk on them. I'm surprised the white section has gone - they usually just wear down from walking on them, not at the clip !

 

[Rob3rt]

I have Look Keos and the cleats do wear out relatively fast in London stop start conditions - buy some covers for them to prolong their life to protect them when you do walk on them.

That rubber grip stuff does come off quickly but it's when you can see the white underneaths coming through the grey/black/red plastic that means it's time to change them or when they get incredibly thin in the lip that connects in.

Have you got them at the tightest bolt setting? A few weeks is a bit quick though.

I'd change to another system if I could but it would end up costing me way too much to replace all the pedals etc on all the bikes.

BTW Decathlon last time I checked a few months ago did the cheapest cleats at circa £15. Might have gone up by now.

People always say that, but I have not experienced this. Mine have been good for about 2 years, only just in need of replacement now! I don't live in London, but I have walked a few mile on them and cycled a good few thousand miles!

 

[ttcycle]

People always say that, but I have not experienced this. Mine have been good for about 2 years, only just in need of replacement now! I don't live in London, but I have walked a few mile on them and cycled a good few thousand miles!

How many traffic lights do you have though? That's the issue- and old commute of mine had approximately 40 0dd in 8 miles one way- that amount of clipping and unclipping is going to have a significant wear and tear on the cleats

 

[amaferanga]

I commute in Keos every day and do training rides in the evenings and weekends (usually >10 hours/week). A set of cleats will last me many months and I don't bother with the expensive grip cleats - the normal ones are cheaper. It's walking in them that wears them down. I have a short walk to work, but I still put cleat covers on straight away:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products...oogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

 

[amaferanga]

How many traffic lights do you have though? That's the issue- and old commute of mine had approximately 40 0dd in 8 miles one way- that amount of clipping and unclipping is going to have a significant wear and tear on the cleats

I don't think clipping/unclipping wears them down much at all. Pushing off and using the unclipped foot to slow down will wear them out quicker, but not unclipping.

 

[ttcycle]

I push off with my clipped in foot rather than the cleated one and don't use my foot/cleat to slow down so it can't be that tbh.

 

[Rob3rt]

How many traffic lights do you have though? That's the issue- and old commute of mine had approximately 40 0dd in 8 miles one way- that amount of clipping and unclipping is going to have a significant wear and tear on the cleats

I don't commute. But I do use them for about 150-200 miles a week and walk about on them a fair amount, cafe stops, utility cycling I will walk in the cleats some, walked a mile or more a few times, including about a mile walking up what was essentially a stream, so on an uneven rocky surface.

 

[ttcycle]

I don't commute. But I do walk about on them a fair amount, cafe stops, utility cycling I will walk in the cleats some, walked a mile or more a few times, including about a mile walking up what was essentially a stream, so on an uneven rocky surface.

If you walk in them a lot, it's worth picking up some cleat covers - think I got mine for a fiver a few years ago:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products...oogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

 

[Nocode]

Shimano MTB SPD's are the way to go.
The cleats will outlast your shoes by a long way, you can walk on them no problem and the pedals are rock solid.
Done over 20,000 miles with the same pedals on my commuting bike.

+1 I'm using Shimano MTB SPD's on both my MTB and road bike. Cleats on my shoes are very old and still working without issues.

 

[e-rider]

Look Keo cleats last 5 minutes max - I'd never buy them again for that reason, but I am struggling on with them and making Mr. Look very rich in the mean time. This is a well known fact, and something a quick google would have revealed before purchasing them.

 

[e-rider]

A month or so ago, I had an incident where my crank bros mtb cleats came detached from my pedals midstroke causing me to crash. In fairness, my cleats were about two years old and were very worn

I then bought some Look Keo pedals, and suitable shoes, to get a more secure clip in. They are a bit of a pain to clip in to, but they are more secure.

Until yesterday. My right foot once again came detached from the pedal midstroke causing me to lose control - fortunately at low speed so no crash. It appears that after just a few weeks of owning such a setup, the cleats are almost totally worn out. The white 'inner' plastic at the front of the right cleat is no longer there, causing it to pop out on an upwards pull.

WTF.

Is it just the cleats that come with pedals are particularly low quality? Should I not be walking about on cleats at all? Can you buy stronger compatable cleats?

At £20 for a couple of small pieces of plastic, I'm not keen on having to pay every month for replacement pairs!

you can buy the non-grip Keo cleats for £10 a pair on the web