Thanks for all the replies.
I ended up keeping the S-WORKS Recon Laced, after trying and returning many different brands (Rapha, GIRO, QUOC and Specialized) they were easily the most comfortable and best fitting shoes I have so far found. They appear to use 2 rubber compounds on the sole parts, a softer grippy rubber at the front and back and a harder rubber for the part that surrounds the cleat. It's not clear which of these rubbers may have caused an issue for the couple of reviews I saw that stated the rubber wore down quickly. No I don't believe people leave fake reviews but different people have different experiences with the same product and the wear issue wouldn't show itself immediately so not clear if this was isolated or common. And FYI the Recons didn't cost 6 times the price of a pair PX; they were however considerably better quality and better fitting than anything else I tried and they made me look 'cool'
The only SPD shoes I'm aware of that have replaceable sole parts are BONT but they're currently outside of my budget.