Probably in vain – combating iced-up cleats?

As above.

Other than not putting feet on the floor (impossible on a social ride) or using road shoes with smooth soles and cleats sitting proud (I don’t own any) or using flat (I don’t have any) – does anyone have any tips, please?

I’m thinking a good scrape out of any accumulated crap and then a spray of GT85 might help, but I can’t see it lasting more than one feet down episode (if that).

I doubt it very much, but is there some amazing hack that has eluded me for the 19 years I have been riding?

Try Time pedals – the open design means that snow, ice, mud etc tends to push out rather than gum up the mechanism

Don’t put your feet down ? 😉

its an old age problem, and the above is the only real answer that has worked, apart from using flats

I don’t think there’s a solution other than flats tbh. Some consistencies of snow just pack into pedals / cleats / shoes whatever you do.

One half-way solution if you use SPDs is one of those pedals that’s flat on one side and clips in on the other. I use Sonder Jekylls because I have some, though other options are available. It’s not a perfect solution by any means, but it’s markedly better than desperately trying to force your cleat into a pedal mechanism that’s stuffed full of compressed wet snow.

I just remember to give the pedal a good clatter with the base of the shoes before every time I go to put my feet in. I mean multiple really hard stamps. Getting fresh snow off the shoe/pedal is easy, its when you stick your feet in and compact it that it becomes problematic.

Furniture polish on the sole of the shoe and the pedal surfaces. Or just candle wax.

Slows the process down, and is more effective/long lasting than GT85 or WD40.

I see a gap in the market for heated cleats.

…Riding clipped in on icy roads strikes me as a really bad idea anyway, glad I don’t have any 😉

I always switch to flats for any form of icy riding.

Flats is the only real answer, and even then you can get ice balling up on the pedals themselves. This isn’t a new phenomenon or restricted to cyclists, anti-balling plates for walking crampons have been around for decades.

Clean cleat area helps.

When I race cross I tend to use a few drops of chainsaw oil (very sticky) or a thin smear of grease. Lasts a little while longer. Keeping on top of clearing them out each time you clip in helps too. Be a bit more forceful and click in.

Crankbros are supposed to be better. But my experience with egg beaters was that they fell apart. So I moved back to Shimano.

I’ve gone with a smear of grease on the cleats (hoping that a bit left in the crevices will not just get pulled out in 5 seconds flat) then sprayed over the sole recess and cleat with furniture polish, avoiding the actual sole for obvious reasons. Light smear of grease on the contact surfaces of each pedal with a spay of furniture polish there too.

I doubt it will do anything other than make my shoes smell like a wooden coffee table…

…Riding clipped in on icy roads strikes me as a really bad idea anyway, glad I don’t have any ?

That’s not what causes iced up cleats. It’s when you’ve put your foot down in slush, or a puddle, or damp road or whatever, and then while riding the moisture around your shoe and pedal freezes.

Try Time pedals

I love my time pedal, but they get iced up. I alway assume Crank Bro’s egg beater would be the best SPD in winter, but I can’t live with SPD system that fall to pieces (they still do, no matter the update). Last winter I decided the best option would be to swap back to flats.. I was sick of trying to bang the ice loose from the my shoes, only to ice it back up on the next stop..

I think looking for non-snowy places to put my feet when stood still is about the best I can do.

I can’t ride flats as I haven’t got the skills.

I don’t really want to invest in a whole new setup for less than a handful of my 120 odd rides per year either.

I was just after the one in a million chance I’d missed something!

I was just after the one in a million chance I’d missed something!

Take a flask of boiling water and pour over your feet before stopping. remember to reserve enough for each subsequent stop. If boiled water isn’t available then soup can be used. If soup or boiled water not available then urine, fresh from the owner, can be used, but BEWARE the combination of uncertain grip, feet frozen to the pedals and trying to expose your nether regions may result in injury. Or arrest.

That’s not what causes iced up cleats. It’s when you’ve put your foot down in slush, or a puddle, or damp road or whatever, and then while riding the moisture around your shoe and pedal freezes.

Oh I know – I meant that if there’s ice around then the last thing I want is to be attached to my pedals, especially if said attachment is frozen solid. Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

I like IdleJon’s suggestion but a simpler solution might be to bring along a couple of plastic carrier bags, put your feet inside them whenever you stop. Keep them on with an elastic band around your ankles.

Ive had to knock ice off flats to be honest….

Furniture polish on the sole of the shoe and the pedal surfaces. Or just candle wax.

I was going to suggest silicone spray but ^^this^^ seems a better idea TBH.

With it being such an infrequent thing and not really knowing our snow types in this country, I am probably putting too much on this.

But a smear of grease around the cleats and pedal mechanism plus a spray of bees wax furniture polish did seem to work. I tried to only put my foot down on thin snow, soil or rocks, but I definitely shoved compacted snow into the cleat recess a few times stepping on the stuff. It seemed to come out very easily – not much stamping required.

The older SPD pedals (in my case M747) were less prone to problems than the newer system. With the older ones you’d sometimes not get clipped in which is annoying but relatively safe, with the current system I found I’d get clippled in then I was stuck – which hurts.

Crank Bros seem largely immune, like the TIME mentioned above there’s somewhere for the snow/ice/mud to go when you clip in so it doesn’t pack down into a deadly clod.

Oh I know – I meant that if there’s ice around then the last thing I want is to be attached to my pedals, especially if said attachment is frozen solid. Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

Hit ice on the road and you’re going down so fast and hard that your choice of pedal isn’t going to make any difference

Most of our bikes have SPD pedals with those bear cage type surrounds.

Even if you can’t get in you still have a solid surface to push.

TBH I’ve ridden in snow a lot & never had a problem. Kicking the pedal & raking the sole of your shoe across the mechanism clears it nearly every time.

I think it depends a lot on the type of snow tbh. There’s a particular consistency of clumpy, wet stuff that just gets compressed into the cleat box and the pedal mechanism. If you’re riding a trail in conditions where some pushing is inevitable – drifted snow, proper ice etc – then you’re basically doomed with SPDs. No amount of furniture polish, grease, or banging your shoes against the pedals is going to save you.

Other drier, flakier snow will just fall off quite easily. I seem to remember reading that the Inuit, legendarily, have more than 20 different words for clogged pedals.

This issue is why I moved to flats originally. Even though I only ride in snow very infrequently. I’m still on flats several years later!

When riding in snow clipped in, there was no amount of banging my shoes which even slightly dislodged the ice on the cleats – it was unmovable with the equipment I had with me out in the ride. And stopping for any period of time caused me to cool down a lot too. Riding in snow (on flats) is one of my favourite riding experiences. Clipped in – not so much!