Got some 105 pedals that came with cleats.

The rubber foot on the left cleat which is my preferred “clip out when stopping” side has come out.

The cleats are only 4 months old. Is this normal? Even the Crank Brothers cleats on my MTB before this lasted for a year before they wore out.

Any tips of how to extend cleat life? I try to minimise the time spent walking on them.

You’ve hit the nub of the problem. They’re not really designed for stop-start cycling. I’ve a pair of yellow Shimano cleats that are at least a couple of years old but they only ever get used on long rides, never commuting and very little traffic.

The rubber pads on Look pedals disintegrate after a bit of use, but it doesn’t effect them at all… You only need to change them if the get damage sufficiently to make them sloppy of come unclipped when you pull up.

Had a pair of Time iClic cleats last 2 weeks, walking 200m on them on rough road 4-5 times did the damage.

I now have rubber cafe cleats that i put on them, when walking, and the next pair have lasted 10 times as long.

The ‘non-slip’ rubber pads on the Look cleats don’t usually last more than a couple of months of heavy use, but it doesnt affect the actual cleat, just walking in them. And you’re not meant to do that anyway 😉 A set of cleat overs should sort out any potential damage during the cafe stops.

SPD Sls are on about 6 months of use and suspect i’ll be replacing soon. Although they are used for London commuting and normal rides.

Only other option is to get good at trackstands.

I now have rubber cafe cleats that i put on them, when walking, and the next pair have lasted 10 times as long.

Do you use these CleatSkin things or something else?

I have Look Keo and get through about 3 sets a year.

I do use those cleatskins.
got mine from ebay for about the smae price as wiggle.

i just swapped Shimano yellow cleats after 5 years use. still worked ok, but looked a shambles. euch.

@cakefest Did they still have the rubber feet on them?

scotroutes – Member
You’ve hit the nub of the problem. They’re not really designed for stop-start cycling. I’ve a pair of yellow Shimano cleats that are at least a couple of years old but they only ever get used on long rides, never commuting and very little traffic.

Same here, currently 18 months old and not far from replacement.

Just use them untill you can pull out of them, then replace. They don’t like walking, I found mine tend to die after having to stop and walk home after a double flat on a short ride with one spare tube for example.

Not sure if it probably helps but I try and rest on my heel rather than the cleat at junctions and pedal off in a low gear rather than trying to push off with my free foot to gain momentum. Seems to keep them looking cleaner and stops dirt getting worked in.

In 4 years of regular road riding I am on my second set. I damaged the first set in a crash. For commuting I’ve always gone for mtb shoes for the reasons discussed.

I probably walk less than 50m on an average road ride. To the garage, sometimes a queue in the cafe and then back into the house. On a good day a whole century can be done without my feet touching the floor after I set off.

For commuting I’ve always prefered mtb stuff as it is more robust for walking.

Cheers for the responses.

I only have one road bike so swapping pedals isn’t really something I want to do. Perhaps it’s time to start saving up for a commuter hack with drop bars or something.

On a good day a whole century can be done without my feet touching the floor after I set off.

How do you eat the cake ?

On a standard Saturday 50 mile ride I will probably only walk 10 yards. Yesterday I rode about 30 minutes before even using my brakes.

But how do you avoid stop-start cycling? Even on a 100-mile ride you have to stop at lots of junctions! The cleats on my pushing-off foot always wear down really quickly.

I just got 18 months out of a set of look keo cleats, they wore to the extent that I could feel them rocking side to side rather than staying flat, not much walking in them, can’t help feeling that the are designed to be “bought” quite a times over the life of the pedal.

How much you stop start depends on the route – if i turn right and head for the Peak District, you can go probably hundreds of miles without hitting a traffic light if you pick the route right, wheras if i turn left to Derby, loads of lights.

You can always just use spds on the road bike – they do touring ones with a foot platform if you don’t find normal spd pedals comfortable (some people don’t).