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Cleat wear - what is normal?
I have just taken the plunge and bought some Powertap P1S power meter pedals from Wiggle. This has meant using road-style cleats for the first time - I have used SPDs up until now. The cleats look like Look Keos but are supposedly incompatible (the instructions explicitly state not to use Looks with the pedals). The interwebs suggest they may be Wellgo cleats.
Having completed two rides I notice that both cleats appear quite worn and one is broken (but still useable I think). Is this normal? I assume not! Wiggle have offered to send me a spare set for free but advise that I shouldn't walk in them or that I should use cleat covers (available from all good retailers). I have not walked in them very far - about 10 metres from my back door to the road and the occasional "dab" at traffic lights. I find it hard to believe they should be so delicate.
What mileage do you get from your cleats? Do you do a special walk to avoid wearing them out? Has anyone else had eperience with Powertap/Wellgo pedals/cleats?
Thanks!
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24 comments
Those look like Wellgo RC7 cleats - I can see RC7 in the moulding.
Good spotting. I had noticed that too and the interwebs agree. Sold as PowerTap cleats they can cost as much as £24 a pair, but as Wellgos they can be found for £6 a pair. Reviews of the cleats on the PowerTap website are universally dreadful - it seems durability is an issue.
Shimano cleats are easier to walk in (slightly) than looks. I used to go through look cleats really quickly until I realised i was dragging a foot while stopping I get about 18 months out of the left foot don't think I've changed my right now years. The little black rubber bits on looks are useless
Same here, my first pair of cleats (the left one anyway) lasted all of a week until I realised I was dragging my foot when stopping, a habit left over from riding a crappy old hybrid with ear-piercingly squeaky brakes. The next pair are still going strong years later.
I find the first bit of wear is always more meesy - like the first ketchup stain on a pair of white trainers (yes I went early 90's raving). I wouldn't consider them 'broken' as such. I would take their second pair of cleats, get them straight on and check they are better as you don't want to factor new cleats monthly into the cost of the power meter. Having said that, i would also keep hold of those ones as they're good for more miles...
That seems to be the case here. Having ridden them a few more times I haven't noticed the wear getting any worse - if anything, some of the messy rough bits have been worn off so the cleats look cleaner. Hopefully they've stabilised. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the info everyone. So, it sounds as if most of you are getting around a year's wear from a set of road cleats. That's the sort of figure I'd expected, thus my surprise at the state of my cleats after 2 days! Just to be clear, I have not been walking on them except to get from my back door to the road. I've certainly not engaged in any uphill Froomeing.
I will certainly be taking up Wiggle's offer of a replacement pair and I'll see how they get on. Hopefully I just have a dud pair although that does sound odd to me. Has anyone else had this problem?
I have Dura-ace pedals / shimano cleats, do about 6 - 7000 miles a year and my current set are 7 years old. I really try not to walk in them as it's bloody inconvenient. I'd say get a new set of cleats under warranty
Why did you move away from SPD cleats? I'm on the original cleats for 5 years. SPD shoes are just fantastic, ride to destination, then walk normally
I agree with you on SPD cleats...but the downside is there's currently no power meter pedal that will accept them. That was the original rationale for moving to the three-bolt cleats; the threadstarter got PowerTap P1S pedals
given your nickname theironduck, I'm surprised you haven't invented that special walk yourself - maybe something combining the usual pigeon-toed pregnant penguin waddle of the roadie and a form of goose step where the impact is taken on the heel?
I see I'm going to have to change my username to the cheesyplasticduck if this goes on
SPDs. 5 years and still using the same pair (though tbh, there's a fair bit of float).
Mine are on about their fourth year!
Probably 3 years and counting on my SPDs on Shimano MTB/commuter shoe.
The shoes however are falling apart, so just bought some Giro road shoes with both 2 & 3 bolt options and a new pair of SPD cleats on those. The clunk as the new cleats engage is noticebly more 'solid' and there is much less float too.
I use SPD-SLs and normally get about 18 months out of them-but then I tend to use cleatcovers when walking any distance at all.
I wear through the left much faster than the right, but generally get a years' use out of a pair of Shimano ones.
Interesting. Any idea why? I tend to put down my right leg foot when I stop so I'd've thought the cleat on thay side would be showing the most wear but that's not the case. Goodness know what's happened to the grey plastic on the left shoe. All I can think of is that I have caught it trying (and failing) to clip in.
For me, I always unclip the left when I have to stop at lights etc - hence the additional wear.
One hint for those of us who wear cleat unevenly, rotate them around... I tend to go through two lefts for one right.
I think the conventional wisdom in the uk is to unclip on the left then if anything goes wrong - you'd fall away from passing traffic.
Well, I wasn't expecting them to last as long as SPDs but two rides seems a bit short! I'd be happy with 12 months.
I'm wondering if I should return the PowerTaps and get some of the new Vectors - they use standard Look cleats.
I use SPD SL & get around 18 months out of them.
Thinking about switching to Look pedals though after my Shimano pedals disintegrated on me & from what I've read Look cleats wear very quickly.
Wow, no, that shouldn't be normal. I use Look cleats for my good shoes and my commuting shoes and, although I probably overextend the use on my commuters, they're good for 12 months or so. Those look as though they're made of cheese, and the soft spreadable stuff at that.
The offending article...
cleat_wear.JPG