The reports are bunk- the walkable cleats are WAAAAAAAY better. I have an old set of non-walkable Zero cleats NIB I haven't used just because I can't go back.

Better for walking, sure. But how well do the plastic covers hold up?

really well for me, including running on them through T1 and back into T2.

I'm impressed with how well they are holding up.

Much better than any of my metal speedplay x ones did :p

I have about 7000 road miles on a pair right now and they are dirty, but otherwise just like they were out of the box. Keep in mind that the "walkable" cover comes off if you don't like it, with no functional change in the cleat itself.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

There’s a reason they’re being phased out. As others have said the walkable are the way to go. People always find things to complain over, so yeah, do enough foruming and I’m sure will find complaints the cover is yellow.

Anyway, if your cover deforms or fall off, put a new one on. If you don’t like that it’s yellow, get one a different color.

If you want non-walkable cleats, switch to the X series, I think those don’t have a walkable cleat option.

The walkable covers are great, ride around 12-13k miles year, i used to have to go through 2-3 pairs of cleats a year, the new walkable covers allow for one pair all season. The only time i have lost a cover was during a crash where i put my foot down and it slid off. The only suggestion i have is for the first 250-500 miles use a little oil as they can be slightly stiff at first, this often results in people disliking speedplay due to the slightly tight clip in at first.

I've done enough fittings for people with the walkable cleats on their shoes to have a data set sufficient to support the conclusion that people have problems with the covers falling off because they don't put them on correctly/all the way.

Having said that, I think Dan has a stash of old style cleats from the TriSports collection, drop him a line.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
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I've got a pair of Titanium Speedplay zero pedals and a bunch of those old style cleats sitting around I need to sell. It's used but works fine. I just wanted a wider contact point & ended up going with Look Keo Max pedals when I got my newest bike.

Personally I prefer the feel of the old style no walkable as there is less flex/movement in them but prefer the walkable well basically to walk in. I'd be interested in other people opinion that your foot has a lot more play in it with the walkable cleat over non-walkable. Much the same I only ride aluminium cranks as I don't like the slight flex in carbon cranks...

This! The covers look as if they are symmetrical. But they aren't. There's a left one and a right one, and they have front and back orientation. Ignore the arrows and it will fall off. Also if they aren't snapped correctly over the cleat yep again they will fall off. I've never had one fall off.

The bottom metal plates on the old speedplay zero cleats were soft and easily ground down. The new walkables have rubber covers, with much tougher steel underneath on the actual cleat. It is an improvement in every way imaginable. You don't even need to use the rubber covers if you don't want them and it'd still be an improvement over the old cleats. But you do want them. Covers don't get in the way or affect power transfer or add to the stack. It isn't a problem. They do improve walking soooo much.