Are there any?
Walking on heals does not really do the trick and the coffee shop covers are pain. Its always the aluminum plate that gives out first.
Fetching $40 for the cleat once or twice a year make those pedals darn expensive to maintain.
Minimizing walking on them (take your shoes off) or using cleat covers along with keeping the cleats clean is your best combined strategy.
They aren’t very “walkable” compared to newer systems like Time that have a provision for traction when walking but also tend to break down quickly from walking, in some cases, very quickly.
New versions of the Look cleats have walk pads on them that maintain traction and reduce wear.
The biggest threat to Speedplay cleats when walking isn’t necessarily wear but fouling the cleats with debris like sand and small stones preventing them from engaging the pedal on the first try.
Speedplay is a very good system but it requires maintenance and is susceptible to wear.
I’ve been using a bit of shoe-goo on mine. I put a little coating on the aluminum from time to time. Its not a cure, but it does help prolong the aluminum from wearing down to the plastic piece.
Tom- agreed, great pedals and I run them on all the bikes I own.
I did notice Speedplay does coat the bottom alu plates with some scratch resistant coating (which is not very good IMO). I really wish somebody would sell after-market spare plates (<$15) that are made from steel or aluminium with good wear resistant coating (like PEEK or PAEK)
Wear on the spring or the plastic has been hardly a issue in the past for me.
Hmmm. That is a cracking good idea actually. I wonder why Richard hasn’t put a “non-skid” traction surface on the outside of the cleat. The cleats are expensive to make though, and that would make them even more expensive. Still, a good idea though.
Has anyone tried to cut a round opening for the pedal in the coffee shop covers and actually ride with them?
I will tell you why he did not do that-
He would sell a lot less replacement cleats!
I’m on my original cleats purchased in 2007, they look like absolute hell but still function as new…
did yours fall apart?
Get used to cleat covers. Stick em in jersey pocket and use them.You won’t even think about after a while. Plus its so much easier to walk with them on. I’ve almost busted my ass on a slippery mini mart floor during a stop of long ride to refill. I don’t leave home without the covers now.
Get used to cleat covers. Stick em in jersey pocket and use them.You won’t even think about after a while. Plus its so much easier to walk with them on. I’ve almost busted my ass on a slippery mini mart floor during a stop of long ride to refill. I don’t leave home without the covers now.
+1
.
Tom says: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires maintenance …”
I say: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires A LOT of maintenance …”
.
Get used to cleat covers. Stick em in jersey pocket and use them.You won’t even think about after a while. Plus its so much easier to walk with them on. I’ve almost busted my ass on a slippery mini mart floor during a stop of long ride to refill. I don’t leave home without the covers now.
+1
+1 more. Although, I’m tempted to get one of those super self-adhesive non-skid strips like for pool ladders or boat decks and cut it out to fit the cleat face and try that on my Tri shoes (have a different pair for regular road riding).
Hmm…
My road shoe Zero cleats are starting their 3rd season and have about 10K on them, most of that in city riding, so I clip and unclip a lot. They are a little scuffed up, but in no way worn out. They get a little dry lube once in a while, but nothing special.
What are you doing to yours that kill them so quickly? Dragging your foot when you stop? Setting at stoplights idly twisting your foot on the cleat? I have seen people do both and it kills cleats very quickly.
Also have them on my Tri bike, but they get attached and taken off in the parking lot by hand, so that doesn’t count. They have been unclipped in a race about once or twice.
Get used to cleat covers. Stick em in jersey pocket and use them.You won’t even think about after a while. Plus its so much easier to walk with them on. I’ve almost busted my ass on a slippery mini mart floor during a stop of long ride to refill. I don’t leave home without the covers now.
This is what my wife does on her Speedplays, and so far so good. The worst is getting mud/dirt inside them, so they need more TLC than my Shimanos.
Put shoe goo onver the top and bottom screws. You canwlk-push pff and the screws do not get worn.
Man, I love Speedplays but finally ditched them because the spring in the right cleat would break about every 1.5 years or so.
I have to say that in 14+ years of riding Speedplay, I’ve never really had an issue with any wear that happened from walking on the cleats. Rather, I find that the working parts of the cleats don’t last any longer than those such as Look or Shimano. I find myself having to replace cleats just as often with Speedplay as with the Looks I rode before that, and the Shimano Lance pedals I briefly used 2003-2006. When you combine that with the cost being double for Speedplay replacements what it is for the others, Speedplay pedals become a more expensive pedal system. I’ve resigned myself to that, though, since I just never have felt completely comfortable with the Look/Shimano style and their “self-centering” actions. I love the free float of Speedplay. On a side note, I guess that’s an indicator as well, of why my cleats wear so fast. I have a lot of motion in my pedal stroke in the cleat/pedal interface. C’est la vie.
Tom says: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires maintenance …”
I say: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires A LOT of maintenance …”
What are you guys doing in your Speedplays? I’ve never had to change cleats more than every 2 years, more like 3 or 4. I bought my tri bike in 2004 and just bought new cleats last year… And I run through transition with them on, often through grass never getting them gummed up.
Just an FYI, you are not supposed to do brick runs with your cycling shoes on 
Tom says: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires maintenance …”
I say: “Speedplay is a very good system but it requires A LOT of maintenance …”
What are you guys doing in your Speedplays? I’ve never had to change cleats more than every 2 years, more like 3 or 4. I bought my tri bike in 2004 and just bought new cleats last year… And I run through transition with them on, often through grass never getting them gummed up.
Just an FYI, you are not supposed to do brick runs with your cycling shoes on
Please don’t tell me that you are not supposed to swim in them.
I find that they require a lot of adjustment and maintenance. And you really, really better know what you are doing when you install them.
I have had no issues and I perform no maintenance on anything, ever … well, not exactly true, I dry lube the cleats very rarely (three times a year) and have had zero problems. Same with my wife (by that I mean zero problems on her cleats too, I did not dry lube her!)
I do throw on cleat covers though (cafe covers or whatever they’re called). Maybe that’s the key to a long lasting cleat.