What's the mileage lifespan of SPD pedals

I've found the cleats to wear out faster than the pedals.

stevesakson said:

Hi,
I've been on the same SPD pedals for about 3,200 miles and I'm noticing substantial side-to-side movement when locked in, no matter how much I tighten them. The pedals are made by Wellgo, and my cleats are Shimano.

Is this a case of worn out pedals or a pedal-cleat mismatch?

There are no mileage or time based formulas to tell when these components will wear out. A bike shop with competent wrenches could clear this up in a matter of seconds.

Doctor Morbius said:

There are no mileage or time based formulas to tell when these components will wear out. A bike shop with competent wrenches could clear this up in a matter of seconds.

Hi Doc,
Thanks for your response. I guess I should have disclosed more when I made my post.

It's actually a bike shop that is advising me to get the new pedals, and I'm wondering if they're jerking me around or are honest. I believe the cleats are okay because they're well under a year old.

I guess I'll have to trust them. I'm picking up the new pedals tomorrow.

stevesakson said:

It's actually a bike shop that is advising me to get the new pedals...
...I believe the cleats are okay because they're well under a year old.

I agree with the previous poster that cleats wear faster than the pedals.

Cleats are made from plastic and are subject to wear from clicking in/out of pedals (steel). Also, walking on your cleats (unavoidable) makes it wear faster. The lifespan of your cleats depend on their actual usage. Mine don't typically last a whole year before replacement.

Try buying replacement cleats first - they're much cheaper compared to pedals.

e_guevara said:

Cleats are made from plastic

He's talking about SPD cleats. Pretty tough to wear out metal ones. No matter, they are cheap to replace. I've abused quite a few SPD pedals on my mtb rides and never had a problem.

capwater said:

He's talking about SPD cleats. Pretty tough to wear out metal ones. No matter, they are cheap to replace. I've abused quite a few SPD pedals on my mtb rides and never had a problem.

thanks. I forgot that SPD cleats (not SPD-SL) were made from metal.

are they welgo m919 pedals. i have those and they're [censored]. i switched to look pedals and it is so much easier to engage/disengage the cleats.

I got a cheap pair of wellgo and they are [censored] compared to my other shimano spd-r ones.

I changed my SPD cleats (metal) as my pedals had become very sloppy- immediate new lease of life for the pedals which I've had on my mountain bike for over 6 years and a good couple of thousand off road miles

Stuart

I finally got around to getting my second set of 545 spds last month. The old ones literally had the cages fall off:p. That was 5 yrs of racing every season, commuting to work daily(in winter too) and freeriding some. Bout 10k miles total. Quality pieces if you ask me. Cleats are about a year with the Cannondale everyday shoes. They wear about the same as the uppers fall apart, so I replace cleats with shoes.