Cleat wear & rotation



rek

New Member
Aug 31, 2002
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Hi guys,

Not having road pedals with plastic cleats for that long, I'm not really used to not having metal cleats that last forever ... I've noticed that my left-hand cleat is a lot more scuffed-up than my right-hand one -- most likely because I always clip out my left foot when I need to stop, but only clip out my right foot if I'm actually getting off the bike.

Just how significant is the wear on the cleat when clipping in and out? Does the amount of spring tension dialled in on the pedal affect this?

Should I 'rotate' the cleats (akin to rotating car tyres) to even out the wear, or just not bother?

I've noticed that the biggest place of wear is on the top tip of the cleat -- the very edge is worn almost to where the yellow pontoon starts (nevermind the fact the yellow bit's the part that's supposed to wear away instead.. :p )

They are Ultegra SPD-SLs, by the way.
 
I try hard not to scrape my cleats, but like you say rek, it does happen. I got myself some cleat booties, which work well.