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New set of pedals and can't get the right one tight enough (Shimano XT). Cleats are only a year old. Probably out 2/3 times a week.
Would a cleat wear out that fast? Tension is dialed to the max.
Years - riding 4 times a week to work on same pair - mind you, I do track-stand a lot 😉
Years usually.
Have you checked that the tensioner is compressing the springs and is the problem on both sides of the pedal?
I generally reckon a couple of years maximum riding once - twice a week.
longer than my shoes....
I've had my winter shoe ones in for 11 years.
[i]Years - riding 4 times a week to work on same pair - mind you, I do track-stand a lot [/i]
On the road you'll not wear them, put MTBing can mean a fair bit of pushing on rocky routes.
But for me - less than a year for Crank Bros ones, but longer for Shimano.
Years - but the failure mode was not releasing, rather than not clipping in. Led to a nasty off at Cwmcarn when I had a thigh tree root interface.
Years and years. I've never changed a set.
Hmmm, now I think of it. I've had the shoes for a year but cleats may be a few years old. Time to replace me thinks. Thanks all.
I guess it also depends how much you ride in wet grit / mud / s**te.
About 6 months for me before they become sloppy and have vertical play.
Riding is about 2x a week and 1/2 the school runs are by bike.
I'm surprised at how long everyone else is getting out of their cleats.
I've never got more than about 4 monthsout of my cleats (Shimano with M785 pedals). I run my pedals as tight as they possibly go, which is just about tight enough but then as soon as my cleats start to wear, they get too loose. I've just bought a new set to put in for the Mega.
My experience differs somewhat...
Shimano cleats (at least the ones supplied with pedals) have defo gotten softer, as mine used to last as long as the shoes they were in. Now however they last approx 2 years per set.
But in reality that means 1 years worth of riding as I have a pair of summer shoes and a pair of winter boots.
My failure mode is that the cleats pull out on drop offs etc.
Sometimes years, sometimes not (shimano).
I find as mentioned above it's walking that kills them I think. And specifically they can get damage, rather than wear. The cleats or pedals. I have* one set of cleats that are fine on some pedals, not on one pair. And new cleats that are ok on the pedals the worn ones aren't etc.
*had actually, replaced them the other week.
You'll notice the benefit of changing them. They're hardly expensive, so I change mine every couple of years. They go on the list of things that are easy to replace, and yet make a big difference to the overall feel of the bike: grips, cables, tyres etc.
Years, but I do have 4 sets of mtb shoes!
Mine seemed to take about a year to get to the point where they were too sloppy and kept releasing randomly, which was a contributory factor in deciding to swap to flats.
Not sure if it was the cleat or the pedal that wore most TBH.
(basic Shimano M520 pedals)
Since 1994. Still in use.
Ho do you tell when they're worn exactly?
Mine feel a bit loose and there's plenty of roll (shimano m647 dx pedals). When pedalling I can feel the cleat move about on every rotation. I've done it up to about halfway but there's still that problem. Cleats are just over a year old.
It's been bugging me for a while.These are used in Specialized boots.
You do know that the tension you wind on will only affect how hard it is to unclip, and not have any effect at all on the way the pedals feel when you are clipped in?
They wear out?!
I guess I need to have a look at my setup then. Cleats and Pedals just over a year old and don't feel right. I was coming unclipped as well, hence doing them up but my foot can still move about a fair bit.
One cleat recently lasted just one ride. I hadn't tightened it up enough and lost it somewhere.
Oh balls! Just rounded the bolts changing out the cleats.
Shimano multi realease cleats - 1 year (MTB 2-3 times a week).
Initially thought it must be the pedals, but even when I changed pedals they unclipped too easily. Changed for new pair of std shimano cleats and good as new. Guess they must be relatively soft these days.
=Shimano multi realease cleats
they unclipped too easily.
That's what they're supposed to do !
Years - but the failure mode was not releasing, rather than not clipping in.
+1
The problem I have with worn cleats is a 'rocking' feeling and vertical play. Sprung tension will make no difference to that. I'd guess at about 2 years, maybe less with lots if walking up rocky stuff.
Oh balls! Just rounded the bolts changing out the cleats.
The dangers of STW are clearly evidenced here!
Duffer - Member
Oh balls! Just rounded the bolts changing out the cleats.
The dangers of STW are clearly evidenced here!
Copper-slip your next set of bolts after you drill out the heads on this set. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 😉
The answer to the OP is "One million times longer than Crank Brothers cleats" 🙂
[quote=DanW ]The answer to the OP is "One million times longer than Crank Brothers cleats"
Yep it's true and as the cleat wears not the pedal on CB thats where I'd rather be.
I found with shimano about a year was fair game, especially if you do a lot of rock scrabling on the way up. Changing them always proved the last ones were too far gone. I do about 6 months with CB but I'm happy with that deal.