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Advice on Pedals & Cleats


Dave F
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Hi Folks,

I'm after a bit of advice about pedals and cleats. I know that I'm unlikely to get one clear answer, but that's fine!

When I bought my first road bike, I was convinced to buy Look Keo 2 Max which worked fine and I never had any bother with them. I was then told, by someone who knows better than me but who is also a salesman, that my cleats and pedals were badly worn. An Exustar version of the Keo 2 was duly fitted. These cleats now seem really badly worn and, while I don't have any bother clipping in and out, there does seem quite a lot of play in them and they don't feel overly secure when riding.

The really annoying problem I now have though is that there is a lot of squeaking coming from the pedals which I can stop, but only if I move my foot around (heel and knee slightly out, from memory). At one point, I had thought this could be the shoe rubbing on the crank, but I don't think it is. This isn't constant: it develops over the course of a ride and becomes worst when I am already tired and very irritated with poor road surfaces, headwind, bugs and aggressive drivers. It definitely is not my ankle.

The bike is quite old but has covered less than 2,500 miles. My questions:

  1. Is it normal to be replacing pedals and cleats this often?
  2. Is an Exustar version of a 'main' brand much less durable, or am I imagining it?
  3. Will I notice much difference if I opt to try Shimano (I'll get used to any difference in feel, thinking more about durability)?

Any and all advice gratefully received!

Cheers,

Dave

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Firstly your cleats , these will wear out depending on how much walking you do on them, generally they can last a long time if you limit the amount of walking , however some maintenance on your cleats help prolong their life, and help better retention , on the front edge of the cleat it’s good practice to take any feather edges off with a file .

The pedal body you are using although not as good as Look it’s used by a number of pedal based power meters so not all that bad.

Noises well these can be from your pedal bearings , either worn or dry, cleat bolts , pedal threads and maybe too much float, what colour cleat do you use 

When I came back to cycling the thoughts were have a lot of float so you don’t get sore knees, so I used red cleats max float, however I found too much float hurts my knees so now ride medium float grey cleats or zero float black cleats , however I clean and lube my pedals every three months .

Would I change to shimano no not if I am happy with what I am using 

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Keo cleats tend to wear a bit faster than Shimano SPD-SL. It's more based on how much walking is done in them (or even just stopping and placing a foot on the ground) rather than miles riding). The Keo grip cleats last a bit longer than the standard.

In the meantime you could try adjusting the release tension see if that improves things. For the noise you could also try removing each bolt on the cleat and adding a bit of grease to the threads.

Shimano SPD (the metal mtb style ones) are the longest lasting but for road SPD SL are my favourite - nice big platform. However i have Keo / Garmin Vector pedals on a couple of bikes too, i don't really notice a huge difference between the two.

Exustar are usually alright - they make the garmin branded cleats and i've not noticed them last less than the Look ones.

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The plastic Exustar cleats really do wear down quickly, Dave. It's normal to have to replace them. I go through 2-3 pairs a year, which is a pain, but you have to keep on top of it to keep yourself safe. No point saving a fiver then pulling your foot out at 30mph.

I'd start by replacing the worn cleats. (Any chance of a photo of them, just to see how much wear and tear there is?)

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Thanks Richard,

Yeah, this is a bit embarrassing now. Photos attached and, safe to say, I haven't looked at these for some time! There is still plenty of edge on the front but not much at the back.

I'm ordering some new cleats just now and I'm going to revert to the grey that I started off with to reduce the float. The bike is needing a clean anyway so will pay attention to the pedals and lube while I am there.

Cheers,

Dave

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If you’re doing a bit of walking in your bike shoes (cafe stops, etc,), it’s worth investing in a set of cleat covers. These are plastic covers that protect your cleats when you’re off the bike and can extend the working life of your cleats by a considerable amount. I’ve used them for years, and I change cleats about every 18 months.

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