Loose cleat in Shimano M520 pedals

paulbnix

I have a pair of M520 pedals on my bike. They are about 12 months old.
Recently I have detected a slight movement under my right shoe - especially when climbing.
This doesn't happen all the time and seems to stop if I twist my foot a bit.
I have had the pedals set to the minimum tension so I tried increasing the tension on the right one. This initially seemed to stop the movement but then it came back again.
The crankset appears to be rock solid and I cannot feel any movement under the left foot.

Is the problem likely to be the pedal or could the cleat be worn?

marcusjb

Probably a worn cleat yes.

Which foot do you tend to unclip when you're at traffic lights etc.? I'd guess at the right one.

I unclip with my left at lights - and that's the cleat that wears out first.

New cleats are not terribly expensive, look on eBay and you can pick up sets for very little.

gozzy

I wouldn't expect an spd cleat to wear out in 12 months, though it depends on what kind of shoes you're using really, if they're not recessed maybe. Have you tried removing the cleats, greasing the bolts and refitting?

paulbnix

In reply to marusjb - I uncleat the left foot when stopping so its the other one.
Gozzy - the shoes have a raised sole so the cleat is recessed. I'll have a look at refitting the cleat - what does greasing the bolts achieve?

gozzy

Ok, I would say then it's pretty unlikely you've worn out the cleat as you're not walking on them, spd last a lot longer than spd-sl simply because they're metal, not plastic, plus the recess means they don't contact the ground so much. You could always just take a look and compare the two to see if one looks more worn than the other.

Greasing creates a better interface between the bolt and thread holding the bolt tighter, so it shouldn't work loose, it should also prevent the 2 surfaces rusting together and seizing the bolt up. You should be greasing pretty much all threads. No doubt someone else will advise which ones you shouldn't, but I can't think what they are off the top of my head.

paulbnix

I can see no obvious differences between right and left.
Of course I can't detect any movement of the shoe or pedal on the workstand.
However I have found a new pair of cleats so I'll fit those (with grease) and wait for the rain to stop.

paulbnix

New cleats solved the problem. The old cleats came with some cheap shoes I bought from Decatlon. The new ones are genuine Shimano - maybe they will last longer.