Do not buy cheap SPD-SL cleats from Aliexpress or Ebay

trailflow

Just a heads up. Give these a wide berth if you're thinking of buying some. They can typically be found on Aliexpress,Ebay,DHgate from as low as £2 a set. They are generically advertised with no branding on the ad listings or the packaging.

And now its evident why they are so cheap. Because they are absolute junk. For a while i was championing these as 'just as good' as the Shimano equivalents. Now i will eat my words. These are nowhere near as durable or strong. I will admit i have stupidly bought more than 10 sets of these over the last 2+ years. Almost every single set has worn out incredibly fast but they were so cheap i just threw another set on still thinking i was still saving money. All have broke in some way. Not a single cleat ever lasted as long as any of my geniune Shimano cleats.

On my ride yesterday the front of one of my Aliexpress cleats snapped clean off. This was their 1st ride around 12 miles in. Luckly there was no fall or injury. It happened at low speed. But i was just about to begin a 30+mph descent. So who knows how that could of turned out.


This is not the 1st time it happened. Oh no, it also happened on my previous ride where the rear of my cleat snapped off. They were also bought from Aliexpress. And were also on their first ride only 20 miles in.


photos uploaded

DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY. THEY ARE JUNK.

super_davo

Wiggle Lifeline cleats are £6 and are excellent, can thoroughly recommend them. Plus the covers they sell for £4 if you need to take your basket over the £9 free delivery...

ugo.santalucia

The things people do to save maybe 10 quid per year?

Plastic is not a generic material, there are plastic materials which are way stronger than others, but more expensive to injection mould... clearly the Aliexpress are made of cheap plastic and the SHimano are made of strong plastic

arthur_scrimshaw

super_davo wrote:

Wiggle Lifeline cleats are £6 and are excellent, can thoroughly recommend them. Plus the covers they sell for £4 if you need to take your basket over the £9 free delivery...

Yes +1 for these, I seem to get through shimano cleats at a rate on knots, typically after a few weeks the yellow wear pads have gone from the outside shortly followed by the central pad, after a couple of months it's hard to clip in. The lifeline ones I tried as an experiment have so far lasted three months and all the wear pads are still present.
I'll accept that's just me, I try to minimise walking in cleats but I'm obviously too hard on them.

ugo.santalucia

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd last a lot longer and unless your a pro won't really notice the difference.

True, but decent light shoes with stiff carbon soles don't come with 2 holes for SDP. When they do, you basically can't walk on SPD cleats at all, I know as I do have a pair

Bobbinogs

ugo.santalucia wrote:

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd last a lot longer and unless your a pro won't really notice the difference.

True, but decent light shoes with stiff carbon soles don't come with 2 holes for SDP. When they do, you basically can't walk on SPD cleats at all, I know as I do have a pair

Not quite. The Shimano XC7 and XC9s are pretty sexy, as shoes go, particularly the XC9s in the rather dandy S-Phyre blue. The XC7s are on my list for replacing some Spesh MTB Experts which had a very good carbon sole and good for cafes, etc., but mine are getting a bit long in the tooth and the latest models have had the carbon sole replaced (for some very disappointing reason).

arthur_scrimshaw

ugo.santalucia wrote:

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd last a lot longer and unless your a pro won't really notice the difference.

True, but decent light shoes with stiff carbon soles don't come with 2 holes for SDP. When they do, you basically can't walk on SPD cleats at all, I know as I do have a pair

You can get these to improve walking

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-SH40-SP ... j8j8P8HAQ#

And these to convert spd sl to spd

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shoes/shima ... or-smsh85/

All seems a bit of a faff though.

I use spd on my commuter and they last forever but the squeaking under load drives me mad. i had a pair of Sidi CX shoes which did this, when they wore out I bought some basic shimano spd road shoes and they do the same! Tried different pedals (m520) and this hasn't improved matters.

step83

Cant say I've had issues walking around in my Northwave Scorpius SRS's, soles pretty stiff an shoes feel quite light, well I say none, just one of the guys I ride with constantly telling me to get road shoes an pedals but he's a hipster with a beard who only wears black so his opinion counts for nothing.

Arthur, squeaking under load just needs a bit of copper grease in the mechanism, mine used to do it all the time.

kingrollo

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd last a lot longer and unless your a pro won't really notice the difference. Cheap doesn't always mean buy twice in this case it's worse. Well done on the OP admitting their folly and warning people.

I use both and do notice a difference. SPD is easy street, quick in and out, easy to walk if you go for recessed cleat. SPD/SL generally all round more fiddly - but a much nice feeling when you are clipped in - IMO.

imafatman

Bike components from Aliexpress?
You might get away with some cheap bar tape or a bottle cage but anything else, forget it.

For a while i was championing these as 'just as good' as the Shimano equivalents

I hope not too many people listened to such guff or they will also be making threads like this.

arthur_scrimshaw

Step83 wrote:

Cant say I've had issues walking around in my Northwave Scorpius SRS's, soles pretty stiff an shoes feel quite light, well I say none, just one of the guys I ride with constantly telling me to get road shoes an pedals but he's a hipster with a beard who only wears black so his opinion counts for nothing.

Arthur, squeaking under load just needs a bit of copper grease in the mechanism, mine used to do it all the time.

Thanks - I'll try that :idea:

trailflow

super_davo wrote:

Wiggle Lifeline cleats are £6 and are excellent, can thoroughly recommend them.

Will check those out, Cheers

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd

Knobbly studded shoes on a road bike , You must be joking ?

fenix

A cleat breaking can be nasty. Don't skimp on quality there.

Much prefer speedplay now after spending 30 years with Looks.

keezx

TBF I've never had any problem with SPD SL cleats from the far east.
Bought 2 sets a couple of years and still using them.

Grill

oxoman wrote:

Just get spd last a lot longer and unless your a pro won't really notice the difference.

No.

mugensi

I'll admit to buying cheap SPD-SL copy cleats from ebay in the past and one set actually lasted about 12 months which is all I'd get from a genuine set anyway but the last pair I bought were rubbish, firstly the yellow corner bits fell off the first time I walked on them and the left cleat would absolutely not clip into my Ultegra pedal yet would clip into an older 5700 alloy pedal I had on my winter bike. I have since stopped buying them and sticking to genuine shimano items from now on.