Carbon sole pedal wear

julux

Hi all,

Looking for a little advice / feedback regarding wear on the sole of my road shoes.

I've been wearing a set of Lake CX 238 shoes for around 6 months now and I've notice a bit of wear to the carbon sole to the rear of the cleat. I'm using Look Keo pedals with the grey cleats (max float option I believe) and my cleat position is fairly comfortable. Wear on each shoe is almost even, though occurs in slightly different areas due to my non symettrical cleat position.

This wear looks to be caused by side to side play in the pedal and cleat combo. (See Photos)

I've used the same cleat and pedal combination on a set of Bont Vaypors previously, with very little obvious wear to their carbon soles.

My main queries below:
1. What's likely to be going on here, should I be concerned?
2. Should I be looking at replacing/upgrading the cleats and/or pedals?
3. Is the carbon on the Lake shoes softer than that of Bont's?
4. Should I be looking to use a cleat with less float, perhaps?

I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks

J.

First.Aspect

Carbon soles get scuffed. If mine were that scuffed I'd be delighted.

Were those plastic things cleats at one point in time?

ibr17xvii

TBH that wouldn't concern me at all.

Things wear, ride your bike & enjoy it.

julux

First.Aspect said:

Carbon soles get scuffed. If mine were that scuffed I'd be delighted.

The scuffs I can live with, but the deep wear spot behind the cleat was more my worry.

First.Aspect said:

Were those plastic things cleats at one point in time?

Yes, they were. Time for some replacements then I guess!

julux

ibr17xvii said:

TBH that wouldn't concern me at all.

Things wear, ride your bike & enjoy it.

I do very much enjoy riding it! I suppose I'm just making sure I address any issues early and prevent my kit expiring prematurely.

Thanks for the reassurance though!

MidlandsGrimpeur2

As mentioned that bit of scuffing is fine, the soles on those Lake shoes are made up of layers of carbon and are pretty thick so it would be quite difficult to break them or cause some kind of failure.

As First.Aspect said it is definitely time for new cleats, they are so worn I would guess that has caused additional movement and the scuffing.

On a wider note and not a criticism of the OP, I see a fair few other riders with worn cleats, not only does it make it difficult to engage your shoe fully with the pedals, it can also cause you to unclip under a hard effort which could potentially be pretty dangerous.

Ben6899

1. I've had this kind of wear on every pair of shoes I've owned; and
2. Those cleats have loads of life left in them! The knackered grip strip makes it look otherwise.

ibr17xvii

Ben6899 said:

1. I've had this kind of wear on every pair of shoes I've owned; and
2. Those cleats have loads of life left in them! The knackered grip strip makes it look otherwise.

Would agree about the cleats.

Those look like the non grip version Keo cleats & they look horrendous from pretty much day 1 IME.

julux

MidlandsGrimpeur2 said:

As mentioned that bit of scuffing is fine, the soles on those Lake shoes are made up of layers of carbon and are pretty thick so it would be quite difficult to break them or cause some kind of failure.

As First.Aspect said it is definitely time for new cleats, they are so worn I would guess that has caused additional movement and the scuffing.

On closer inspection of the pedals, the wear appears to line up with the tension bolt on the Look Keo pedals. (See Image)

So instead of the contact between shoe and pedal being Carbon - Plastic, it looks now to be Carbon - Metal (Tension Bolt)

It might be tricky to see from this image but there is definite wear on the bolt and surrounding area, and this matches up with the wear on the shoe.

Think I'm going to scrap these pedals and search for an alternative / Updated model, perhaps with an alternative tension bolt positioning.

ibr17xvii

If you're invested in the Look system Blades may be worth considering as they don't have any kind of tension bolt.

YMMV but I've found the newer versions where the platform is raised slightly at either end are better at holding a more stable position than the totally flat platform. I use fixed cleats & there is still some float, slightly too much for me if I'm honest but I still find them easier to get in & out of than SPD-SL's.

It's just a case of then finding out which Blade tension you prefer.

MidlandsGrimpeur2

On closer inspection of the pedals, the wear appears to line up with the tension bolt on the Look Keo pedals. (See Image)

So instead of the contact between shoe and pedal being Carbon - Plastic, it looks now to be Carbon - Metal (Tension Bolt)

Yes, looks like you are right. Never seen that before (and I used Keo's for a couple of years myself) , it even looks as though the carbon on the pedal itself has been worn through allowing the tension screw to contact the sole of the shoe.

Most pedals now that do have the tension screw on the pedal surface seem to have it recessed (shimano for example) so shouldn't be a problem if you do switch. Time pedals don't have the tension screw anywhere near the pedal surface as well so worth a look at those.

webboo

None of my look pedals look like those. The tension bolt is recessed and the plate it’s in is completely flat.

Ben6899

I have an old, really worn pair that are designed like that. They are absolutely f***ed, but will be okay on the winter bike for now.

julux

webboo said:

None of my look pedals look like those. The tension bolt is recessed and the plate it’s in is completely flat.

Well these are fairly worn. It could be a combination of the number of miles done over the years, and float in my cleats that was eventually caused this.

Contemplating replacing for a new system, and might even consider a move back to shimano after 10 years!

julux

Ben6899 said:

I have an old, really worn pair that are designed like that. They are absolutely f***ed, but will be okay on the winter bike for now.

Normally I'd probably not worry and run them into the ground, the bearings are still smooth after all, but after spending a pretty penny on new shoes and seeing this wear after only a matter of months, its time for these to go!

webboo

I find that look pedals usually start to click after about 3 years use. Sometimes filling them with grease cures it for a while.