Anyone ever have cleats fail when riding?

chrisc said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right
off the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with
some pressure applied.

Falling dreams, too? :-D

I've had a Look-style cleat fracture -- a plastic lip broke off and then I
couldn't clip in (or out!) very well -- but never heard of any /breaking
off/ the shoe. (They CAN come off if the screws/bolts aren't tight, and
that can be quite dangerous.)

Torque those babies down and go ride.

BS (no, really)

Sometimes I get nervous that my jewels are gonna crash into the top tube
(when standing).

"chrisc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some

pressure

Quoted message said:

applied.

"chrisc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some
pressure
applied.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not break off, but get loose. I had an SPD cleat loosen on the shoe, so
when I tried to unclip, it was still hung up. I fell over sideways.
Awkward, but not dangerous.

chrisc said:

Sometimes I get nervous that my jewels are gonna crash into the top
tube (when standing).

"chrisc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break
right off the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing
with some pressure applied.

Oh, you mean the "top post".

{rotfl}

"chrisc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some
pressure
applied.

Never a failure, but I lost a cleat bolt while riding and nearly fell trying
to unclip. My foot turned, and the cleat merely rotated in place, not
clipping out. It was scary. ?:-)

"chrisc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some
pressure
applied.

Nope. Sometimes when I stand just to stretch after a long time in the
saddle I flex my ankles so that - were I standing - I'd be on my toes.
Looking at the engineering it's solid metal against metal that keeps the
cleat from sliding forward so any failure of the mechanism would cause an
injury to family jewels.

If the mechanism fails and releases it would only affect you on the
up-stoke, meaning no catastrophe. I think the worst case for cleat failure
is if it doesn't un-clip when it is supposed to.

Ride note:

Gorgeous day! Great Ride! Everything is dried up from the rains, low
pollution count. That left to a good 4 hours of trail riding along the
river. It doesn't get better than that!

--
'Keep on riding north and west
Then circle south and east
Show me beauty
but there is no peace.' -rush

Quoted message said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some pressure
applied.

What brand of pedal/cleats are you using?

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

You must be riding some very steep inclines, or your bike is from the
70's with those really high top tubes...

lowkey said:

If the mechanism fails and releases it would only affect you on the
up-stoke, meaning no catastrophe. I think the worst case for cleat failure
is if it doesn't un-clip when it is supposed to.

I know one guy who broke a collar bone last year when his cleat released
while pulling up, it's a common way to crash.

I know another guy who got lots of titanium parts in his leg last year
after a very bad fracture from his cleat not releasing.

Both cases can be very dangerous.

"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Oh, you mean the "top post".

That WAS a good one. Thanks.

Cheto

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

lowkey said:

If the mechanism fails and releases it would only affect you on the
up-stoke, meaning no catastrophe. I think the worst case for cleat
failure is if it doesn't un-clip when it is supposed to.

I know one guy who broke a collar bone last year when his cleat released
while pulling up, it's a common way to crash.

I know another guy who got lots of titanium parts in his leg last year
after a very bad fracture from his cleat not releasing.

Both cases can be very dangerous.

Ok. I will rephrase. 'Your chances of injury are less on the upstroke'. But
I don't know if that is true either. [hell, after even a little exposure to
cycle ngs I don't even know up from down on bike lanes and helmets] 🙂 But
it seems likely upstroke failure would be less dangerous than downstroke.

Peter Cole said:

lowkey said:

If the mechanism fails and releases it would only affect you on the
up-stoke, meaning no catastrophe. I think the worst case for cleat failure
is if it doesn't un-clip when it is supposed to.

I know one guy who broke a collar bone last year when his cleat released
while pulling up, it's a common way to crash.

I know another guy who got lots of titanium parts in his leg last year
after a very bad fracture from his cleat not releasing.

Both cases can be very dangerous.

Mental note: Replace cleats on my commute shoes. I've been averaging
about one pullout on the upstroke per week for the past couple months.
Now where did I put that screw-extractor bit?

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
The master programmer moves from program to program without fear. No
change in management can harm him. He will not be fired, even if the project
is canceled. Why is this? He is filled with the Tao.
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

chrisc said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some pressure
applied.

I haven't had cleats fail yet (except back when dinosaurs ruled the earth
and we nailed cleats on to use with toeclips), but just last week I ripped
the sole off one of my shoes, leaving it attached to the pedal by the
cleat... :-|

--

John ([email hidden])

Peter Cole said:

I know one guy who broke a collar bone last year when his cleat released
while pulling up, it's a common way to crash.

I know another guy who got lots of titanium parts in his leg last year
after a very bad fracture from his cleat not releasing.

While these things aren't common for me, I've had a cleat release at
speed a few times, once on a fixed gear bike and a couple of times in a
pretty tight pack. I think it's always on an uphill. I kind of wobbled
a little, but I can't imagine this being a common way to crash.

"cleat not releasing" -- the only time I release is when I'm stopped.
Did this guy topple in front of a moving car or truck to get his very
bad fracture?

RFM

Fritz M said:

Peter Cole said:

I know one guy who broke a collar bone last year when his cleat released
while pulling up, it's a common way to crash.

I know another guy who got lots of titanium parts in his leg last year
after a very bad fracture from his cleat not releasing.

While these things aren't common for me, I've had a cleat release at
speed a few times, once on a fixed gear bike and a couple of times in a
pretty tight pack. I think it's always on an uphill. I kind of wobbled
a little, but I can't imagine this being a common way to crash.

Depends how hard you're pulling. I went over the bars once when a chain
skipped. If you're really at maximum, it's common for your weight to be
far enough forward that any upset will send you over. I have also pulled
out several times, usually from worn cleats, without crashing, but then
I wasn't at maximum effort.

Quoted message said:

"cleat not releasing" -- the only time I release is when I'm stopped.
Did this guy topple in front of a moving car or truck to get his very
bad fracture?

Hardly. He was riding slowly on a trail and had a low speed twisting
fall. The force splintered his lower leg bone lengthwise. He's an
experienced cyclist and was using Crank Bros. "Eggbeater" pedals. Pedals
twist to release typically, and it seems like it's possible for the
release to be blocked if your heel hits the crank or chainstay,
especially if the pedal has lots of float. He's not sure what exactly
happened but thinks it was something along those lines.

chrisc said:

I sometimes wonder/get scared that my cleats are going to break right off
the shoe. Especially when going uphill/speeding/standing with some pressure
applied.

I once had a SPD cleat pull through the sole of my shoe (not the fault
of the cleat, of course), and have had really worn LOOK cleats pull
out of the pedal. But in both cases, the problems were due to worn
out equipment, not design flaws (unless you count the LOOK cleats not
being able to handle walking a mile back to the start of a time trial
after a flat). ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Peter Cole said:

Hardly. He was riding slowly on a trail

Ahh, I wasn't thinking mountain bike.

RFM

This happened to me too, Mark.

I was riding some OLD cleats on my "rain/mud" Cannondale MTB shoes.
Pulling up on a climb I thought - my cleat feels like it just slipped,
and the BAM! knee to bar contact.
The very old cleat pulled right through the very old sole of the shoe.
The "bar" of sole between the 2 slots cracked in half.
Now I have new "rain/mud" shoes.

This happened to me too, Mark.

I was riding some OLD cleats on my "rain/mud" Cannondale MTB shoes.
Pulling up on a climb I thought - my cleat feels like it just slipped,
and the BAM! knee to bar contact.
The very old cleat pulled right through the very old sole of the shoe.
The "bar" of sole between the 2 slots cracked in half.
Now I have new "rain/mud" shoes.