Creaking Looks

"Cyclpsycho" <[email hidden]> skrev i en meddelelse
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the

red

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cleat. I have the float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them.

It

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works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed three black marks on the

cleats --

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one right above each side mounting screw and one right across the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!!
It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound

like

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I bought it at K-mart!

I guess Looks just do that. I solved the problem by bying Speedplay ;o)

On my winterbike, I still use Look however, and they creak like crazy. Rubbing the cleats and pedals
with a candle helps for a while. I guess I'll be bying a second pair of Speedis though...

HB

How old are the cleats? They do tend to start creaking after a while. Sorry, but it's a
characteristic of the species. One thing else you might try, though, is put some grease (or wax) on
the screws, the t-nuts they screw into, or even between the cleat and the shoe. Sometimes this is
the source of the noise.

Usually, though, it's play in the cleat/clip interface.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

(Cyclpsycho) said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

PAM Works great,lasts a long time, but you may attract more dogs..

[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>, Cyclpsycho

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the float
set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long.

Worn cleats squeak. Dirty pedals squeak. Black cleats squeak less than red ones.

I switched from my ancient shimano-look 7401s to SPD-SL pedals this year. No squeak and easier to
get into. Lighter too.

Eric

Cyclpsycho at [email hidden] wrote on 6/26/03 2:51 PM:

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

This subject has cropped up now and again, so there will some references to it if you use
Google Groups.

Basically, many theories abound, but here are a couple points which seem to make a difference:

Cleats are one size, shoes have more. Small shoes seem more problematic to make noise. SIDI's (my
personal ex-squeakers are G-3's) have a plastic plate between the cleat and the sole of the shoe.
(The one which you can switch out if you want to use a different mounting system such as SPD,
Time, etc.)

Between those two variables, slight flexing seems to occur, causing a fairly nasty noise. You can
literally feel it in your feet. This is a little different animal than just the cleat-against-pedal
squeak which seems to occur with worn cleats.

Ok - here's what worked for me:

Shoes are 43's, which seem to mate really nicely to the base of the cleats. So, I didn't think that
was the problem.

The adapter plate seemed to have a very slight flex in it when mounted. So, I removed cleat and then
the plate. Took about a 1" x 1" bit of ain't-gonna-patch-it inner tube and trimmed it to fit inside
the mount holes. Used the slightly longer mount screws that came with the cleat (rather than the
sligthly shorter ones which came with the shoes) to remount
it.

So far, I'm into my second pair of cleats with nary a squeak. I'm probably jinxing the whole damned
thing by writing it out, but it was a nasty noise once upon a time...

hope that works!

-- Jim

I solved my creak by tightening the screws as hard as i could.

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

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the

red

Quoted message said:

cleat. I have the float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them.

It

Quoted message said:

works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed three black marks on the

cleats --

Quoted message said:

one right above each side mounting screw and one right across the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!!
It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound

like

Quoted message said:

I bought it at K-mart!

In article <[email hidden]>, "Ronald"

Quoted message said:

I solved my creak by tightening the screws as hard as i could.

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

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the

red

Quoted message said:

cleat. I have the float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them.

It

Quoted message said:

works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed three black marks on the

cleats --

Quoted message said:

one right above each side mounting screw and one right across the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!!
It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound

like

Quoted message said:

I bought it at K-mart!

Why do people continue to buy Look pedals? You will always be fighting the creak, and there are
better pedals out there!

Buying Look pedals is the most sure way to show that you are an undiscriminating cycling consumer.

(Cyclpsycho) said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

Pledge spray wax. Just spray on and around the cleats and let it dry; creaking is gone.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

I posted this on rbt earlier this year:

Tried Pledge, Armour All, Tri Flow, White Lightening, Campy grease but nothing seemed to work long
term except for total cleat replacement. Have since tried a suggestion I saw on cyclingforum that
suggested sandpapering. So I got out the Dramel tool and using low revs, lightly sanded the dark
contact areas on the bottom of the cleat until the spots were removed. Seems to have worked for me
though the cleats do require touch up with the sander every once in a while.

Greg Hall

[email hidden] (Cyclpsycho) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

Cyclpsycho said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

For me the problem is clearly the very front edge (vertical edge, about
4mm) of the cleat. When it gets shiny and black (on a red cleat), I get a squeak.

I gather from other posts that the "squeak point" varies from person to person.

Waxing and/or greasing this point on cleat and pedal helps for a while.

Gently roughing the cleat with medium fine sandpaper solves the problem for much longer. Care must
be taken not to remove much plastic.

--
Mark Janeba remove antispam phrase in address to reply

After awhile, I understood the squeek pretty well. It was saying "Speedplay, Speedplay." When I
answered the call, the noise ended.

Until then, I replaced cleats every 2k, used cleat covers religiously when walking, and sprayed the
pedal decks with lube. Still, after awhile, I had to buy new cleats or go insane. It gets worse as
the pedal decks wear, too.

When will Look make a change to a nearly two decade-old system that's run its useful life?

Andrew Karre

[email hidden] (Cyclpsycho) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the
float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed
three black marks on the cleats -- one right above each side mounting screw and one right across
the rubber insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed sound like I bought
it at K-mart!

Quoted message said:

Why do people continue to buy Look pedals?

I like them and only got a creak once, i use them on three pairs of shoes and two pairs of pedals
without problems. Every pedalsystem has it's pros and cons. Did you ever use Looks? The cyclingworld
is full of bs-stories like don't get this or that because it sucks while a lot of these problems are
caused by people who don't know how to use/adjust it or get the wrong stuff for their purpose.
Unfortunately these people usually make the most noise.

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

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Ronald"

Quoted message said:

I solved my creak by tightening the screws as hard as i could.

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

Quoted message said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

red

Quoted message said:

cleat. I have the float set at 3. I've put a little grease on them.

It

Quoted message said:

works, but it doesn't last long. I noticed three black marks on the

cleats --

Quoted message said:

one right above each side mounting screw and one right across the

rubber

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

insert. PLEASE HELP!! It's very annoying and makes my Litespeed

sound

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

like

Quoted message said:

I bought it at K-mart!

Why do people continue to buy Look pedals? You will always be fighting the creak, and there are
better pedals out there!

Buying Look pedals is the most sure way to show that you are an undiscriminating cycling consumer.

Cyclpsycho said:

My pedals are driving me crazy!!!!! They are Look 396 pedals with the red cleat. I have the float
set at 3. I've put a little grease on them. It works, but it doesn't last long.

Before every ride, put a dab of grease on the part of the pedal that contacts the front tip of the
cleat (not the platform). It's a PITA, but it works.

The squeaking is worse when pedaling hard. On a recent ride, my left cleat started creaking as I
approached a long climb. I stopped and put a bit of sun screen on the pedal. It was totally silent
for the rest of the day.

Using cleat covers when off the bike will delay the onset of squeaking and extend overal cleat life.
(I cringe to think of it, but I've actually seen people drag their Look cleats along the ground when
stopping!)

Art Harris

Andrew Karre said:

After awhile, I understood the squeek pretty well. It was saying "Speedplay, Speedplay." When I
answered the call, the noise ended.

Quoted message said:

Until then, I replaced cleats every 2k, used cleat covers religiously when walking, and sprayed
the pedal decks with lube. Still, after awhile, I had to buy new cleats or go insane. It gets
worse as the pedal decks wear, too.

Quoted message said:

When will Look make a change to a nearly two decade-old system that's run its useful life?

Pedals are a matter of personal choice. I rather like that Look has managed to keep the same system
for about 18 years, even adding features (adj. tension, float with red cleats) while keeping
compatibility between all pedals and cleats. If nothing else, it makes it easy to pick up a cheap
spare pair for the second bike.

Also, contrast that with other makers - for example, Time road pedals are nice, but they just
completely switched systems and people have been complaining of limited availability on the old
cleats, etc. Give Look some credit for not taking the planned-obsolescence route.

Thanks to all that responded!! Here's what I ended up doing: I first cleaned all the road [censored] and
grease out of the pedals with isopropyl alcohol. I filed and Dremeled the black spots and I took the
shine off the front edge of the cleat with sandpaper.

I went out for a 30 mile hard ride and they were quiet the whole time!!! I didn't like the idea of
grease on them, because that will just attract more crud possibly complicating the matter.

By the way . . . I went back to Look pedals because I got [censored] at Time for discontinuing there old
style system. Look has always remained the same.

I don't have any experience with Look pedals, and from what everyone else has posted, there is most
likely a fundamental flaw with them. However, I'll pass along my experience with SPDs
creaking/squeaking...

I was having lots of problems when I switched to clipless, mostly with foot "toe in" position. I got
it to a point that felt OK, but caused a lot of squeek. I found that if I twisted my feet a little
bit, I could make the squeak stop. After making one final adjustment to the cleat to adjust the "toe
in" correctly, I haven't had any problems. It now is a good way for me to check that I'm pedaling
correctly (mostly when I'm tired).

Don't know if this helps or not. Hope so.

Eric

[email hidden] (Cyclpsycho) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Thanks to all that responded!! Here's what I ended up doing: I first cleaned all the road [censored] and
grease out of the pedals with isopropyl alcohol. I filed and Dremeled the black spots and I took
the shine off the front edge of the cleat with sandpaper.

I went out for a 30 mile hard ride and they were quiet the whole time!!! I didn't like the idea of
grease on them, because that will just attract more crud possibly complicating the matter.

By the way . . . I went back to Look pedals because I got [censored] at Time for discontinuing there
old style system. Look has always remained the same.

Cyclpsycho said:

Thanks to all that responded!! Here's what I ended up doing: I first cleaned all the road [censored] and
grease out of the pedals with isopropyl alcohol. I filed and Dremeled the black spots and I took
the shine off the front edge of the cleat with sandpaper.

I went out for a 30 mile hard ride and they were quiet the whole time!!! I didn't like the idea of
grease on them, because that will just attract more crud possibly complicating the matter.

There is the risk of that, true, but a little grease makes the float work better (when using
red cleats).

In my experience, only the combination of brand new pedals plus brand new cleats creaked. After one
is worn a bit, no more creaks.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

In my experience, only the combination of brand new pedals plus brand new cleats creaked.

Yikes! In my experience, that's the only combination that DOESN'T squeak.

Art Harris

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

Quoted message said:

Pete Biggs said:

In my experience, only the combination of brand new pedals plus brand

new

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

cleats creaked.

Yikes! In my experience, that's the only combination that DOESN'T squeak.

Art Harris

Use a chapstick to apply a film around the cleat.

Dashii