Combating Cleat-slip on Carbon Sole Shoes

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I had a problem with my Sidi Ergo shoes. It’s not that they’re just too bling (no empirical evidence suggests that such a state exists). No, rather the cleats keep working themselves loose on the smooth carbon sole. Most irritating. A lot of carbon shoes nowadays have a high-friction surface in the cleat area to combat this problem, but if your shoes lack this, then I’ll show you how to solve this.

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First, you go to the hardware store and buy yourself some all-weather adhesive floor tread such as 3M Safety-Walk. You won’t need much, of course, so you’ll probably end up with a lot of extras.

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Trace your cleat on the paper backing side, including the mounting bolt slots. Cut out the shapes with some scissors that you don’t care about, or use a box-cutter with replaceable blades. That latter will be better for the mounting slots anyways.

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This is the hardest part when you place the Safety-Walk sticky side down on the shoe where the cleat will be. Maybe mark the position of the cleat beforehand with masking tape or grease pencil.

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Oh yeah, that looks good. Now when you put the cleat on, it won’t slip even under hard pedaling. Bonus: the cleat position is well-marked for future replacement.

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