...Because I need some guidance. (and hey, maybe we can be edujumicational, too!)

I've been riding for years, and am very familiar with MTB pedals, having ridden Shimano SPD's for 5+ years.  Until this week, both of my bikes had Shimano M520's.



I've loved them.  Easy in, Easy out, can find cleats and shoes anywhere, etc.

But I recently got a road bike, and was told that they were not so great for long road rides, causing hot spots (yup) and giving you less leverage.  I was also sent an article which pretty solidly bashed SPD's for road riding.  Some of those I discounted (look, when we start talking grams of saved weight, I stop listening), and some of them I thought were laughable (SPD's are hard to get in/out of?  Really?), but the increased comfort on long rides sounded great, so I bought myself a pair of Shimano 105 SPD-SL pedals:



I chose the Shimano's because they've got a good rep in the 105 line, and I can find their stuff anywhere.  The Shoes finally came in Saturday (I have giant feet, LBS didn't have my size, so to the internutz I went), so I hooked them up and took a quick spin around the neighborhood, got used to them, and readied for the big test: the 24 miles to work this morning.  As for performance, they were ok, I broke my time-to-work record, but that sucker's been on the brink for a couple weeks, and my actual moving speed (via Garmin) was nothing to write home about.  But when I got to the office, I looked at my cleats:



And ALL FOUR of the little yellow wear nubs on the back were broken off (cleanly, not worn through).  I Amazoned me another set, hoping these were just defective, but at 25 bux a set, I don't make enough money to keep riding these puppies if that's at all normal.  They rode fine this afternoon without the wear nubs, but I didn't think I was grossly abusing them this morning...

So, ARFCOM, tell me your experience with SPD-SL and similar pedals, before my ass goes back to straight SPD's.

Haters will hate, use what you know.

I ride Ultegra road pedals.  I prefer the Look/Shimano cleat style to Speedplay for road riding.  My off road bikes, mountain and cross, share a pair so SPD pedals.  I prefer SPD style for commuting because the recessed cleat makes walking on the tile floors in my building easier and safer. Most of the hardcore 'cross guys I know prefer Time or Eggbeater off road pedals.

As far as the wear tabs go, they exist to protect attachment surfaces from the effects of walking around. Never hears of the wear tabs breaking off that early.  If the pedal surface isn't worn, you should be fine using the cleats, just minimize walking in them.

Let me say that I am new to the road bike realm.  I put 105 pedals on the bike and after two months of riding and about 500 miles I have yet to have happen what you describe.   For the road bike, I like the larger plate form for powering through hills. I can also see where SPD cleats could cause hot spots on longer rides. If your worried about the cost LOOK has similar pedals and cleats, but the replacement cleats are somewhat cheaper.  Another cost pointer, I have found that cycling gear such as cleats can be had off of Ebay cheaper then Amazon. You may also want to look at getting covers if you are walking on them alot.

I have M324 pedals on my mountain bike and prefer those on the mountain bike for the ease of getting out of them in an emergency.   This is my preference for moutain biking, after four years with this style I wasn't sold on SPD cleats working well while road cycling.  Weight was never a factor in my decision to put 105 pedals on the road bike.  I started at 215 pounds, bike weight was the least of my worries.

I would say that you want to make sure that you are not dragging your feet on the ground when stopping, if this is the case your seat is probably too low.

I actually -found- one of the wear tabs at home tonight (only one, or I'd be supergluing the f'ers back on), and there's no trace of any glue or any type of bonding on it.  So for the time being (unless it happens again), I'm going to go with bad lot.  What ticked me off about it is that I got to work with all 4 of them gone; if I had only one cleat missing, I would have assumed 'bad cleat'.

But this sucker clearly had -nothing- holding it on but friction.

Totally agree there.  I walked up 2 flights of stairs in my socks this AM.  Never done that before. (I have 2 pairs of shoes at my desk)

I actually had a pair of 'Kool Kovers' for the cleats delivered today, we'll see how those work.  I wasn't sold on them being really worthwhile; but with no wear tabs, they're probably worth a lot more than they 'should' be.

I'll probably ride them until they get loose, then change 'em out for the new ones.  But I've actually never worn out a pair of SPD's - usually by the time they're worn, my shoes are pretty beat up, too.

Very odd. I've used SPD-SL for years and ridden tens of thousands of miles on them. I've never had the yellow bits break off.

I feel much 'better' about it now that I've found one.  No way these were made right.

I've got SPD-SL's and have no problems-I love them.