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| New Shimano SH51 on top used BBB Click & Go on bottom |
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| Used BBB left New Shimano right |
Shimano SM SH51 4 deg float $20.00 - $30.00 CDN
BBB Click & Go BPD-01 4 deg float $15.00 - $25.00 CDN
Both are made from hardend Cro-Mo steel.
As my Shimano cleats started to wear, releasing my foot from the pedal became a challenge. I fell over sideways a few times as I couldn't release in time. Smashed my knee on a rock leaving a nice bulge of swolleness that felt great the rest of the ride.
I should have bought new cleats when I first noticed the increased difficulty in clicking out instead of trying to squeeze every last kilometre out of this wear-replace part.
The shop was out of the Shimano cleats and I didn't want to wait a week for new ones to come in on order.. memories of the knee-rock relationship provoked me into an impulse buy for the BBB cleats that were in stock.
Bonus, the BBB cleats were around $5.00 cheaper than the Shimano and they looked about the same. Of course they looked about the same.. they're for the same pedal silly.
New cleats feel so good. Smooooth float, crisp engagement and easy release. Instead of cursing my hard to release pedals, I reconciled our differences, let the knee thing go and started the SPD romance again.
About a month later my foot released from the pedal on a pedal strike. Pedal strikes happen when riding rocky trails, you try to avoid it but, meh.. it happens. I usually don't experience a cleat release on pedal strikes though. I didn't think much of it and left it as a one time thing.
Over the next month pedal strikes with a foot flying off the pedal became so prevalent I was back to cursing my Shimano pedals.
I'm currently using the M540, considered the workhorse of the Shimano pedal line up. Not overly heavy or remarkably light (346g), they are very durable and quite inexpensive ($90) compared to XT ($150, 343g) and XTR ($250, 310g). With sealed bearings these pedals are a true forgetaboutit part. They last through years of abuse and still work great under all conditions except mud. The pedals fail miserably in mud. But this is a cleat review not a pedal review so back the cleats..
The worst was when I had a right then left foot strike - foot fly-off in the middle of a rock garden. That was fun. Both feet detached bashing through rocks. I got my feet back in and made it through, but I had a few choice words for my pedals.
My cleats were only a couple months old so I didn't consider cleat wear to be the issue. I'm used to getting two or three seasons out of SPD cleats.. Shimano cleats that is. After a mucky ride I was cleaning crap out from my cleats and noticed the cleats looked pretty trashed.
I was surprised. Maybe they wore fast because I've been riding rocky trails more than before. Hopping off for unridable sections means more time wearing your cleat on a hard surface.
No, that can't be it because this year I can actually ride more technical rock than walk. A couple years ago when I walked a lot of rock trails this cleat on rock wear idea would have made sense. Even when I was walking rock more, I had never experienced cleat wear within a month and a half that resulted pedal strike shoe releases.
BBB Click & Go cleats wear a heck of a lot faster than Shimano SM SH51 cleats.
When my Shimano cleats wore, release became more difficult.
When the BBB cleats wore, pedal strike cleat release became very prevalent.
I think if you're riding mostly dirt trails and are not doing much hike a bike over rocks either one of these cleats should work just fine and last a reasonable amount of time.
With the experience that I had though, I won't be buying the BBB cleats again.
I bought new Shimano cleats which restored smooth float and click in click out ease exactly the same way the new BBB's did. When new both cleats feel great and work about the same.
The pedal strike cleat release disappeared with the new Shimano cleats.
Looking closely at the cleats there are some minor dimensional differences between the two cleats. I imagine this changes the cleat - pedal interface dynamic as the cleat wears with wear-performance characteristics being different between the two cleats.
In terms of overal durability the Shimano cleats win hands down. The $5.00 savings on the BBB purchase isn't a savings at all as it looks like the Shimano cleats last at least twice as long.
Both function equally when not worn and perform poorly when worn.
The Shimano SM SH51 cleats are the clear winner as they far out last the BBB's.
I might switch brands for pedals this year to favor better mud performance. The new Look S-Track look interesting..
http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/09/01/new-look-s-track-mtb-pedals-replaces-quartz/
Over the next month pedal strikes with a foot flying off the pedal became so prevalent I was back to cursing my Shimano pedals.
I'm currently using the M540, considered the workhorse of the Shimano pedal line up. Not overly heavy or remarkably light (346g), they are very durable and quite inexpensive ($90) compared to XT ($150, 343g) and XTR ($250, 310g). With sealed bearings these pedals are a true forgetaboutit part. They last through years of abuse and still work great under all conditions except mud. The pedals fail miserably in mud. But this is a cleat review not a pedal review so back the cleats..
The worst was when I had a right then left foot strike - foot fly-off in the middle of a rock garden. That was fun. Both feet detached bashing through rocks. I got my feet back in and made it through, but I had a few choice words for my pedals.
My cleats were only a couple months old so I didn't consider cleat wear to be the issue. I'm used to getting two or three seasons out of SPD cleats.. Shimano cleats that is. After a mucky ride I was cleaning crap out from my cleats and noticed the cleats looked pretty trashed.
I was surprised. Maybe they wore fast because I've been riding rocky trails more than before. Hopping off for unridable sections means more time wearing your cleat on a hard surface.
No, that can't be it because this year I can actually ride more technical rock than walk. A couple years ago when I walked a lot of rock trails this cleat on rock wear idea would have made sense. Even when I was walking rock more, I had never experienced cleat wear within a month and a half that resulted pedal strike shoe releases.
BBB Click & Go cleats wear a heck of a lot faster than Shimano SM SH51 cleats.
When my Shimano cleats wore, release became more difficult.
When the BBB cleats wore, pedal strike cleat release became very prevalent.
I think if you're riding mostly dirt trails and are not doing much hike a bike over rocks either one of these cleats should work just fine and last a reasonable amount of time.
With the experience that I had though, I won't be buying the BBB cleats again.
I bought new Shimano cleats which restored smooth float and click in click out ease exactly the same way the new BBB's did. When new both cleats feel great and work about the same.
The pedal strike cleat release disappeared with the new Shimano cleats.
Looking closely at the cleats there are some minor dimensional differences between the two cleats. I imagine this changes the cleat - pedal interface dynamic as the cleat wears with wear-performance characteristics being different between the two cleats.
In terms of overal durability the Shimano cleats win hands down. The $5.00 savings on the BBB purchase isn't a savings at all as it looks like the Shimano cleats last at least twice as long.
Both function equally when not worn and perform poorly when worn.
The Shimano SM SH51 cleats are the clear winner as they far out last the BBB's.
I might switch brands for pedals this year to favor better mud performance. The new Look S-Track look interesting..
http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/09/01/new-look-s-track-mtb-pedals-replaces-quartz/
