Thread: mounting cleats on carbon fiber soled shoes?

Help me please...

I just got a pair of Nike Poggios that came with a one sided sand-papery cutout of a shimano road cleat (sticky on the other side) that can be stuck to either the shoe or pedal. I imagine this is to help cut down on the contact between the cleat hardware and the carbon sole of the shoe to minimize damage to the shoe.

So...

Do I stick the sandpaper part so it is against the sole of the shoe, or so the sandpaper is against the cleat? (I imagine it would be the former?)

Or do I just mount the cleats right to the carbon fiber sole? I did that on a pair of Shimano SH-R151s (also carbon fiber) and the cleat hardware dug into the carbon fiber of the sole a little. Was I supposed to put a piece of rubber or something in between them? The Shimanos didn't fit me quite as nicely as the Nikes, so I will be selling the Shimanos.

Thanks for any advice...

I would think that you would stick the sandpapery thing to the cleat. I'm assuming it provides a friction surface to decrease the likelyhood of the cleat moving once you have it positioned. Plus, if you stick it to the cleat, the positioning of the cleat can be adjusted (i.e. angle, front to rear, side to side, etc.) I don't know that there's a right way and a wrong way to do this...but maybe there is. Just my 2 cents.

thanks, that's what i thought as well.

it is interesting that the shimano shoes didn't come with any kind of shim, though, and that the cleat hardware (also shimano) dug into the sole of the shoes a bit...you'd think they'd include a shim of some type to take care of that...???

I've got the Shimano shoes and mounted the shimano cleats on them. I have not taken the cleats off to see if any damage has occurred. The cleats are holding solid and haven't moved at all (to the best of my knowledge). Best of luck with this...please post as to how it works out for you.

Sandpaper part goes against the shoe, the sticky part goes against the cleat. I have carbon soles and look cleats, without this sandpaper they slide all over the place. I'm sure the sandpaper will work either way, but the rough side should be against the shoe.

That's how I mounted them up (sandpaper against the shoe). I also cut out little squares from a spare tube and put them between the cleat hardware/screw and the cleat itself to help protect the carbon fiber. We'll see how it works today!

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