Nu shooz, fake cleats?

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Marx
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Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby Marx » Sat Oct 15, 2016 3:13 pm

Bought new bike shoes, at the LBS tried on a pair off the shelf for size but took home a box from their storeroom.
At home I opened the box & initially thought I was missing 1x cleat bolt per shoe, but.....

https://goo.gl/photos/s5TztYxVGUV68M5H8

...apparently the SPD cleats are dummies, made of plastic & not to be used. Faux-cleats. A deception, a lie, a parody, a fraud.

I think the back story is that regular shoes, the sort you would normally walk about in your day to day, attract a higher tax than athletic or 'sports' shoes. So to avoid this higher tax whatever sports shoes manufacturers/retailers include the 'sports pedal attachment' to endorse these toe warmers as 'non-fashion shoes'. But how's a shoe manufacturer to know what pedal system a prospective customer might have? So their solution is to put in these fakie SPD cleats made from plastic.

On first look they could be mistaken for some exxy ultralight alloy construction, you really do need to be told that they're made from plastic for the penny to drop straight up.
Sure I'm no expert, but apparently when buying shoes for cycling a consumer needs to be.

And yes, we all know that cleats come with pedals, but in this day and age where cyclists own many bikes & many shoes, keeping that inventory up to date with any new purchase is not normally a priority.

With my return to the LBS I was thrown a new set of SPD (steel) cleats from out the back of the workshop.
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Tim
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby Tim » Sat Oct 15, 2016 5:31 pm

Mountains and molehills.

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RonK
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby RonK » Sat Oct 15, 2016 6:10 pm

Tim wrote:Mountains and molehills.
Yeah - my thought exactly. :roll:
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Marx
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby Marx » Sat Oct 15, 2016 6:48 pm

RonK wrote:
Tim wrote:Mountains and molehills.
Yeah - my thought exactly. :roll:
Not as exciting a bitchin' about cars or helmet laws eh?
You must have trouble distinguishing the view beyond your own keyboard?
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby RonK » Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:03 pm

Marx wrote:Not as exciting a bitchin' about cars or helmet laws eh?
You've seen no such bitchin from me. Go ahead - to try to find something.

But If this is the kind of stuff that entertains you...
Last edited by RonK on Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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biker jk
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby biker jk » Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:30 pm

I have never had cleats supplied with my purchases of new shoes and have never had fake cleats attached either. Cleats come with pedals.

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby danny the boy » Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:37 am

Road shoes have them as well much smaller than the real cleats, its a display thing so its only bricks and mortar shops that will have them. I've never bought shoes expecting to get cleats for free.

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby mikesbytes » Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:19 am

I struck those a couple of years ago and nearly had a stack because of them. They clipped in fine but deformed when they were suppose to release

I had wrongly assumed they were made of some sort of special composite material
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby minhyy » Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:19 am

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MichaelB
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby MichaelB » Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:43 am

Whatever.

Never had cleats come with shoes.

Why they put fake ones in is a mystery.

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby CycloTron » Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:20 am

I don't understand why this is an issue.
Anyone with any experience at all with bike shoes and pedals would know that cleats come with pedals, not shoes.

Is the OP just taking the piss?

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby AUbicycles » Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:07 am

CycloTron wrote:Is the OP just taking the piss?
I think there is a healthy element of larrikin in there.
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby rodneycc » Mon Oct 17, 2016 2:25 pm

You will probably find they are not cleats but bolt covers/examples. Some Shimano shoes come with the same thing. Look like cleats but aren't. Had a set of new Shimano road shoes a while back (088??) that had something I mistook for cleats that weren't - just shipping bolt covers I was told.
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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby Duck! » Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:53 pm

The dummy cleats on the MTB shoes must be a new thing; 12 years in the job &I've never seen them. Normally they just have a blanker plate bolted on. The ones on road shoes are actually cleats.... To suit clippy-strappy pedals that haven't been made for about 20 years.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Oct 17, 2016 4:38 pm

The ones I struck where SPD mtb cleats and they successfully clipped into Shimano MTB pedals. Why they exist I don't know, they are deceptive and dangerous as the deform when you un-clip.

The road ones that Duck is referring to are for the rat trap pedals. I used them on my track bike with double straps until I changed to clipless pedals, retaining the double straps. Some of the retro riders still use them to retain the authentic look for coffee shop rides.

A couple of years ago I saw a guy who was at least 90 riding with the rat traps in bike gear complete with a leather helmet on a bike path, being closely followed by 2 middle aged men, who I'm assuming were his sons.
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Nu shooz, fake cleats?

Postby rustychisel » Mon Oct 31, 2016 1:21 am

the OP is correct, as stated in the post.

Consult the appropriate legislation on taxation pertaining to sports shoes, they are 'dummy' cleats for purposes of importation.

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