The squeaks and creaks coming from my Keo Sprints drive me crazy! What works for me is to lightly dust the working surfaces of the cleats with baby (talcum) powder. That usually does the trick for a month or two when a simple re-dusting is required. I also saw this tip posted in the cycling section of athletesbooksdotcom

A (not pretty) solution for squeaking: 1) clip shoes into pedals. 2) Note size and location of gap between cleat and pedal platform. 3) mix two part epoxy and apply to pedal to fill gaps--don’t get any on joints or adjustment screws. 4) Once dry test that cleat engages smoothly but doesn’t have any up-down play (the cause of the squeak). If too much epoxy, use file to remove high spots. Epoxy will gradually chip and wear--just need to apply new layers periodically.

Use the black ones. 10 years on the system and currently have them on three bikes. I don’t know what you guys are talking about. Too much float on red anyway.

I have found that the squeak comes from the tip of the cleat rubbing against the wall of the pedal lip. The cleat tip becomes coated with a shiny black material from the pedal. Just scrap the black spots off the tips with a knife or a fine metal file to be noise free. Of course your mileage will vary but I usually get about 200 miles per scraping. Takes about a minute. New cleats seem to require more frequent cleaning until the tip wears. On occasion I have used a sharp edged stone to scrap the tips when the noise became unbearable. Cleaning the cleat tip before riding is just a routine service. Takes less than a minute. It also helps to occasionally clean the pedal tip and platform with fine steel wool. The black spots that appear on the cleat bottom seem to make little or no noise, only the tips. As others have posted, lubricating the cleat makes the squeak worse. Hope someone will find this useful.

I’ve been using this pedal system for over 12 years and 50,000 miles. I really like the wide platform on the pedal. I have 3 sets of new ultegra pedals - one for each bike - but don’t want to change out. What I’ve learned is that the cleats begin to squeek and/or click on each crank rotation when the road facing service of the cleat wears down. This noise begins just before the wear indicator holes wear down/disappear. Solution - wear cleat covers when walking and replace cleats just before the wear indicator holes disappear or the cleats begin to squeek. Look is a great pedal system! It is just that the road facing side of the cleat, when not clicked in the pedal, takes a lot of punishment and wears down quickly.

The Teflon on these cleats needs to be kept clean to prevent squeaking. Everytime I lube my chain, I clean both cleats and pedals with a rag and some mild solvent. My cleats love it and keep perfectly quiet. Adding lube, wax or whatever will only attract dirt and make them squeak...

Tried the new cleats; no squeak for approx 100 miles. Then the same old creak and squeakm returned. Tried all types of lubes--waxes and oils--nothing was at all long term. I finally switched to SpeedPlay pedals; they don’t squeak but I just don’t like them--too much movement. Right now I’m at a loss. Jim Martin

My first pair of bi-material cleats started creaking after about 800 miles, on my fairly new A5.1 pedals, only on the left foot though. I swapped the cleats, right to left and vice versa, this cured the creak for about 20 miles. When it started again it was still only on the left foot. I replaced the left cleat with a brand new one and thoroughly cleaned the pedal surface, blessed silence, for about 30 miles. Once again the left foot started creaking. I am fed up with the fact that my almost new $5K bike sounds like something my grandfather would’ve ridden to work. Final Solution; Time RXS Carbon.

I’ve stuck with my Look pedals hoping that Look would come up with an answer to the pesky squeaking noise! I’ve tried everything: new cleats (including the bi-material), new Look pedals, Teflon spray lube, even bearing grease. Nothing works beyond a few miles. I agree with the earlier posting, take your money and buy another pedal system!

I have been using Look (or Look style, re: Shimano) since 1985. The squeak problem is twofold: 1) hygiene; keep the pedal/cleat interface clean. 2) if you do get squeaks then use a paraffin wax on the bolts and a little on the pedal interface surface. Results no squeaks. The remedy for clicks is simpler, your cleats are worn out in the front tip and free to move up and down when you pedal slapping the mating surface, the cure is to replace the worn out cleat. I hope these tips help but I ride about 6,000 to 7,000 miles a year and do not have cleat/pedal problems. I may finally trade up from my newest 5.1 set to Keo soon.

I’m on my second pair of cleats and the annoying click is back. Tons of lube seems to be the only way to silence the darn things and that is only temporary!! Really a drag for such an expensive pedal cleat system.

A huge improvement over the old cleats. Clean them with rubbing alcohol and they will work great. Also clean your pedals. Do not lubricate.

Confirming an earlier comment: these are initially great, 5 stars. At some point, probably when the black cushion/spacer button bit on the center bottom wears down, the squeak/creak develops. At that point it appears that the only real fix is a new pair of cleats. Wear time will vary significantly I assume, based on miles ridden and, perhaps more importantly (?), distance walked, since this is likely what wears the button piece the most (?). If a replacement for the button piece were available, my guess is it would fix the squeak without replacing the whole cleat.

When I first saw the new version (bi-material) red cleats I was ecstatic thinking i could finally use a floating cleat which my right foot dearly needs. Well guess what, same old squeak as the old red ones though it takes a little longer to develop. Ordered the new black ones and hope these are a improvement.

These almost worked for us - that is, they worked for a while. Replaced a squeaking old-style pair (two pair, for a tandem) with these and initially they worked great. However, within a year the squeak was back. Oiling the surface of the cleat stops the squeak, but the fix is temporary. We’ve not tried other approaches, but any of them seem short term. Current theory: the cleats just have to be replaced - but this likely means at best another year of silent use. We’ll try to report back on whether the new cleat does the trick. If it does, $17 per year isn’t a terrible price for quiet riding..

a full season on one pair of cleats is amazing! - ed

I have finally found the way to stop my LOOK pedals from making noise--get rid of them. They actually don’t make noise when they’re off my bike! I bought these cleats hoping that the noise level might be tolerable. Of course, I was wrong and within 100 miles my pedals were squeaking so loud that I could feel it in my feet and I simply gave up. Duct taping the flat surface of the pedal actually helped out more than the bi-material cleats. These cleats were a joke. My advice: do some research and put the $16.95 toward some different pedals!

I’ve been riding the old DuraAce/Look pedals since 1990 and love them, but the squeak was getting to be so irritating (to both me and riding companions) that I was ready to move on to a new system. As a last ditch attempt, I tried the black version of the new Bi-material cleat. Blessed silence.

They work great, and have eliminated that irritating creak, which, while not a mechanical problem, is very unnerving. Great Job on Look’s part.

If look persists in these cleats I will change pedals; these are awful. Look has had a system that works great since 1985. It appears that Look, like Time, wish to ruin a perfectly good product. These cleats are too slick. I am not a straight up and down pedalleer; there is a fair amount of side-to side pressure in my pedalling. These allow me to move way too much and way too freely. It really bothers my IT band and my Achilles. If you haven’t tried these, spray your cleats with oil or lube; it’s the same effect. Tommy Dahill

I have been riding Look-type pedals since 1989 and stuck with them in spite of recurring creaking and squeaking. If my first 300 miles with these cleats (including an hour in a steady downpour) are any indication, they just might be the greatest improvement to a bike part ever! They are perfectly silent. Yahoo! Buy ’em.