I accidentally bought a set of fake Shimano SPD road cleats from Amazon. I didn’t realise it until they arrived and it was obvious from the packaging. I went out and bought proper ones right after, but I’m tempted to try them to see if they do the job. It doesn’t feel like a high risk item to try (unless sprinting of course).
They’re remarkably similar, but the fakes are the lighter yellow ones (bottom left in the photos), and they also have the yellow dots on the underside. They’re also 4 grams heavier than the real Shimano cleats (per cleat - the bolts weight the same - 15g).
Has anyone used these fakes before? If so, is there anything that can be said about the safety, fit, reliability, etc?
I’ve used cleats that I’m pretty sure were fake. They worked fine for me, but wore out much faster than real Shimano ones. I haven’t had any safety or reliability issues. The shape seemed slightly different though, which made it tricky match up the position on my shoes.
Took all of one ride for the yellow bits to fall right off. And I’m not talking about little bits, but rather, whole chunks, which made it a little trickier to remain clipped in. And it wasn’t even because I ooze watts., but just a casual coffee stop ride.
I’d return those cleats, since Amazon has a pretty decent return policy, especially for fakes.
Also, please avoid ebay for shimano disc brake pads, there are so many fakes and when I tried to report or flag them to ebay, they did absolutely nothing to remove them.
No personally experience with fake cleats but to save a few £/$/€ I’d not use or supply them to a customer.
Amazon has no quality control for these sellers, chains are also a minefield. If it seems to good to be true then likely it’s a fake. Pay the extra money and ensure the product is genuine and importantly safe to use.
Amazon has no quality control for these sellers, chains are also a minefield.
I think it likely depend on the country. I’ve been using Amazon in Japan for Shimano chains, cassettes, cleats, wheels, pedals, lever hoods, and even chain set over the past 10 or so years without a single problem.
I’d try bending one of the cleats first and compare that to an old genuine shimano one first and then testing the hardness of the two cleats, maybe getting something sharp and trying to mark the rear of the cleats. They are probably safe enough to use once but you have already identified they are fakes so you might look a bit foolish if you hurt yourself. No worth $20 or so dollars
Let me just be the A-hole here to say that as small business owner especially Wade, you shouldn’t buy anything on Amazon! Step into your LBS, say who you are, gain new members and pay full price! Giant in Hampton is privately owned and has great people working there….might be close to you….
This.
