3D Printed Shimano SPD Cleats

Traditionally, mountain cleats have only had two material options. Mild steel and brass. This has largely been to ensure that the cleat wore out faster than the pedal interface, but has left us with cleats that are often times very fast wearing, and in all cases, are quite heavy.

?Enter 6/4 Titanium, only slightly less hard than tool or spring steel used in the pedals, it's a remarkable 2.25 times stronger and 3 times harder than brass or mild steel. Best of all, the extreme toughness and abrasion resistance of 6Al/4V titanium means that you can expect 300-400% wear life compared to traditional materials.

Now the Silca team couldn't just stop there. By combining 3D printing technology with this material that is 1/3 lighter than steel, they are able to achieve a cleat with internal lattice structure (called a gyroid) which maintains stiffness and strength while reducing weight to create a cleat set that is half the weight of a standard cleat set.

This savings of 25-30 grams per set of cleats is significant over time, particularly in CX events where running is crucial.

Key features:

• 25gm reduction x 100 rpm = 180kg of mass not lifted per hour of riding, 90kg per leg!

• Key features:

• Shimano SPD 24g, 30g lighter than stock
• Crank Brothers 22g, 24g lighter than stock
• Time 22g, 26g lighter than stock
• 6V/4AL Titanium
• 3D Printed in Indianapolis
• 4x life expectancy of brass