I can see the soles of my S-Works shoes eating into my XTR 980 (race) pedals. Do people use plastic shims? If yes, where is a good place to find them, or do you make them yourself?

I used to get through two pairs of shoes and 3 stets of pedals every year until I fitted the Crank Brothers stainless shims.
The XTR pedals still wore away so I switched to Egg Beaters and haven't looked back.

No problems with my old '10 S Works shoes and 970s, unless you're asking about the newest stuff

Sorry. I forgot to say that the pedals are m980s.

Just thought I'd put up a photo of my XTR pedals (right pedal shown here, left pedal looks the same) from October 2010...

Apparently the rubber on my S-Works shoes is more durable than the aluminium body of the XTR pedals.

That's ridiculous! What do the shoes look like?

That is steel and it is oxidizing. Do they use harsh chemicals on your roads in Winter or do you live by the sea?

_________________
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

The rubber is grey where the soles have rubbed against the pedals, but it's definately the pedals that have taken most of the damage (you can almost see the threads on the inside of the body of the pedal).... I haven't heard of anyone else with this problem, so I'm not totally sure what to do...

(Excuse the dirty soles)

The rusty steel is not the problem, it's the fact that the soles on my S-Works shoes seems to be eating into the aluminium body of the pedal...

You have no idea how much salt we put on the roads here during the winter. This year it's particularly bad because the winter has been long. It's bad for bikes, cars, plants, basically everything.

It is not the rubber that is eating the aluminum it is oxidation (corrosion) from the salt. Your cleats are also showing rust/oxidation. Any brand of pedals would be suffering in the environment you are running in.

Also, generally aluminum oxidizes on the surface and that forms aluminum oxide which is fairly hard and resistant to further oxidation but it is susceptible to being abraded off and then the aluminum below it oxidizes and then it gets rubbed off by the rubber and pretty soon, there is no aluminum left.

_________________
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

I get what you're saying. The thing is, I'm not really using these pedals on the roads during the winter. They have been on my old MTB (and cross bike). I have a pair of PD-m520s on my road bike, and they are actually fine.

I actually bought a new pair of XTRs (also 980s) two months ago, when I got my new mountain bike. I've 20-25 hours on that bike, and look how the pedals already look:



Note: I've been really really careful about riding in wet weather with the new pedals and bike (to avoid salty spray from the road). Maybe the lugs on my shoes have been hardened by the salt (I use them all year, in all conditions), such that they damage the pedals easier now?

I think that the wear you are seeing is from the cleats rotating while you are pedalling. What you have shown on the picture is the clear/pedal interface, with the larger surface are for the M980 pedals.

My guess is that you are heavily rotating your feet on the down-stroke while pedalling.

My two year old M980 pedals look much better than this, being ridden in all type of weather.

Stefan

I have M980's and other spd models and mine have many miles and show almost no wear. I ride over 4000 miles a year and all my pedals are at least 3 years old.

_________________
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

So is it probable that it's the lugs on my shoes that have become stiffer?

This is true. You could do with some adjustments to the angle of your cleats most likely. The wear you show is what you would see when your cleat angle is off. Ask a friend to ride behind you and see if your heel remains parallel with your pedal throughout your pedal stroke , but especially at the bottom.

_________________
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."