Tanstaafl

I am part of the organization committee for an upcoming bike ride int the Houston area. One of the rest stops is at a church. The nice folks at the church have offered to open the building so folks can use the bathrooms. I don't think they realize how many riders could be coming through. After thinking about it a bit, I have to wonder about the affect of a couple of hundred people walking through on their floors with bike cleats. Will they damage indoor flooring? I am not aware what kind of floors they are, but linoleum or carpet is probably a good guess. The folks at this church are really going all out to welcome us, and I would hate to repay that with damaged floors.

Thanks,
Jeff

Marcus_Ti

Shoes themselves won't, generally...but cleats and their hardware can, depending on the flooring and its finish. If at all in doubt, put signs up politely asking riders going in to take their shoes off.

Leinster

Most 3 hole cleats are made of plastic. Most 2 hole cleats are recessed in the shoe. I really don’t think it should be an issue.

If you wanted an abundance of caution, you could ask everyone on the ride to have cleat covers, or you could lay down a tarp/plastic mat/paper path for everyone to follow while picking up their snacks.

sdmc530

I did a group ride a few years back and a local person opened their home to rides for a rest stop. Had a biff right by the back door and it was a club ride type setting. He was not able to ride anymore but still wanting to be in the group setting this stop became a habit for the ride. The club always stopped and gossiped, used the loo and watered up.

Anyways he has wood floors. Not sure the kind or quality but after about 2 rides they were beat to crap. Luckily he didn’t care and was happy to have the friends stop in still. I do remember after that as a group purchased some rugs for him. That worked out great. He never did fix the floor either that I know of.

What i was getting at is find some rugs or ask that shoes be removed just in case

dsaul

Stop in to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up a roll of Ram Board. Tape it down along the path to the bathroom. We use it on remodeling jobs to prevent floor damage during construction.

Tanstaafl

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the responses.

Loose Chain

Either cover the floor or have the shoes removed, otherwise the floors may be damaged.

Troul 

It's cheap to bulk buy small, medium, & large open toe flip flops for the group. You should already have a head count for knowing how many you might need. I think they're about .50 per pair. Donate them when the group leaves to the church.

Dr.Lou

FWIW, I always use café covers when wearing road shoes, not to protect the floors as much as to protect my cleats.
Cycling by myself most of the time I am not up on what others are doing. I've never seen anyone using café covers in the Philippines nor have I seen them for sale.

Miele Man

Cleat covers over road shoe cleats or any exposed cleats also help to prevent slipping.

Cheers

Ironfish653

IME, the part of the church you guys will be using is probably going to be the meeting hall, rather than the chapel. These are multi purpose rooms, and more often than not, have institutional vinyl ‘linoleum’ floors, the better to hold up to the folding tables and chairs of the bake sales and bingo nights that usually take place there.

Typical bike shoes don’t pose much of a threat, unless you’re one of those people who wear 2-bolt SPDs with road shoes, and who does that?
The bigger issue is that 3-bolt LOOOK/SL cleats are slippery on hard smooth floors.
Cleat covers are as much about adding traction and protecting the cleats, as they are protecting the floor.
Asking riders to take their shoes off for a rest stop is just silly.

A couple of well-placed carpet mats (there’s probably already one by the door) in a high traffic spot, like the baked-goods table would go a long way to protect both the floors, and the safety of people in slippery shoes.

Caliper

2 hole cleats are typically recessed, but they aren't always recessed enough. I know that mine will slightly touch the floor and they are MTB shoes. If someone spends a lot of time walking in their shoes it could be worse as that rim of tread around the cleat wears.

If the church doesn't already have any carpet, a cheap runner carpet from Home Depot or even a thrift shop could be of service.


Especially a *bathroom* stop! Only the desperate will be using that one.

fishboy316

Cheap runners at Home Depot or Lowes. Keep them on the runners. Cleats WILL damage the floor.

REDMASTA

klip klop tearing up wherever they walk.