Editor's Note: Our European contributor, "c_g" has come across a unique product that we thought might be of interest to many of you. Take a look.....

Hello everyone, this is a small review on a piece that will most likely never get noticed. It is minimal, it is as simple as it can get, is very affordable at $ 10.- and yet it has put a big smile on my face. You might even say it gives some resemblance to what Christmas time should be all about; when the whishes ( and the presents) are getting bigger and more expensive – this tiny thing calls out: “Enjoy simplicity, back to the essentials”

The worst thing, the item isn´t even new on the market but I am taking a safe guess that it is fairly unknown to most riders. So what am I talking about?

In brief – the “Shoe Shield” CRANK BROTHERS, a tiny steel plate to put between your cleats and the shoe. Unfortunately my camera was playing me a trick when I took the pictures of the new shields; for a good picture and more info by the manufacturer see here: http://www.crankbrothers.com/shoe_shields.php?itemId .

If you are like me running Crank brother clipless pedals on your rides, chances are you have found the pedal wings digging into your shoes soles. This effect is due to the minimal contact area that concentrates all pushing forces into an area much smaller than the surface of any high heel (at least the ones I know). Things get worse if the spring does not touch on the full surface of the sole but on the small bridge supporting the shoes threaded inserts – which it usually does at least on one side.

In my case I have broken 2 pairs of shoes that way in the last few years and saw my current pair going the same path when I stumbled across this plate provided by Crank Brothers. Besides the apparent damage, I was having considerable play when engaged and disengaging was anything but crisp. A few times I ended up beetle style because I wasn´t able to disengage quickly enough – and I have ridden clipless pedals since they came out long ago.

Out of the box: Unpacking them, they looked very worthy with great attention to detail. The front side (that is the side facing away from the shoe) has a smooth brushed surface with a CRANK BROTHERS laser etched logo, the rear (the side facing the shoe) has a high friction surface to ensure grip to the sole. At ~ 0.5 mm thickness they felt sturdy but would they stand up to the concentrated force? I didn´t weigh them but Crank brothers gives 4 g for one so I guess the 8g additional weight are acceptable.

Mounting the plates was a snap as they had small slots on all four sides that would position them exactly where needed in respect to the cleat.

The additional base puts the cleats a tiny bit higher, which you will be noticing when walking on concrete but that is all.

Riding: All of a sudden engagement and disengagement are crisp and precise again. A feeling I have had compromising gradually and had accepted as integral to the system – but not so. My old shoes suddenly sprang to new life and I felt encouraged and more “in control” than I had for some time.

Now, that I have numerous rides on them they don´t look that shiny anymore but performance is like it was the first day. These seem to take the beating very well with no deformation – even when the shoes were already  dented severely. For the fun of it I even revived an old set of shoes (with a broken bridge) and put the shoe shields on for a few rides and voila – same effect on a really old pair of biking shoes.

Verdict: Considering the investment these things have improved my enjoyment greatly and I would give them two thumbs up. Be sure that I will put them on all of my biking shoes. Sometimes it is the little things that can make a real difference and this for me is one of them

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Ps: Don´t know if they would work on other manufacturer´s cleats as well as they do on the Egg Beaters and Candys ( I have no other pedals around).