I am running an xc race that is on a limestone rocky road. I am going to take my spikes out. My concern is that when I put blacks in the shoe, they stick out past the rest of the soles grips. Will the raised blanks hurt my push off? If so, I will leave the holes empty
I recommend putting in the blanks to save yourself the headache of trying to use the screw holes again for spikes.
Many won't like this but I've actually gone to a hardware store and bought "set screws". The benefit is they are recessed when I put them in and had to use an allen key wrench to get them out. This protected the threads though and it worked well. I only had to do it one time in my career though.
By not putting the blank in, the sole around the spike hole will contact the surface on the rubber, and not the blank. This once caused me to tear up the bottom of my spikes quite dramatically. The edges of the hole for the spikes caught the surface and ripped.
set screws wrote:
Many won't like this but I've actually gone to a hardware store and bought "set screws". The benefit is they are recessed when I put them in and had to use an allen key wrench to get them out. This protected the threads though and it worked well. I only had to do it one time in my career though.
That is a great idea!!!