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Watley Cleats?

What's on your mind?

by dittoz » Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:34 pm

Awhile back, the Natasha Watley-endorsed Mizuno cleats came out. They wer feather light, looked good and the girls I knew that had them loved them. Then after a few months, I read a lot of complaints about them not lasting well at all.

Now, I see there's another new model out and was wondering if anyone had some experience with the durability. I'm not a fan of the Ringors or Rizors, mainly because they are significantly heavier and clumpier and noticeably slow runners down. My daughter is a speedster as opposed to a pitcher and does not wear through shoes the way a pitcher does. Heavier shoes make a definite difference in her speed!

Thoughts on both lines of the Watley cleats...? Anyone...?
Being from NorCal, what do I know anyway???
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by Hawk17 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:47 pm

My daughter loves her Watleys and has had no problem with durability. She used to have tanels but really likes these and they have held up quite well.
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by txfastptchcoach » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:59 pm

My daughter loves them and you can pick up replacements cleats at any Sporting Goods store..
My daughter is picky when it comes to shoes or it must be a women thing.... You have to check the cleats (screws) every once in a while to make sure they are tight. They come out of the box with Metal and plastic cleats. I hope this helps with your decision..... :)
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by ZenMasterTao » Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:53 pm

txfastptchcoach wrote:My daughter loves them and you can pick up replacements cleats at any Sporting Goods store..
My daughter is picky when it comes to shoes or it must be a women thing.... You have to check the cleats (screws) every once in a while to make sure they are tight. They come out of the box with Metal and plastic cleats. I hope this helps with your decision..... :)


I thought the old Watley's were the ones with the removeable cleats? Have they went back to the removeable cleats (which they never should've got rid of in the first place!)?
"Bad punctuation, poor grammar and all caps leaves Bad Zen" - Master Tao
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by softballjunky12 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:27 pm

My DD had gone through 3 Watley's in the past 2 years. Honestly, she just wore them down too fast, and half the time they were so worn down they were no longer interchangeable. Also, with the mesh...nice for hot days, not so nice for fall ball or if you play in foggy areas, her socks were always getting socked. She now has a few pairs of the Finch 9 spikes, very similar design and she loves them. As much as they wear them, it is worth having a few pairs for them to rotate as it evens out the wear on the cleats. Good luck!
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by Tucson » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:06 pm

I had thought about the socks, but I thought it was just me. The mesh lets in more dirt than is necessary. But, maybe you could just buy extra socks and wash the cleats more often.
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by bucndranch » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:24 pm

Both my daughters have worn them and love them. They both prefer last years model with the inter changeable spikes, but they do wear down fast. We found an after market spike that last longer. Now with those no longer avail my younger uses the new molded one and again loves them. They are lighter then other cleats on the market. The molded do hold up better. No matter what cleat my older DD used we went thru two pair a year. I highly recommend them.
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by NumeroUno » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:44 pm

Our team bought the 9 spike and loved them but they did not last. 2, 3 months max.
This year we are looking for something that might last a few more months
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by thatguy » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:56 pm

We were big fans of the original Watley's with the interchangeable cleats and as many have said, they are much lighter and breathable, but a year ago when I asked a Mizuno rep about the cleats wearing out so quickly he shared a prototype of the current Watley's. So others must have given the feedback that they wore out too quickly and Mizuno made the change. In our experience you were lucky if they made it though a weekend before having to change the spikes. Not a big deal, but the mesh eventually separated from from the rest of the shoe. All of which were sooner than I would have expected considering DD generally wore these only in games. Overall very satisfied with Mizuno over the years, including both the 9-spike and their turf shoe, which are great when conditioning our hitting in the cage.
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by TravelSoftballDad » Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:52 am

DD liked 'em for the month or so they lasted :evil: :cry: :evil:

Also...out the box you have to make sure the first set of cleats are tight. One team-mate had one fall off during middle of game at Nationals. I can't say I would recommend those things.
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