Grrr...2nd bloodied knee courtesy of SPD-SL pedals!

[pll]

(why would Look even make cleats without them--they are slippery!?)

There are the purists and weight weenies... I hope you have better luck with the Look pedals. I'd suggest you buy two sets of cleats. I wore off the rubber in my left cleat (I unclip my left foot at stops) in less than a month when I started using the Look pedals. I replaced only that cleat and it has held since then.