So....when I started riding clipless pedals I bought a pair of Scattante road shoes with SPD SL pedals. So far, so good. I kept the pedals for about a month trying to get used to the SPD Sl's and never did. They did not clip in easy and did not clip out easy. Took one good fall. I finally decided to get a different set of clipless pedals. So I talked to the guy at Performance and he helped me pick out a new pair of pedals. I got SPD's this time and a pair of Shimano Mountain Bike shoes. Being a newbie, I thought you had to have those shoes for the SPD pedals. Performance took back my SPD SL's and my used shoes and gave me a full refund for them and then charged me for my new mountain bike shoes and SPD pedals. Took a long ride on Monday and really did not like the Shimano shoes. I had a hot spot on my baby toe and I have a weird bone below my ankle bone that the shoe rubbed the entire ride. So....went back to Performance and bought my old shoes back. Now I have SPD's with road shoes if I want to change them back. The SPD's will fit. However, the SPD SL's had a yellow plastic protection for the clips. The SPD's are just metal to the ground when I am off my bike. Is this going to ruin my SPD clips? Does anyone else use SPD's with road shoes?

I know this is a newbie question.....but I am a newbie.