Speedplay pedals...



Aussie Steve

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Nov 8, 2005
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I've known about these things for years, but today decided to have an in-depth look at them... hey the cleats don't really wear out like Look or SPD !! boy I get fed up with changing Look cleats all the time... I mite get a set of Speedplay...
any comments from regular users ???
 
Aussie Steve said:
I've known about these things for years, but today decided to have an in-depth look at them... hey the cleats don't really wear out like Look or SPD !! boy I get fed up with changing Look cleats all the time... I mite get a set of Speedplay...
any comments from regular users ???

Used Look, then Campagnolo LOOK, then Campagnolo Profit. Had a fixie, wanted a 2 sided pedal, tried Zeros...they felt like 'pedals', no real difference BUT I like the 'step on a bug' entry, the ease of maintenance, the ability to rebuild, the ability to buy one pedal if ya kill one, adjustable float....all around great pedals. Have them on all 3 bicycles now.

Plus the most adjustable in terms of fore-aft and side to side plus longer spindles available also.
 
Another convert here after riding Shimano - Look-type all my life. Two sided entry, easily adjustable and wide range of float, easy maintenance, etc. At first their "feel" took a little getting used to (it doesn't "look" as secure as a wider pedal), but that went away as soon as the suffering started.
 
Another convert here. In addition to the advantages cited already, the durability is excellent. I've got 24K miles on the Zero pedals now and still on my second set of cleats.

When you buy speedplays, suggest you also buy a mini grease-gun and cleat covers. The factory says to lube the pedals every 2K miles; they have grease ports so no disassembly needed. The "Coffee Shop" covers will keep the cleats clean and extend their life, and make walking on the metal cleat-bottoms quiet and secure.
 
Great pedals no question, I have tried every major brand and speedplay are #2 favorite for me.

For the record the cleats do wear out. Not like Look or Shimano from walking but the spring inside the cleat wears and develops play.

My experience has been they last perhaps twice as long as nylon cleats and you don't feel them wearing, you only really notice when you switch to new cleats.
 
cwdzoot said:
Great pedals no question, I have tried every major brand and speedplay are #2 favorite for me.

For the record the cleats do wear out. Not like Look or Shimano from walking but the spring inside the cleat wears and develops play.

My experience has been they last perhaps twice as long as nylon cleats and you don't feel them wearing, you only really notice when you switch to new cleats.

What's your number 1 pedal?

I would agree with a previous post about ease of greasing and this should be done regularly. I also agree about the coffee stop cleat covers. One gripe is that if you get lazy and don't cover the cleats before walking on dirt, is that the cleat can get pretty gunked up with dirt, or ice. Love the float and release though.

I use eggbeaters for 'cross as well as winter road riding. I may switch over my 2 road bikes to eggbeaters once my Speedplay's wear out though. Love the release/entry and the float is nice. I also like being able to walk on the cleats. It sounds silly, but when I'm riding the rollers and need to bale, the eggbeater cleats offer a much more stable landing platform on the hard concrete basement floor than the speedplays (not that I've fallen, but it's still a nice piece of insurance).
 
PeterF said:
What's your number 1 pedal?

I would agree with a previous post about ease of greasing and this should be done regularly. I also agree about the coffee stop cleat covers. One gripe is that if you get lazy and don't cover the cleats before walking on dirt, is that the cleat can get pretty gunked up with dirt, or ice. Love the float and release though.

I use eggbeaters for 'cross as well as winter road riding. I may switch over my 2 road bikes to eggbeaters once my Speedplay's wear out though. Love the release/entry and the float is nice. I also like being able to walk on the cleats. It sounds silly, but when I'm riding the rollers and need to bale, the eggbeater cleats offer a much more stable landing platform on the hard concrete basement floor than the speedplays (not that I've fallen, but it's still a nice piece of insurance).

Well, last year I went back to Look (Keo Carbons) from Speedplays, so I guess that Looks are numero uno for me.
 
seriously you dudes are the Best :cool: thanx for the input fellas/sheilas
(sheilas is aussie slang for "broads")
Interesting comment about the internal springs developing play...
the whole design is simple, and thhe world is full of inventions that are so simple yet so effective...
I went and found some square "coffee shop" covers on a UK website...that's a great idea !
Worst thing about Look cleats is when they are wearing out,
you get lazy and think "ahh I still got a few miles left in them"
until the time you exert upward pressure
to go up a hill and both shoes let go... argghh oops :(
 
PeterF said:
What's your number 1 pedal?

I would agree with a previous post about ease of greasing and this should be done regularly. I also agree about the coffee stop cleat covers. One gripe is that if you get lazy and don't cover the cleats before walking on dirt, is that the cleat can get pretty gunked up with dirt, or ice. Love the float and release though.

I use eggbeaters for 'cross as well as winter road riding. I may switch over my 2 road bikes to eggbeaters once my Speedplay's wear out though. Love the release/entry and the float is nice. I also like being able to walk on the cleats. It sounds silly, but when I'm riding the rollers and need to bale, the eggbeater cleats offer a much more stable landing platform on the hard concrete basement floor than the speedplays (not that I've fallen, but it's still a nice piece of insurance).

Number 1 for me is Look. Speedplay #2 Time #3 Campagnolo Pro Fit#4

Look and Speedplay feel very much the same when you ride them but look came up tops because of the new grip cleat. Can walk safely, does not get clogged up like Speedplay if you step in mud and sand.

I think what sent me over the edge with my speedplay zeros was doing a long race in the rain near the beach, the cleats got a lot of sand in them from the road spray, they lost their float and when I crossed the line I could not clip out.

Time cleat seemed soft, could feel it flex.

Campagnolo has a "bounce" a very slight loss of power over the top of the pedal stroke. I could not live with that.

I forgot the Mavics, did a detailed review of them on my blog. Very much the same as look only a little stiffer but no rubber grips on the cleats. They do however look cool.
 
Aussie Steve said:
I've known about these things for years, but today decided to have an in-depth look at them... hey the cleats don't really wear out like Look or SPD !! boy I get fed up with changing Look cleats all the time... I mite get a set of Speedplay...
any comments from regular users ???
I have used Speedplay x1 since they first came out. They still work and both the pedals and cleats have been durable. I found the system to be good but never felt quite as secure as I would like. The cleats clog up easily and both the pedals and cleats must be kept cleaned. I put Time RXS Ulteam on a bike this spring and I like them much better. Easy in and out and just the right amount of float imho. The cleats are brass and if they are like my old time, very durable.
 
I used the old Shimano 600 pedals for years then switched last year to the Speedplays because of all I had read about them. But I think I'm going to switch back to some new Shimano Ultegras.

I find the Speedplays hard to get into, even now, when stopping at a light or sign. I don't get on with the "step on a bug " entry, I guess. Plus I found myself having spontaneous cllick-outs, which I could never predict or get my finger on why.

I did like the two sided aspect, though.

just my opinion.

Craig
 
One thing I am confused on is shoe compatibility. I rread through the info on the Speedplay website and that only confused me more. Spedplay's site talked about 3 & 4 hole shoes. Most shoe ads only mention Look - SPD compatible, etc. Does three hole mean Look?

Speedplay did have a list of compatible shoes. Should all others be considered incompatible?
 
byte_speed said:
...Does three hole mean Look?

Speedplay did have a list of compatible shoes. Should all others be considered incompatible?
3-hole shoes with the screw holes arranged in a triangular pattern (also called a Delta pattern) is for Look, which is also compatible with the Shimano SPD-SL style (not the plain SPD - which takes a two-screw cleat).

Speedplay systems (usually) have or come with an adapter plate to convert a 3-hole shoe to the 4-hole pattern required for Speedplay cleats. These adapter plates will not fit shoes with the 2-hole Shimano SPD screw pattern.
 
I haven't owned a ton of different shoes (I get a perfect fit with Diadora, so why change?) but it seems like you need the adapter plate if you want any fore-aft adjustment. The cleat itself only has lateral adjustability.
 
byte_speed said:
One thing I am confused on is shoe compatibility. I rread through the info on the Speedplay website and that only confused me more. Spedplay's site talked about 3 & 4 hole shoes. Most shoe ads only mention Look - SPD compatible, etc. Does three hole mean Look?

Speedplay did have a list of compatible shoes. Should all others be considered incompatible?

For 2010 there are a number of shoe manufacturers coming out with speedplay specific soles, Lake, DMT, Rocket 7. Speedplay will work better on these because no adapter is needed. But you can always use speedplay on any of the "Look standard" 3 hole shoes with the speedplay adapter they include with the cleats.
 
cwdzoot said:
For 2010 there are a number of shoe manufacturers coming out with speedplay specific soles, Lake, DMT, Rocket 7. Speedplay will work better on these because no adapter is needed. But you can always use speedplay on any of the "Look standard" 3 hole shoes with the speedplay adapter they include with the cleats.

They may be able to be fitted w/o the 3 hole plate but they will have less adjustability, fore-aft than when using the plate on 3 hole shoes. That plate is maybe 1-2mm thick at the center and is more there to ensure the cleat is flat than anything. On these 4 hole shoes, if the sole where the cleat lives isn't perfectly flat, then entry and exit will be compromised. PLUS a 4 hole fits Speedplay only. I don't think even Time are 4 hole cleats anymore(the ones who started a 4 hole cleat). I think this idea that that little thin plate does something bad to a Speedplay pedal 'action' is misplaced.
 
Peter@vecchios said:
They may be able to be fitted w/o the 3 hole plate but they will have less adjustability, fore-aft than when using the plate on 3 hole shoes. That plate is maybe 1-2mm thick at the center and is more there to ensure the cleat is flat than anything. On these 4 hole shoes, if the sole where the cleat lives isn't perfectly flat, then entry and exit will be compromised. PLUS a 4 hole fits Speedplay only. I don't think even Time are 4 hole cleats anymore(the ones who started a 4 hole cleat). I think this idea that that little thin plate does something bad to a Speedplay pedal 'action' is misplaced.

What he said. The vast majority of Speedplay users are using three holed shoes. Several years ago, Adidas had a 4 hole option, but I think between then and now, with the new and few 4 hole shoes coming out.....there was nothing. Three hole works great, and as Peter said gives fore and aft adjustability that 4 holes don't.
 
alienator said:
What he said. The vast majority of Speedplay users are using three holed shoes. Several years ago, Adidas had a 4 hole option, but I think between then and now, with the new and few 4 hole shoes coming out.....there was nothing. Three hole works great, and as Peter said gives fore and aft adjustability that 4 holes don't.
Thanks everyone for all the help.

I was wondering if I made a mistake ordering some Speedplays. I've always used old style Looks and thought I would try something new.
 
To keep it short - I've heard nothing but wonderful things about them.

That's coming from some seriously good racing cyclists, sprinters alike. I'm considering the move also.

Mark
 
Can you purchase the C springs (x series) only? For some reason they wear out and break (always the right foot and rear spring). I have installed shims as advised by Speedplay. Cannot justify purchasing 3 new cleats yearly ( 3 C springs broke in one year).

Thanks