If Tim wears out the outside of his shoes, he's supinating (or under-pronating as the running shoe
gurus have come to call it; pronators roll inward). I'd bet Tim also has high arches and replaces
his cleats in a timely manner. But regardless, as another nine-year user, I can say the Speedplay
spindle groove will happen to anyone if the following is allowed to occur:
The springs are allowed to wear sufficiently before replacement, thus not fitting tightly in their
engagement grooves. This allows the shoe to rock laterally when the cleat is engaged, not only
wearing out the springs further, but also the cleat and composite pedal body, which enables the
springs to contact the spindle, wearing the groove. The pedal body will wear enough on the inner and
outer surfaces from the rocking to make new cleats/springs insufficient to stabilize the shoe,
worsening the wear rate on the new cleats and old pedal body. Then it's time for some replacement
parts or new pedals.
It's actually such a common occurrence that Speedplay has pre-grooved their X3 pedals. For example,
have a close-up look at the spindles in these at Performance:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/large_photo.html?SKU=1343&Store=Bike. If the groove is deep
enough, it can certainly cause a spindle to fail, but a minor one is not likely to be worth much
worry. There are thousands of grooved Speedplay spindles out there, you can be sure.
SB
"Kirby Krieger" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:5JH%[email protected]...
> Tim, you are a pronator (I am too), and you need a good dictionary. For
my feet, I use Big Meat
> wedges -- wonderful things. I think pronation and supination is a red
herring here -- the design
> of the cleat is such that angling the shoe inboard or outboard is
extremely limited, even with old
> worn springs. Is the spindle the same as the pedal axle? I have over
20,000 miles on my X-2's
> with no grooves at all in the axles (though there is a bright band where I
have shined the metal by
> clicking out). I have been though several sets of cleats, and one
replacement pedal body, but the
> axles and the bushings are in good shape. Surely the axles should *never*
get grooved. To the
> poster whose are -- don't give up on this until you get an answer.
>
> Kirby.
>
> "Tim McNamara" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
> > In article <X3G%9.20107$rq4.
[email protected]>, "Bill"
> > <
[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > "Tim McNamara" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> > >
news:[email protected]...
> > > > This is a recurrent thread. I've used my Speedplay X/2s since early 1994 and there are no
> > > > grooves worn in the spindle. I've always wondered how that seems to happen to so many
> > > > people, yet I have not ever had it happen with my pedals. What's the variance?
> > >
> > > I was googling for info and came across a thread that suggested
pronation as
> > > the source of downward pressure on the inside of the cleat. I suspect
a
> > > non-neutral foot position is the source of the problem. My concern is
at
> [Snipped]
> > If that's the case, I am of the latter variety. My walking shoes always wear out by my little
> > toes and the outer sides of the heels. So perhaps this has the effect of raisng the inner edge
> > of the cleat away from the spindle.