I’m old as dirt. My first two race bikes employed toe clips and toe straps and that set-up was bad. For many reasons it was bad and any retro-hipster who thinks otherwise is wrong. When Lemond and Hinault started racing on the white Look clipless pedals, everyone but Sean Kelly quickly switched. Talk about a quantum improvement, it was long overdue change. Look made improvements to their models, like the notion of float, and other manufactures jumped in. The new paradigm was a cleat on the pedal, like the original quill pedal system but with a spring loaded snap-in, twist-out pedal. Everyone was happy.
Everyone is happy until you have to replace a worn out plastic cleat. Did I walk a lot in my cycling shoes? Did all liquor stores have rough cement floors with giant moving sanding belts in front of the cash registers? I don’t remember that but I do remember replacing cleats too often and the duplication of cleat position was tedious. I could live with that, practice makes perfect but it was the creaking that drove me to madness. No amount of wax could stop the occasional creaking the cleat and pedals would make while climbing. Rule #65 was being violated before it was a Rule.
Wiser friends had already switched to Speedplay pedals. I was a little wary; they looked weird. One day into using them I understood: total frictionless float, two-sided entry, mindless pedal release. There is no cleat alignment issue as the pedal has no fixed position in the cleat. I was overcome with regret. Why had I waited so long? Why did I stick with creaking Look French pedals? Life is too short for such rubbish and I wasted too much of my cycling life with them. I’ve been using the X-series stainless steel pedals and the original pair was happily going on eighteen-plus years until I replaced the pedal needle bearings and bodies…I don’t want to talk about it. If you employ the good aftermarket cleat covers, and use a little white lightning teflon on the cleat spring bales, the cleats can last a few years. The pedal bodies have grease injector ports. Inject, wipe clean and that is the maintenance routine, easy and fun.
I’ve never used another model of Speedplay so I can’t speak to the advantage of limited float. When riding my right foot does a weird swing out toward the bottom of each stroke. To my mind that is a good thing, the float allows my leg to do that, without that maybe some extra knee wear would occur.
Frank and I have discussed the great pedal switch and his major obstacle to switching pedals is having to switch the whole n+1 stable over and that is not cheap. For Frank and VHM that stable may be five bikes. That’s a lot of pedals. Inertia. Commitment. It’s a big problem. Or one takes Marko’s approach: different shoes for each bike.
I have brand loyalties but if another cycling product is superior in form and function I hope I will see that and move on. Campagnolo gruppos and Chris King headsets are two brands on my bikes that I don’t see moving away from but I would ditch either of those before I would stop using Speedplay pedals. I’m that convinced.
This film is from Peloton’s website. It’s an interesting look at some American cycling manufacturing including Speedplay.
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Bought my first pair of Speedplays for $200 in the summer of 1992. They are currently on a 2010 Merckx.
I bought another pair of the exact same vintage this spring off of ebay for $10. They are on my Colnago WC for summer training.
Only the second pair of cleats in 21 years. Cleat covers are worth the money!
@Gianni
Live and learn right? Only had to make that mistake once.
@Gianni I meant the pedal threads that go into the crank. For what ever reason greasing the screws came natural but not the pedals them selves.
@Gianni
My cleats lasted a little longer than two years before the retaining spring broke and i had to replace them.
I don't carry cleat covers often, but I think the wear and tear came from two years (and 8,000 kms) of urban riding, lots of stops and unclipping from the side that finally broke.
I've alway liked the look of the speedplay and I've always heard good stories about them, but I've to walk too much for those cleats.
I've always mounted shimano pedals on my bikes even when using campagnolo...
Reverence, again timely (!) I love my Speedplay Zeros. I made the switch when they sponsored Floyd, and while yes, that was in my PV (pre-velomiatus) naiivite period, I was looking for a reason to try something new. I never had any luck with SPDs, and was always fumbling clipins on uphill starts with Look. 30 seconds into a first SP ride, and I was sold.
I recently overhauled my zeros. Interestingly, they were the source of a clicking noice I could never track down. SP apparently has been rather...uncooperative...with folks over overhaul parts and services, even apparently legally threatening folks offering overhaul services. I purchased factory bearings at a premium price, but even at $40/set, it was cheaper than replacing the stainless zeros. There is a set of pictures on the internet to show you how to do the straightforward replacement. I had about 5000 miles on them, but fairly, wasn't real punctual on greasing them. They are now totally silent.
Sadly, I often forget my covers, so I have to replace cleats about once a year. $40 for a set. I set them to no float. I'm lucky, for now, kneewise.
I saw a report that Clenbutador uses significantly modified Speedplays. Apparently, his personal mechanic has set them up so they will spin on the spindle for some period of time if you flick them with your finger. I'm guessing this comes at some cost of durability, but since his pedals only need last for about 200kms at a time, who cares?
Y'all remember my sheared SP shoe plate story from a couple of weeks back?
Fixed by LBS with new cleats under warranty - therefore on my second pair of cleats in under 21 weeks @trustnoone.
Still don't know why it sheared - I spoke with the LBS today and they've just sent the whole mess back to SP. I had a minor off when I unshipped my chain at a junction (trying Franks Capagnolo Double Shift using the Go Buttons) - fell over gracefully in to grass verge at around 1 kph. Basically the four screws that stick out of the sole adaptor and hold the cleat mechanism on came out of the plastic moulding that they are part of. A one legged cycle home ensued.
Some very kind people on here put it down to the mightyness of my guns overstressing the SP's but if Syrup and Jensie use them then I doubt it. Factory defect perhaps?
My Looks are mediaeval - roughly Elvis LeMan vintage (one of the few things I ever bought new(ish) back in the day). They still work perfectly apart from creaking like the Black Pearl in a storm.
@eightzero
Out tonight and have a big clunk coming every rev under load from the BB area. Will head to the LBS tomorrow - I need a new chain and shoes anyway (Giro's its gonna be). Can't work out whether the BB needs grease - unlikely at 3,500 or so k's or the SP's need a shot of lube. Hopefully an easy fix.
Around here has been spectacularly wet this "summer" so I guess no surprise that some bits are starting to be affected by the Flemish style grinding paste that our roads throw up in the wet. After a couple of long rides in monsoons even new Capagnolo BB's and SP pedals might need TLC sooner than expected.
@mcsqueak
You are the only person I know who has broken a spring. The spring does wear with time as it slides over the pedal during clip-in but that is unusual.
@Pedale.Forchetta
So you use SPD pedals and shoes? My wife's set up is the same, campagnolo with shimano pedals. Even she won't switch over. Yes, walking with those cleats on is awkward at best. I try not to. I can't imagine how the riders walk up the steep section of the Koppenberg with speedplays.
@Gianni
It's his massive guns. Tore out his bottom bracket too.