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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@Kyle
Glad you like them.
Reflecting further on the pic at the top: I recently got a new pair of cleats for new shoes. The only option was in yellow. Weird. The older ones look like Gianni's; the newer ones have yellow trim, which likely isn't visible while I'm riding, but still doesn't look/feel quite right...
@936adl ebay is your friend, not only will a careful bit of work get you a relatively inexpensive pair but, if some bizarre reason you don't actually like them, you'll be able to unload them for at least as much as you paid for them in the first place.
@Oli Great to know - they look (and weigh!) like something long gone. They'll still have to wait for the right bike, though.
@minion
Specialized shoes are amazing. I have very odd shaped feet, very wide up front, with a skinny heel, and finding comfortable shoes is near impossible. My specialized shoes fit like a glove, have great stiffness, and cost gobs less then the big Euro shoe brands. I don't own anything else from Specialized other then my mulitool, but the shoes are A+.
@farzani
OK, I'll be That Guy and ask the inappropriate question: male pro racers just do the bio break/water the flowers thing by whipping It out - everyone just turns away, and the cameras pan to the lovely sights in the distance. Female pro racers are doing about as many hours in the saddle, and their hyrdation requirements are essentially the same. But I don't see their races labelled with neutral "feed/pee zones." How do the female pros "get it done?" Surely there is a V-Skill involved here.
Inquiring minds....
@King Clydesdale I have heard nothing but good things about Specialized shoes.
Having @ Gianni make fun of me for a newb mistake I made way back when got me looking at my cleats and re lubing the screws. I noticed that the strike heels on my Northwaves were looking rather worn out. So I emailed Northwave to find out were I can buy a new pair. That was 2 days ago. Today I got an email from a Vittoria rep here in the US asking for my addy so they can send me a pair. Thats some awesome customer service in shoes that are from 2009.
As I was typing this I got another email letting me know they were in the post and I should have em by Monday.
@eightzero when I raced, if it was a stage race, the woman wearing the leaders jersey had the all powerful decision to call a "pee zone". when she did, we all jumped off and did our deeds. If not a stage race, there is a mass discussion in the peleton. and yes we just drop trouw, squat and pee....triathletes well they just pee in their little suits....
@the Engine
I had a few of those. Pretty much useless as there was no leverage and it was so gnarly it hurt your hand to try and use it. Probably a wizard wheeze to use up some left-over metal in the manufacturing process and call it a "multi-tool.".
@farzani
Yet another reason to disdain triathlon. I have never mentally recovered from the description of a tri-quaintance who had learned to pee in his shorts and then squirt water to sort of wash it off - it was like he'd learned the secret of solving Rubik's cube. Which is fine if you are competing for an Olympic medal, but less fine when you're aiming for fourth out of seven in the local age group category.
On the subject of triathlon, several other Brit tri-friends (I really need to review my social list) were literally talking about Alistair Brownlee as a combination of Michael Phelps, Brad Wiggins and Mo Farah. I had to point out he would have come last in the Olympic TT by some distance, even though he was allowed to draft... as well as being considerably slower on the swimming and running legs. I know it is different doing it in combination but that's the point... he's not a great runner, cyclist, or swimmer - he's a great triathlete.
Switching to Speedplays was the best move I have made in a long time. After suffering from patellar tendonitis for two seasons and trying all forms of rehab (including 8 weeks off the bike !!!), I switched from my Look pedal to Speedplay. It wasn't overnight, but the knee pain slowly diminished over the course of about six weeks. Now combine those great pedals with my new Speedplay specific Sidi's.... oh yeah!
Also, I have to question the thinking that there is too much float. Form and efficiency don't come from locking your foot in a particular position. If you have bowed legs or an awkward stroke to begin with, forcing your feet into alignment ain't gonna help.
See what Speedplays have done for me. That's me on the right, my friend who rides much more than I do, but with Look pedals on the left.
http://velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/pakrat/2012.08.09.16.08.31/thighs.jpeg