I had a pair of Frogs a;so from Day One of those pedals……but never got one with them. The entry was weird and you never got a firm feel when they actually engaged.
But yeah…people that want ‘em today will pay for them!!
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I was on Ultegra for a few years and then Speedplay for a few years (I had the aero ones on my TT bike). Now I am trying some Ultegra pedals again. Both have been really good pedal systems for me.
I originally switched to speedplay trying to chase every last watt since (even with the 3-hole adapter) it has a lower stack and since Jim Manton at ERO who does a lot of testing found that they are faster (how much being dependent on the positioning of your foot during the pedal stroke). I also liked that there was a little bit more float since I’ve historically had a tough time with cleat placement to get me knee lined up correctly.
I bought some Ultegra pedals this past fall and am thinking of going back to them. This was because:
- one of the pair of pedals I have has developed what feels like some lateral play which I found annoying (they were pre-wahoo ones and not my aero set…just some regular zeros)
- Speedplay does ‘require’ some periodic maintenance with both the cleats and the pedals and my life is in a spot that I am trying to keep everything as simple and easy as possible since keeping on top of regular maintenance of my bikes has been a challenge
- I have this bad habit of wanting to try new or different things. And new pedals is cheaper than most other things I could buy for the bike
While riding on the ultegra pedals I do miss the adjustability of the speedplays. I keep moving the cleats around little by little but I have not found a spot where I am completely satisfied yet. I might just have to go to a fitter eventually or something. If my goal was to chase every last watt I would definitely got back to the speedplay aeros for sure
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Toes down is better for sprinting
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Throwing in on the weird pedals idea: I have a pair of Specialized pedals that were supposed to be ‘SPD compatible’, but really never worked well with Shimano cleats. Weirdest thing ever, and someone told me to use the cleats that came with those pedals, but I can’t find them, and no Specialized dealer has any clue what to do. I think I still have them just because they are such a silly product. I kept thinking why a company would make a product that was deemed ‘compatible’ that wasn’t, and were they afraid of Shimano legal calling them, and if that, why release them at all. 
The problems were the cleats didn’t ‘lock in’, there was a lot of radial and perpendicular play possible with them: they felt rather ‘unsafe’. And I’m still wondering where the included cleats went.
As an ex bike fitter they are pretty good but they do have a few issues.
Rotational float is great and easy to set but there is no lateral float. Time and Shimano seem to think this is useful to some degree.
Stability for bigger/heavier riders leaves something to be desired, they do develop lateral rock to a greater extent than the 3 bolt systems.
Aero benefits are there but they are fairly small - other brands state that their pedals are aero as well. Putting money into an aero shoe probably makes more sense (or loads more lower hanging fruits).
Power pedals are more expensive than Favero.
They are also a nightmare to get into when brand new. A very negative experiences for riders new to clipping in. This is usually due to the cleat not being perfectly flat but if your shoe is a shape and the spacers don’t fit perfect then they are stiff for a while.
Stack height is like 2 mm to Shimano and 1 mm to Time (IIRC). It’s a gain but you could sand 2 mm of insole out of your shoe for the same gain.
Overall my favourite pedals were Time xpro, but they don’t last and the UK distributor are rubbish and wouldn’t honour my warranty (new pedals with price increase came out so they just refunded me at the old price and made me pay full price for new pedals rather than exchanging them).
Speedplay were fine but not as stable and wore out.
Shimano dura ace are like 7 years old and still fine.
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Yes. you can over tighten the cleats and adapter plates during installation. Common mistake I’m sure. And the tightest to clip into were the aluminum cleats, but I really liked them due to their durability, although I did break the corner of a cleat where the pedal ‘c’ is. I was surprised it broke, but more surprised that the cleat still held firm while riding. But they were notorious to be hard to clip into when new(er).
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Yeah, for anyone who decides to try Speedplay after reading this thread, be sure you occasionally check the screws in the cleats are tight. Even with threadlock, they loosen over time. I’ve lost a few screws on rides due to forgetting to maintain them.
I dont believe speedplay fixed the bearing failures. Every single pair Ive purchased since Wahoo have developed lateral play in the axle. Somehow they still spin nicely but I keep replacing them when it happens. Same with every reviewer that tried them.
Speedplays are hands down the most finicky to setup and you have to keep them clean or the cleat will jam. But they are the only ones that have non-centering float which I need to keep my knees happy. If my knees could take it I would ride Shimano Look or Time. I also cant imagine any of the power meter pedals lasting for more than a year until the lateral play shows up. Im sure that makes the power readings a random number generator.
But for everyone in this thread on Wahoo (not the older speedplays before they were purchased), go out to your bike and report back if you have lateral play in the axle. You can just grab the pedal body with your hand. Usually it slides back and forth 1-2mm.
I am sure they are more aero given the reduced frontal area. But if you dont need the float, I do expect centering float from the other brands to allow better power transfer.
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Been using Assiomas for years and, having just bought a second bike thought may as well buy some Look pedals.
True. However, I think there’s a case to avoid the ti axles. Ti is softer. I wore a groove into the axle on my X-1s. They could have broken with more time, but I ditched the set due to its overall wear. Anyway, the steel bearings will also wear on the ti axle. It’s something like a 50g savings. That’s not really a material difference.
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I think that one change Wahoo made in the Zeros is that there isn’t a screw for lubrication any longer opposite where it attaches to the crank, and there is a nut on the end of the spindle under that cap. (Pre-buyout, they just popped off, but took some work to get there)
If you have lateral movement in the pedal puck/body, I’d start there and see if that nut is tight, and then (if it is) take the nut off and pull the puck off and see what the spindle looks like, and if the bearings are actually seated properly. I rebuilt the bearings in a pair of Zeroes because their silly o-ring didn’t seal a darn thing, and the sweat leaked into the entire pedal, and the needle bearings were totally toast, and the inner double bearings were a hot mess of rust, salt and goo.
The bearings shouldn’t be able to move inside the puck as they are pressed (were pressed) into a large plastic lip in the inboard side, and the needle bearings (which I hear have been replaced with standard cartridge ball bearings) would be pressed in the same way, a ‘plastic sandwich’ as it were. If there is movement, there is something wrong inside that puck, or the nuts are loose. I mean, unless the did some crazy stuff inside the new post-buyout pucks. Just use a clean rag or towel to layout the parts, and get some grease to add some as you put everything back together. I use Phil Wood grease, but Speedplay used a rather more common grease (can’t remember the name) but don’t use oil.
The puck pulls off when the nut is removed. Just watch for seals if they fall out. (The big weakness for the pre-buyout pedals was the lack of functioning seals. To have sweat going through the pedal bearings like it did is exceptional (Maybe the bearing issues were due to the seals letting too much garbage in, or just cheap as hell bearings))
If you want, you could get the number off the bearings and replace them with higher quality ones. They used nearly the cheapest ones they could find on the pair I had.
I appreciate your advice. I took them apart and I have the version with the needle bearings. The screw was tight so the play, i suspect, is coming from the ball bearings. I dont see a way to get at the ball bearing as the needle bearing is pressed in and cant be removed. I suspect the ball bearing is smoked.
Also as an aside I dont see how they could redesign the pedal to remove the needle bearings as they are taking all the radial loads and ball bearings that size have much lower load ratings.
okay i found the weightweenies thread. apparently my next move is to pry out the retaining ring.
^^^^^^
aaaand now I understand
my head is spinning reading all of that
shimano it is for the winter at least. I might revisit this in spring / summer.
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If you are a rider that needs the aero efficiencies of Aero model pedals, then I’m guessing you are a professional sponsored rider, in which case the question is irrelevant.
Otherwise all the other Speedplay pedals are double sided, and if you haven’t experienced that IMO they are brilliant, invariably into your pedals well before other riders, and this can be really helpful on those awkward crossings like intersections on steep gradients.
The more recent cleat covers are far superior to those of old. IMO opinion every pedal has issues when starting in deep mud.
For most age group level riders the Speedplay Comp, at half the price of the Aero and 1/3rd that of the Titanium will suit. Will last decades.
If greasing pedals, is such a chore, I assume you get the LBS to also clean and lube your chain and drive train, so ask them to include the speedplay’s. Presumably you also hope someone else will replace a punctured tyre for you!
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They’re heavier than my current pedals (pedal + cleat). Plus I have Assiomas on one bike so all my shoes already have Look cleats. There’s no way I’m buying 5 sets of Speedplay cleats. Other than that, all the reviews are either “they’re the best pedal system ever” or “they’re the worst pedal system ever.” So people either love them or hate them. I don’t feel like trying that experiment.
I think Speedplay’s are fantastic pedals. I have not ridden anything else for more than 20 years after having knee trouble with Look and complexity of at the time, Time pedals that I liked the biomechanics of but the weight and difficulty of clipping was a problem, on top of the fact that they redesigned their road pedals several times over the years which is not good. I accept the added maintenance and find it a more than reasonable trade off for the benefits they offer. At this point I’ve logged more than 250,000 miles on X series Speedplay’s and really do not want to use anything else but I ride with some who feel similarly about Look/Shimano pedals. I figure, ride what works for you.
Yeah, forgot that clip. Sorry…
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My Garmin Vector pedals have like 50,000 miles on them, and still work fine. And I don’t care that much about being aero.
I honestly don’t see how you can get 6 months out of them before the bearing play shows up. Are you riding the pre-wahoo versions?