Commuting - How long do clipless pedals last?

How long does it take to wear out clipless pedals? I never thought of it until after I bought some. I have the speedplays and they have no springs.

How long does it take to wear out clipless pedals? I never thought of it until after I bought some. I have the speedplays and they have no springs.

IME, it's not the springs you have to worry about, it's the bearings in the spindle area.

What kind of speedplays did you get? Zeroes, X5, Light Action, Frogs or ??

Reason I ask is because with Zeroes and Light Action at least it isn't the pedals to worry about since they are easy to maintain with some grease and are rebuildable. It is the darn cleats. The brass lid on the cleats and those screws get ruined in short order even just putting them down at stops. I see alot more wear on my right foot then my left, I primarily touch down with my right foot when riding.

As long as you replace the bearings before they loosen from wear then the pedals should last many, many years.

My Time pedals work great years later.

I tend to agree with others... it has taken me about 20 years, riding about 2000 miles a year, to actually wear out my LOOK pedals. I have gone through several cleats in the mean time, several shoes, and lots of grease to keep the bearings happy.

But now the surface of the pedal is well worn and the pedals are sloppy; they creak and moan when mated to new cleats and there is just nothing else to do but buy new ones.

May your pedals last as long.

My friend Reed is worst case scenario when it comes to bike parts, and he's gotten two years out of some spd's that's roughly 35 years for the rest of us. :)

Too many variables to say exactly.
Some of them are:
1) Quality level of the component
2) Frequency of maintenance
3) How many miles the rider puts in
4) Conditions riding in
5) Do you wreck often?

My SPDs last anywhere from 6 months to about 10 years.

How long does it take to wear out clipless pedals? I never thought of it until after I bought some. I have the speedplays and they have no springs.

I buy the cheapest ones I can for my commuter (~$25) from performance or nashbar and tend to get 2-3 years out of them before the mechanisms are so messed up (bent, corroded, etc) that I can't easily get my foot in and out.

Have some LOOK pedals from the early '90s, still work like a charm. Have some Ritchey's from '94, still work like new...another pair of Ritchey's from '97 that are easily as functional as my '07 Shimano 520s. I've gone through a few cleats, but I think as long as you keep the pedals clean and with a light layer of oil you can prevent breakdown and rusting. As others said, bearings usually go first, but I've never had to replace the bearings in any of my pedals. I do fear my LOOKs are dust as of this fall, though...they started wobbling a minor bit. I don't know if it can be remedied, but even if it can I won't be the one doing it!

I still have a set of first generation SPD's (circa 1988). They've been through New England winters, one season of racing, and general thrashing over 10 years of faithful service. I have them in semi-retirement on my rarely-ridden mountain bike. I am guessing they should have the bearings overhauled but they still spin pretty nicely.

I've got a pair of Shimano M545 pedals from 1992 which I just swapped over to my new bike after having them on my previous ride for 15 years. They still work great. Solid lock onto the cleat, no accidental clipping out, and the bearings still feel smooth and light.

I got the frogs. Do I need to lube them up? They dont have any springs. Anything I need to know or do to keep them as long as possible?