Road Cycling - Bike race - all speedplay and look pedals?

Went to a race the other week and noticed that most everyone was using Look pedals and some speedplay, but no regular clippless pedals like the ones I currently use. Is there a difference for racing in using the Look or Speedplays?

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Look make the first clipless pedals? They are still more or less the standard for road cycling. Besides Look, around here a lot of the racers use Keywin and Campy pedals which are similar to Look.

Nikos...

You'll never see a racer wioth SPD-type pedals. SPDs are ideal for mountain biking and general cycling, but you want a pedal with a big platform that holds your shoes like a vise for racing.

I did a timetrial with an SPD style and didn't like that it offered no float--sometimes being able to stretch momentarily is helpful...one way speedplays are advantageous.

So what would work good for me. I have a nice Bianchi road bike that I use on commutes home (good weather conditions) and like to use it for pushing myself for speed and time. I have never been pleased with my spd pedals, what would be a better pedal for me with my more serious bike.

I have a pair of shimano clipless pedals which came with my bike. They must be the cheapest ones because they kind of suck.

Yeah, the ones that came with my Bianchi are Wellgo? They to suck.

Speedplay have a good history of the clipless pedal on their website. Like most things cycling, it is way older than most people imagine.

In the world of road biking, Look pedals are normal.

Nikos,
If you choose the speedplays, Bike Nashbar had
the X2's on sale for $99.
its a really great price.

Marty

I did notice the speedplays on sale at Nashbar, I might be tempted. My question then is this: The base of the speedplays are no larger if not smaller than my wellgo spd pedals that I have right now. What makes the speedplays so nice? It seems as though the speedplays being smaller and the look pedal having such a larger base - there must be a big difference - what is it? Also, notice some Shimano Ultegra spd pedals on ebay, they look saucy - would match my ultegra components. Are these pedals nice? thanks guys.

99 bucks is a great price for X2s. You can find new ones on Ebay too they usually sell for around $125+/- 5.00. I know 'cause that's how I got mine. They're great BTW.

Sorry didn't answer your question(s) the first time. The thing about speedplays is the float as well as being able to clip in at both the top or the bottom. In other words you can clip in on either side, but the big thing is THE FLOAT. Now the part that takes some getting used to; most people mention the "on ice feeling" this was never an issue for me. Of more concern is that it seems to be more difficult un-clipping vs. my old Look pedal which I abandoned. With Speedplays (correct me if I'm wrong guys) you have to lift the inside of your foot, lift your heel next then twist your ankle out. All while coming to a stop. Still perfer Speedplay over Look.

Are those 99.00 , the x2's or the x3's ??? At checkout , they seem to be 164.00 .

LOOK did develop the original clipless pedal designs back I believe in the early 80's. I had a pair, heavy and clunky but I got them, because toe clips and straps gave me foot pain on longer rides. I've had a number of upgrades since and about 5 years ago I tried Speedplays and have been happy ever since. I like the float and think that adapting to them has made my pedal stroke smoother and less jerky. You do have to replace the cleats (they are not cheap, something like $35) ever couple of years when the plates get worn from walking on them (you can get rubber covers for the cleats if I could just remember to bring them along on all my rides). Since the cleat is large, metal and plastic and mounted securely to the shoe I think it gives a wide support platform. I like being able to click in on either side of the pedal. I just put a dribble of White Lightening on them when I lube the chain and I'm all set. Wear has been good and no problems with maintenance.

I only use SPD pedals for mountain biking and commuting. Most of the cheap pedals are all made by Wellgo. I bought a pair of Gary Fisher pedals once and paid way too much thinking I was getting a good pedal (because of the name - joke was on me) and it turned out they were Wellgos with a slightly different cleat profile that only worked with the Fisher cleats. Never again.

Many of my fellow riders are not racers, but fitness, recreational riders (some fast, some not so fast) and ride a mix of LOOK, Speedplay (Frogs and X2's) and some SPD road pedals. Nobody I know has the high-end Campy or Ultegra.

When I checked out Nashbar they actually showed
the X1s and a price of $99, pretty good for a
$185 pedal, when you selected it however it brought
up the X3s. I was told that the X2s were also on
sale and that they were $99. I haven't been able
to find those. However even the X3s are a good deal.

Nikos, to answer your question about platform,
the Speedplay have a large cleat, which gives you
a larger effective platform under your shoe. The
pedal itself is small. Check out the Speedplay
website, they go into alot of detail on it.

Bobsled, I don't have to lift my foot at all to disengage,
just twist my heel out and thats it. If you have to lift heel
your cleats may be overly tightened to your shoe.
I don't want to sound patronizing but are your cleats
mounted on the correct shoe (left/right)?
Open area of cleat should be to inside of shoe.
Speedplays should have no problem clipping out.
Do you have any problem clipping in?

Marty

Ok, Im thinking the speedplays will fit what Im looking for. How about the cleat fitting. I have shimano shoes and nike shoes, both currently set up with the spd cleat - should the speedplay cleats fit these shoes? How can I check for this? I also checked Nashbar with the same results, the x3 was 108 on sale for 99 and the x2 was priced at 169. Is the x2 on sale? Do these prices include the cleats.

Nikos,
I don't know if the Pedals include cleats,
probably not if I think about it.
Speedplay website (HERE (http://www.speedplay.com/) ) has whole page about compatability with shoes.
I have speedplay cleats on my old ShimaNo shoes and
my new Sidi's.
I wrote to Nashbar about pricing, since they show
originally $164.95 on sale for $99, haven't heard back
yet, but will post when I do.

Marty

Follow up e-mail from Nashbar:

We did have a pricing error on our web site. The X3 pedals are $99.95 and the X2 are $164.95.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
So at $99 the X3s are average price (speeplay shows
this price). The X3s are still a good pedal albeit a little
heavier than the X2s or X1s.
Marty

Thanks for the follow up work!

Originally posted by lotek
Bobsled, I don't have to lift my foot at all to disengage,
just twist my heel out and thats it. If you have to lift heel
your cleats may be overly tightened to your shoe.
I don't want to sound patronizing but are your cleats
mounted on the correct shoe (left/right)?
Open area of cleat should be to inside of shoe.
Speedplays should have no problem clipping out.
Do you have any problem clipping in?

Marty

Yeah. They're mounted correctly. I suspect they're overly tightened to my shoes. The instructions gave a max. torque requirement and since I don't own a torque wrench I just guesstimated. The right one doesn't seem as bad, so I'm sure it's the tightness. Ill most likely buy a torque wrench and do it right.

"The Speedplay offers a lot of advantages: light weight, dual-side entry, extreme cornering angles, minimal parts and low maintenance...Speedplay has set the standard to shoot at in terms of light weight, minimal size, degrees of float and simplicity of design. Not many of its competitors can claim as many pluses."
--from Speedplay (http://www.speedplay.com)


My opinion would be equally biased; I love them.