msl109

Hey folks - looking to put a pair of aftermarket titanium spindles on a pair of Speedplays - a lot of choices out there (and not sure they aren't all the same manufacturer) Any experience or knowledge in this area would be a great help.

Sy Reene

see torontocycles.com if you want greater peace of mind than ebay.

Otherwise, I purchased from here to get a specific length I wanted; so far no issues. J L Titanium Pedal Spindle Fit Speedplay Zero x Ultra Light Action Custom Length | eBay

Andrew R Stewart 

msl109- How big are you? Andy.

HillRider

Excellent question. Speedplay themselves has a recommended rider weight limit of 185 pounds for their OEM Ti spindles. I'm not sure I'd trust any aftermarket spindle even that far.

Andrew R Stewart 

A second question is whether the aftermarket spindles are to gain tread width. Added length only increases the leverage that stresses spindles. Andy.

msl109

5'7" - 160

msl109

Those are my thoughts as well, which is why I posted for recommendations. I'm 160. I did come across these folks:
TiSpindles.com , and emailed - no reply, they're on vacation.

I believe the manufacturer they're "afraid to name" is Speedplay ...

msl109

I believe a number of them offer various widths

msl109

Thanks, will check out

msl109

Looks like they're pretty well-stocked. Any idea where their spindles are made? They're not just distributing the same stuff that's on eBay?

rekmeyata

I would go with stainless spindles, there isn't really that much weight difference between the stainless and the titanium, about 14 grams each, but with stainless you will never wonder if you'll exceed the limits and break a pedal; plus they do flex which bothers some people but that flex could take away a tiny bit of power.

Speedplay Zero S-S Spindles Set 1-4 inch longer - Pedal Cleats & Small Parts - Excel Sports

Problem is those stainless ones cost a lot of money but there are no aftermarket black market illegal copies of them because TI sells better. Personally I wouldn't trust an illegal copy of a major manufacture just to save money, you could find yourself someday with a serious injury to a foot or worse with no recourse.

Sy Reene

The SS would have been the way I ideally wanted to go.. but seriously $120 for a pair of spindles that probably are packaged in a plastic baggie? ie. when a full set of pedals w/cleats & shims etc. (assembled, mind you) goes for about $160? Speedplay should be ashamed, though I'm sure they're doing just fine..

Anyway.. quick poll.. how many people here have sued a bike equipment manufacturer successfully when something broke and they got injured? This whole 'recourse' argument is not terribly realistic imo.

I'm at 185lbs and using the aftermarket spindles.. hasn't been a long time yet but no issues; I'll report back if they fail.. (or actually, I think the assumption is that there aren't very many reports of this happening, because everyone died who has used them).

rekmeyata

Hmm, well maybe you should google more than type responses without knowing.

Bicycle Defects :: Boston Bicycle Defect Injury Attorney Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman Well look at that there are even lawyers (and a lot more then just this one) who specialize in that sort of thing, imagine that here in America, who would have thunk?

And yes, I think I would just buy new pedals unless you can get Speedplay to come down on their price which I doubt but you never know unless you try. Those spindles aren't worth more than $30 anyways!

Sy Reene

I only meant that choosing a brand based on the ability to sue them would not be a deciding factor for me. Being at 185lbs, I'd probably having a hard time obtaining recourse even had I bought Ti spindles direct from SP.

Anyway.. I would have perhaps considered an all new set of Zeros (over replacing the spindles in my aging X's).. though couldn't find anything online that sold options for the SS kit with different installed spindle lengths anyway... so right back to square one. Maybe an LBS could accommodate, but I shudder at what price.

Andrew R Stewart 

The price of the needed extra length SS spindles will ALWAYS be less then the potential damage from a failure, REGARDLESS of any lawsuit payout. Do I need to repeat this? Prevention is ALWAYS the lowest cost path. Andy.

msl109

Thinking you may have a point. The price for the stainless is absurd. There's only about a 50g difference between the ti and the cromo.

Sy Reene

Of course you're right if we were to know for a fact that paying more will prevent something from happening.. we all just wish there were guarantees with anything. It's generally accepted that alloy handlebars or saddle rails are safer than CF counterparts, and many pros opt to keep those parts alloy for that reason. 32 spoke wheels, all else equal, are stronger than 20 spoke wheels. Puncture resistant Schwalbe marathons are less likely to blow out than some lighter weight pro tires. There's lots of tradeoffs out there.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that the ebay ti spindles will work for anyone or even hold up for me. I will say spending a little time internet searching didn't yield me too much in the way in the way of anecdotal failure stories though. If it was a widespread issue, I would think I could find some sort of thread out there on the matter.

And of course hard to tell what are real concerns vs. simple FUD spread by companies to boost sales or justify product-line price points.

Sy Reene

Do you have CrMo pedals/spindles now? ie. why are you looking to get Ti spindles anyway? Be aware that a number of the spindles made for the Ti or SS pedals (eg. X1/X2) are listed as incompatible with the eg. X5 (CrMo version).

rekmeyata

The other issue to is the longer spindle which would make a TI spindle even worse to own for that and thus the likelihood of it breaking would be higher.

msl109

Yes - I'm finishing building an all Ti Serotta - have avoided making any part heavier than necessary, thus my thoughts on Ti spindles, but safety and cost are of course a big consideration. Cycling itself is a sport where it's when rather than if the accident is going to happen, but I don't want to add opportunity for disaster.
So I'm probably going to stick with the cromo.

Anyone know which models have spindles that will interchange with light action? I can get hold of zeros and x2s with stainless spindles pretty reasonably and would just do the swap.

msl109

No, they're not. Nor are the pedals themselves worth what they charge, which I'm not sure are actually made here or just sourced from China. Could be they're sourcing the spindles from the same Chinese vendor the guys on ebay are. Would like to think not, but it probably doesn't matter anyway. I've seen pictures of snapped Campy NR crank arms - no guarantees. If there's air in the metal, it is weaker. But where does the notion that Ti is weaker because it flexes come from? I mean it's used in aircraft BECAUSE it flexes and doesn't snap!

msl109

I don't necessarily need extra length spindles.
Can we determine factually that the aftermarket spindles are more vulnerable? That the originals don't snap as easily? That Ti is more vulnerable to snapping?

I only trust the OEM spindles because they have to concern themselves with liability ...

msl109

See my latest post - it's for an All ti Serotta, which I've tried to keep light.
And what I have is cromo light action - what's interchangeable with those? The pedals themselves are harder to find reasonable second hand.

Andrew R Stewart 

Last post about this thread-


I've been running Speedplay X since the first year they came to market. That's when the bodies were machined AL, not the sandwiched "plastic" with the TI inserts that have been the design for years now. My current stable of bikes have 6 pairs of SS Xs and 1 pair of TI Xs. I am very sensitive to the "q" dimension (being a small guy with too many miles on Campy double cranks in my younger years). So I have some empathy for those who might need a different pedal spindle length then stock.


I'll say that when i'm actually riding the only difference I feel between the SS and the TI versions (of the Xs, not the Light Actions) is the slightly less spindle length. The weight difference is less then if my Cliff bar is half eaten or not. I'm not heavy or strong enough to fool myself into thinking I can feel any stiffness difference (even though my rational mind knows there is a stiffness difference). If fact the wear rate/condition of the cleats (which are shared through out the X series) is a FAR greater factor then any weight or flex are.


Having seen more then a few handfuls of pedals break (from big and small brands, from pro spec to big box) and hearing of the resulting fall downs (not very pretty as the rider is usually hammering pretty hard when the spindle lets go) there is no way I'm going there. The TI spindled Xs I have are only the second TI spindled pedal I've used in 100,000+ miles of my rolling life. (The first pair were the infamous East Rochester Tool and Die units. I stopped using them on learning of their design/manufacturing flaw. The Speedplays are vastly better in their spindle design and actual machining). Like the OP I only got the TIs because I wanted my light bike to be light weight. It is by about a mouthful of water. BTW I rarely ride this bike because of other weight choices having limited the bike's gearing and I ride the Finger Lakes of NYS often. There's so much more to a bike then light weight. Andy.

msl109

Thanks, Andy - that's helpful. 50g is indeed a few swigs of water, if that. Think I'm going to stick with the CroMo - it's not like I couldn't stand to take 50g off my own mid section ....