silversx80

I'm running a set of SpeedPlay zero pedals and I do a lot of time on the indoor trainer. I sweat a lot, to the point where it feels like I filled my shoes with water. This isn't a huge deal, since I use the stainless version of the SpeedPlay zeros, but the cleat springs aren't stainless. They're rusted pretty good, and no matter how much I lube the cleats, they're more difficult to clip in and out than when they were new.

I dry them the best I can, lube them before every use, and spend more time with cleat maintenance than chain maintenance. Any suggestions? I'm tempted to switch back to SPD-SL since I never had these issues, and they were virtually zero maintenance.

TheRef

Shimano Pedals and cleats?

silversx80

That's the way I'm leaning. I like the SpeedPlay pedals well enough, and the dual-sided entry is nice, but the PD-6800 total system weighs the same, and doesn't have the same rust issue. I'm reluctant to switch back because again, I do like the SpeedPlay system… it just seems to be a lot of work for not a lot of gain.

grwoolf

Bigger fan(s)

TheRef

I didn't mean to get snarky and was attempting a funny response. But that being said Shimano is all I ever used. I have 5700 pedals on both my bikes and use the yellow cleats with a good amount of float.
I have 2 close friends that have different types of speedplay pedals and both complain of adjustment issues and one has had major problems due to riding in the winter with crap getting on the cleat system and getting it corroded.

silversx80

2 floor fans and a ceiling fan. On a side note, 1 kJ roughly equals 1 btu. If your body is 25% efficient at turning food into pedal power, then the total energy to put 1 kJ to the pedals is around 4 kJ. In an indoor setting all that energy is turned into heat. So, with my 1.75 hour, 1,500 kJ workout this morning, my 600 sq-ft basement got about 3,400 btu/hr. It gets hot.

On another side note, I found out a while ago that my kit can hold about 2.5 lbs of sweat.

silversx80

No worries and no offense taken, I wasn't quite sure you knew I meant Shimano when I wrote SPD-SL. It looks like you know others with the cleat corrosion issue. I'm a little bummed because a $200 pedal system should have this worked out.

thump55

Remove springs. Clean off rust with buff wheel or scotch-brite pad or dremel polish. Spray with an anti-rust aerosol (Rust-Oleum makes one for $5). Let dry. Lube (Teflon dry lube)

Lazyass

Your feet sweat so much that it pours out of your shoes, runs down onto your cleats and rusts them, or did I read that wrong?

deapee

It's probably just surface corrosion that can be easily cleaned off.

Can you wax them? Can you put some WD-40 on the metal part only? I know they sell lube that you are supposed to use on them, not sure where you're supposed to put the lube though.

I use SPD-SL myself now, but did consider the speedplays...They just seemed too similar to the spd mountain pedals I was 'upgrading' from...and wanted something that felt like there was more to push on there.

franswa

This only happens to cyclists with pot bellies.

topslop1

SPD-SL's. Mine have been great over the past 3 months. I don't have 6 years of use to tally up here, but they work and are simple. Double sided entry is a gimmick, you don't need it. Take ya an extra second to clip in, look up, look down, flip, click, go.

I'd prefer the more robust design to a quick entry.

silversx80

I may give that a shot. Too bad the spring is a stamped steel, and I understand it needs to be a softer metal than the steel bowties on the pedal bodies, but I may just try to mill out some of my own with the endmill at work if the mood strikes me.

My entire body, but yeah, that's the gist of it. To give a little perspective, I weighed in at 165 lbs before I got on the trainer this morning, drank 3, 24oz bottles of water during and after my workout, and weighed in at 163.5 when I got out of the shower.

That's probably it, but I'm still wishing it was lower maintenance. I've used Look Keos and SPD-SL pedals for tens of thousands of miles before and never had cleat issues (the Looks had some significant bearing play after about 6,000 miles, but that's a different story). Aside from the occasional miss when trying to clip in, I never thought about the pedals. The SpeedPlays are great because I think even less about clipping in... just stomp down... aside from the rust making it a bear to do so.

lol