sosojeffcc

SPD-SL's worked for me until I started having knee issues on harder effort rides. Just made the switch to speedplay zero cromo's and couldn't be happier. The floaty feeling took only a few blocks to get used to. Still breaking in the cleats tho, definitely have to give it some extra oomph

The free float is what wins me over

ovoleg

Exactly! Ride the best till something better comes along. Thankfully, the best at the moment is Speedplay

ovoleg

I make no mention of SPD mountain system. I am strictly speaking of road pedals. See pics again for skii cleats.

jsutkeepspining

I was just riding with someone who was telling me how happy he is to have swapped from Speedplay pedals to Time pedals. Personally my looks are perfect. I don't need anymore float (15 degrees of float seems silly to me, someone who has never had any knee issues when using 0 degrees, 4.5 degrees, and 9 degrees of float).
the entry system might be nice, but it's pretty easy to use looks. You pedal, hit the cleat, and you're in. Lastly, my cleats are cheap and last over a season, most people i know have to replace their speedplay cleats twice a season.

John_V 

I neither own or have owned or ridden on Speedplay pedals but I know several people that have them and a lot of them curse the day they bought them. These are guys that ride daily and put lots of miles on their bikes and they not only go through several cleats a year but they have to constantly maintain the pedals so they can disengage without fighting the pedal. I guess this doesn't happen if you only ride on the weekends. While some of them are too cheap to get other pedals and shoes, some of these guys have already canned their Speedplays. I have been riding on SPD pedals for almost three years and have had zero issues or maintenance problems with them. I'm on the original pedals and have only changed my cleats twice in that time period. The way I see it, shoe retention is the goal of any clipless system. As long as the ones you have do the job, it then becomes a matter of preference, just like the bike you ride.

Kai Winters

meh...who cares...
I thought Mavic had the first retail clipless pedals...ah well guess I was wrong.

No such thing as BEST pedals...shut up and ride...

DaveWC

I've got SPD -SL and asked my LBS about the speedplays. He asked if I was having problems. I said no. Then he suggested I stick with the SPD as they get the most customer complaints / issues / returns from the speedplays.

sosojeffcc

No need to switch if it works for you.

Gatorfreak

I have SPD's on my commuter. My only issue with them is they make a creaking sound sometimes where the pedal connects to the cleat.

My road bike came with SPD-SL. I gave them a fair shot but could never get the hang of clipping in. With the SPD's, I just stomp and go. With the SPD-SL's, it was more like fumble around with my foot, think I'm clipped in, push down and have my foot go flying off the pedal because it's actually on the slippery backside.

I switched to speedplay zero's and by the end of my first ride I could just stomp and go. Definitely the best pedal system I've used. I also like that I can have a little float. Feels more natural to me let my feet go how they want to go.

robbyville

My 2004 dura ace 7800 pedals still going strong never have had a maintenance issue. I keep thinking that maybe it's time to try a different pedal and when I look around and hear of people's differing problems I think "why bother?" These systems are tried and true have plenty of adjustability and work year after year.

one day when these blow up perhaps ill try a speedplay but you sure do hear more griping about them than others.

bonnev659

it all depends on your preference and price range. at the time I got the pedels I have SPD-SL because speedplay price was a bit more then my budget at the time.

down the road i will look at the other pedals. but right now getting use to the clipless pedals is fine with me

ericcc65

I think it needs to be said that if a product were obviously superior in every way it would generally eventually become the de-facto standard. Yes, occasionally in some markets there are superior products that don't get market penetration, but speedplay is well known and established enough that if it were truly that much superior everyone would be using it. How many of you are still using floppy disks and vaccuum tubes? If Speedplays were as good as the OP suggests then nearly all cyclists would be using them. Well, if you were in AMERICA at least and had nationalistic tendencies that made you CARE about that sort of thing.

BTW, is it just me or is it odd that the OP has a profile pic of a Russian flag, is located in the Russian Federation, and is going on about how you should buy speedplays to support AMERICA?

gc3

It's just you....

ovoleg

What you gotta be kidding. They either ride 4x as much as you or they're doing it super wrong. My current cleats have 4200 OH miles and over 2 years of CA miles...and I don't grease them.

ovoleg

So in this thread we learn that people anecdotally say things like "the shop tells me they get a lot of returns" and "i have friends who ride a lot and they go through 2-3 cleats a year".

No facts were delivered on said day. Instead they continue to ride cleats designed for skiis.

Tel0004

Why are you so obsessed with speedplay? I'll be the first to admit, that I'm buying road pedals within the month, and speedplay is at the top of the list. That said, many people have different budgets, and different ideas on what they need and want.

Not everybody is racing in a crit, some people don't want to spend 100.00 on a pedal. Some people don't care if speedplay is lighter, or what the stack height is. You have made your point, people are free to choose, or disregard it, and get what works best for them. Maybe a lot of pro teams use speedplay, good for them, but I don't have the same needs as a pro team.

DaveWC

It's not anecdotal for me to say that I'm satisfied with my SPDs after 23,000 kms on this pair. And the manager at my LBS basically turned down my offer to buy new speedplays because he said that I didn't need them and wouldn't like them over what I had. I was picking up my S-Works shoes and had to get cleats for them so I was ready to consider new pedals as well. You can call that anecdotal but if these pedals were as superior as you say it would be evident to all (especially someone who sells them) and he'd take my money. But in his experience from selling & servicing these pedals he said meh, I would be better off with what I have.

So when you show your buddy this thread as clear proof that speedplays are the best I hope he reads the posts from satisfied customers of competing products that see no need to switch. All you have proven so far is that you are a speedplay fanboy who disregards all dissenting opinions. And when it comes down to product satisfaction, opinions & personal experience are all that matters. My cleats don't look like those you showed in the pictures, I have no problem with getting in & out of the pedals, or with the float, and I couldn't care less that the technology came from skiing.

cxwrench

I used to deck the old Time pedals all the time, but i've raced in Keo's, all of the newer Time pedals and SPD SL...never hit any of them and I pedal through pretty much every corner. I've ridden Speedplay X's and Zero's...they're fine but nothing spectaular. PITA to walk in and i'm not going to be bothered carrying covers all the time. The pedal/cleat combination isn't that much lighter than the others. They do need maintenance, and the cleats need regular lubrication, but it's pretty easy stuff.
As everyone else has said, there is no one best system. Just like bikes they're all good and people will use what they like. I definitely find the OP to be annoying beyond belief and a huge troll.

Carbon Unit

Speedplay pedals are easy to walk in if you put Shoe Goo on the cleats. No need for coffee covers.

ovoleg

June 2013 join date, welcome to bikeforums!

Spiduhman

Sometimes it IS worthwhile to read th' whole thread.

eja_ bottecchia

The comrade has spent a lot of time and effort to "prove" that which cannot be proven.

Pedal choice, like groupset choice, is a matter of personal preferences, riding style and pocketbook.

Oh well...

gc3

this is heresy perhaps, but....ummmm...this ain't the only bike forum

RJM

Agree with you here...every point you make.
I just don't see how a modern pedal is going to contact the ground before the shoe does. It just doesn't seem like an issue if you remember how to ride a bike properly and don't pedal into crazy tight turns.

cxwrench

Thanks gc3 This is definitely not my first rodeo.