dehoff

Why? What makes them worth it?

You might be able to rebuild them, but at a fairly significant cost.

The threat of a potential lawsuit from their legal goon squad if I ever try to resell the pedals has put them on my list of component manufacturer's that I will never use or recommend to anyone.

achoo

A simple "apples to apples comparison" would not have included a snide comment like this:

And even though I pointed out that it's really easy to reach Ribble's $56 threshold to get their significantly cheaper prices, you persist with this irrelevancy:

If you "don't care where Shimano makes pedals", why do you care where someone else buys them from? If it's so important to "spend your money at home", how can you not care where the pedals are made? After all, it "seems pretty stupid to [you]".

Huh?!?!

And for some reason I wasn't under the impression that credit card fraud was limited to PBK and Ribble.

So, the price difference IS bigger than $1.50, and your arguments for buying from a US supplier regardless of price are nonsensical.

thcri

What is your reasoning for this? I looked at some Speedplay Zero's just today. I just bought Shimano PD-5700's and am not sure I like them.

epcolt

I picked up a set of Crank Bros at Performance on sale for $20 not long ago.

sstorkel

I try to buy the best product possible for my needs. If there are two equally good products, I'll buy the one made in the USA. If the best product is made in a foreign country, I'll try to buy it from an American vendor so that at least some of the money stays in this country. Pretty simple, huh?

BTW, if you can show me an American-made recessed-cleat clipless pedal that works as well as the Shimano M520 and costs less than 3X as much, I'd be happy to give them a try!

You're right! The difference is bigger!!! Ribble wants $30.18 for the pedals and $8.07 for shipping, for a total of $38.25. Amazon, it turns out, will sell you the same product for $33.00 with free shipping, so you're actually spending $5.25 more at Ribble! Even if I grant you the $24.15 discount price at Ribble, their $8.07 minimum shipping cost makes the total price $32.22...

Sadly, I don't think you've managed to refute any of the disadvantages associated with buying overseas: increased ship times, difficulty of returning merchandise, difficulty of obtaining support from the merchant, possibility of being hit with customs charges, numerous problems with credit card fraud attributed to U.K. vendors (ProBikeKit, Ribble, Wiggle, Total Cycling, et. al.) at various times over the last 1-2 years, etc.

sstorkel

The big advantage of Speedplay, in my mind, is the two-sided entry. With Look-style pedals (including the Shimano SPD-SL designs), you often need to rotate the pedal into the proper position before you can clip-in. Speedplay bills their system as "step and go". My friends with Speedplays seem to clip-in quite easily, though the pedals aren't completely foolproof.

Speedplays also offer quite a bit of float compared to Shimano road pedals, though this comes at the cost of having to rotate your heel more before they release. The Zeros are especially nice because they have adjustable float and, IIRC, release angle. There's also no spring tension constantly trying to recenter the pedal. Dunno if the PD-5700s have that but some of the older Look pedals did and it could get to be annoying.

B.Alive

They are easy to get into, easy to get out, they have a large platform which reduces hot-spot potential (comes from the cleat,not the actual pedal,) double side clip in ability, the zero's have adjustable float (my light actions do not,) the float makes life easier on the knees (for me,) greater cornering clearances (not that it matters for my style of riding, but it's one of the pluses,) and are available in road and off road options (Frogs for off road.)

Those are my reasons. Your preference may differ, but I just wanted to give the OP another option to think about!

thcri

This is where I am having some troubles with my PD-5700's and R540's. My left foot I have no trouble at all, my right foot I have a lot of trouble rotating my foot to get out. I also have trouble with my right foot heel hitting my chainstay if I get lazy and don't watch it.

I started with the clipless pedals late in the year last year on my MTB and I did have some troubles with my knees and even notice it some on my new road bike on the trainer. The bike shop I stopped at today told me if I buy the Speed Play Zero Stainless?? from them they would set them up with my on my bike for free. Just bring my bike and shoes and they would put me on a trainer and make the necessary adjustments.

B.Alive

The float is very nice. I haven't tried other pedals, so my opinion may be a bit biased.

There's not a lot of "effort" into getting a release with Speedplay. You rotate your foot out (a fair amount of distance, but nothing I've ever thought painful) and POP! I've never had a problem unclipping; I have unclipped the opposite foot of the direction I leaned resulting in a fall, but that was user error.

sstorkel

So? While ride, I always unclip my left foot. My right foot clips in and home and usually doesn't unclip until I return. As a result, I'm much better at clipping and unclipping with my left foot. This has only been a problem for me on a few super-narrow single-track trails where obstacles prevented me from being able to put my foot down.

There are a couple of things you can do to make unclipping easier:

1) With SPD pedals, which I use on both road and mountain bikes, you can adjust the release tension of the right pedal or consider using the SH-56 multi-release cleat on your right shoe

2) You can rotate the cleat on the bottom of your shoe, so that you have to twist your heel a bit less before the pedal starts to release

With SPD pedals, you can also rotate your heel inward to get the pedal to release. For me, inward rotation is quite a bit easier than outward rotation, especially for my right foot. Be Careful! If you rotate your foot inward at the wrong point during the pedal stroke, you'll send your heel into the spokes of the rear wheel with potentially disastrous results! I tend to release at the top of the pedal stroke, and I point my toe down as I'm doing it to make contact with the rear wheel less likely.

That said, the Zeros are a nice pedal system. A bit difficult to walk it, it seems, but they have a lot of nice features. Not sure what you gain by buying the Stainless over the Chrome-Moly. Neither pedal has a weight limit, so I think the $50 more expensive Stainless pedal buys you a 10g lighter pedal and some different color choices...

thcri

I have them set up to release at the easiest point. There is just something about my right foot and twisting out. I did try setting them up to twist in and that is much easier for the right side. But as you said it is dangerous.

I could try the SH-56 clips and see if that helps at all. I notice they are only two bolt and my shoes are three. They are kind of spendy though just to try.

I would be happy with the Chrome Malloy pedals. The LBS I was at did not have the Chrome Malloy in stock and was taking $25.00 of of the Stainless Steel. He can order the Chrome Malloy for me if I wish. I am to bring my bike and shoes up and he will set them up for with my bike on a trainer.

sstorkel

My bad: the SH-56 cleats only work with 2-bolt SPD mountain bike pedals. You've got SPD-SL road pedals, so the SH-56 won't work with your current pedals.

dehoff

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but why is so much float an advantage?

I don't have any knee issues, but it seems that a properly adjusted cleat (fore/aft and yaw) allows the knee to track properly and that excessive float would only introduce knee instability, possible additional lateral forces on the knee, and create create greater lateral stress on the knee every time you unclip. Is there some reason for the need to adjust the angle of your foot while in the saddle? Every time I hear about someone needing lots of float I get this mental picture that they walk like they're doing the hokie-pokie. Speedplay float lovers- help me understand.

B.Alive

There's no stress on the knee when you unclip. Doesn't take a lot of force.

As far as the adjustment of the cleat vs the free float of the Speedplay, I can only give you my opinion and what I like about them. I have a partially torn ACL and MCL in my left knee. Keeping the same track through a pedal stroke causes pain; thus, having the ability for my foot to move slightly is a major advantage to my comfort.

I also pronate slightly when I walk (roll my foot inward.) This isn't a major problem, but my knees actually rotate inward (slightly) on every pedal stroke. Again, the Speedplay float helps prevent discomfort.

These are my reasons. I don't hokie-pokie when I walk or run. But my legs do move naturally.

dehoff

Thanks for the great explanation. I'm far from a kinesiologist, and I didn't have any Speedplay dealers anywhere close to me when I was pedal shopping,(well, I think there finally is one in town, but I don't like dealing with that shop because they're also the regional mega-outdoors sporting goods mart) so they're a bit of a strange animal to me.

B.Alive

I may have bit into the "pitch" a little from my LBS :-) But I do have to say I'd buy them again in a heartbeat. In fact, I'm looking at getting a mountain bike and will probably put the frogs on it.

bautieri

The cost of rebuilding them is still less than a new set, though I will agree that the rebuild kit is a bit more expensive than I would care for (Frogs)

I'm curious about the threat of a lawsuit for reselling your used pedals. I would have told them to go pound sand, they can't keep you from selling your personal property.