is there any significant difference between using speedplay pedals over your traditional pedal or vice versa? or is it just a personal preference?

Speedplay advantages: Lower combined weight, better cornering clearance, easy clip-in, clip-out, lower stack height (height of pedal plus cleat), free (or adjustable) float.

I bought carbon bottle cages and felt like an idiot...i got Michelin krylion carbons and didn't notice much difference, i changed brake pads and really didn't notice, i switched from mtb shoes to road bike shoes and didn't do much for me.....i bought speedplays and my ****in head imploded and i had sixteen orgasms in a row.

haha, nice one photonick

...you think im joking thats the funny thing.

On the real though I'd say they were the most satisfying upgrade I've made to my bike. I love the fact that they dont auto align my feet on the pedal, I have the freedom to put my feet in whatever position is comfortable. On a really long ride sometimes i just want to push my heels out and stretch my calves for awhile, with spd's or other pedals i couldn't do that. I also really like how easy it is to get in and out of the pedals, my only recommendation would be to get those $10.00 coffee shop caps, i bought a pair and my shoes have way more traction, the cleats don't get messed up and i'm not damaging my local coffee shop's or my wood flooring.

+1, two-sided so much easier to clip in without looking.

I will give you the other side now. I bought some X5's last season, and started to get some minor knee pain after about 700 miles on them. I did not even consider that this may have been caused by the pedals at that time. Long story short, after about 2000 miles on them, the knee had gotten worse to the point that I needed to stop riding for the winter and after an MRI and a visit to the sports medicine doc, I was diagnosed with a biceps femoris tendonitis and some minor knee problems from compensating for this. The reason, it turns out, was the unlimited float of the pedals putting weird stress on my knee from intoeing when I would get fatigued and start to lose pedaling form. I had to switch back to fixed pedals, and after physical therapy, 4 months off the bike, and a lot of NSAIDs, I am riding again and seem to be pain free.

Now this will, of course, not happen to everyone, in fact, the unlimited float may be easier on some peoples knees, but it really depends on your physiology and pedal stroke. Just realize that they are not for everyone.

But I agree, they are easy to clip into, light, have good clearance and low stack height so outside of ruining this racing season for me, I liked them a lot, and I wish they worked for me (I guess I could have gotten their pedals that have limited float if I wanted, now that I think about it...)

looks like speedplays are definitely something to consider for my next pedals and clips. do they stay clipped in just as good as other pedals when in a sprint? i assume yes, but it doesn't hurt to ask

If you set them up right and the cleat cleat isn't binding yes.

the new light action pedal/cleat system is supposed to provide a longer life without wearing of the springs like the traditional X series .

Pedals are really user specific and there is a big difference even within Speedplay models. My feet are not symmetric in the way that they rest on the pedal. I need the right to allow a lot more heel-in/toe-out than the left. I use frogs on my commuter and offroad bikes. The large amount of float works well and I like the low stack height and two sidedness for instant clip in at stoplights. I use zeros on a purpose built road bike and love being able to set in and out float differently for each pedal...gives me really good control on rough roads or frantic twisties. If my legs and feet were more symmetric, this would not be so important to me. Lots of good pedals out there...I can't say Speedplay is better or worse for you but they sure are for me.

If this is a worry for the OP then just get some speedplay zeros, all the pros of the x-series and you can change the amount of float

I just destroyed one of my toe clips on my bike today. the first set of pedals i bought were a set of old school track pedals. They work fine and are cheap. I've ridden enough now that i'm considering some clipless pedals. So far, speedplay seems like the best option for me. but pedals and shoes are expensive. ugh.

buy shoes locally, get pedals off of online stores or ebay.

One thing that I like about speedplay frogs is that the cleats are not sided...when on tour, I carry one spare cleat and screws...weighs nothing but beats peddling 100mi with one leg.

OP - One drawback to Speedplay - the cleats tend to get gummed up with road grit, sand, etc. when you're walking around in mud or gravel. There are covers for the cleats that will help you avoid this. Also - I have found that Speedplay prices are relatively uniform regardless of where you buy them, so you might check the price at your LBS before you order them off the net.

Do people not realize that there is more than one model of speedplay pedal, and that they have varying degress of float? The zero pedal is adjustable and can be locked down to... wait for it... zero float. I run mine with nearly zero float, I think that many people don't realize that is one of the features of the pedal, and the reason for its name...

yea, i've been reading a lil bit about the speedplay zero. if it's good enough for team CSC they're probably good enough for me, lol.

Price for SS zeros MSRP: $185
price at LBS: $220 (no, not even the CSC or track version, just regular SS)
But I live in Canada, so it depends on where you get them.

my lbs isn't a dealer, but i'm sure he can find me a pretty good deal on some speedplays if i asked him to

I've been riding them since '98 and love them. Not exclusively, as my commuter has SPD cleats so's I can use mtn shoes, but my 2 nicest bikes have speedplays. I went to them because of knee pain and they fixed it right off. I like them so much I'm running them on my Vanilla bike.

Completely correct. Zeros are great, but you've got to be careful about waling on the cleats unprotected. Only a few grains of sand can clog them.

Speedplays are great if you suffer from knee pain and they help with relief. If you are a racer, sprint hard, or like fast but difficult climbing, they aren't as good of choice as other makes

hmm, everything that i like (minus climbs, haha). do you have some other options that fit my style?

how do you figure this?