Nachoman

After my morning ride, as I'm rolling into the driveway at a very slow rate of speed, I attempt to unclip and I can't! I almost fell over! Luckily I'm able to unclip the other shoe, and look what I find is going on with my Speedplays.

I'm missing three out of the four screws! I guess I'm lucky I didn't lose the last screw during a sprint or I might have broken my neck.
This must be pretty rare.

Dick Rhee

I've lost a few screws from my Zero cleats before, but never lost more than one screw on a ride. Try either putting on a liberal amount of Loctite Blue or switching to Keos (which is what I ended up doing).

AEO

yeah, you have to tighten them every few rides.

Vinci

Those 4 bolts come with blue thread locker on them out of the box. Unfortunately, it mostly flakes off when you screw them in for the first time. You'd probably be better off putting your own on there in liquid form.

enjoi07

my man. ive lost those thangs even with TONS of thread lock on em...you gotta really tighten them down...and check after every ride.my shop has given me a few extras.

Machka 

It's happened a couple times ... very difficult to unclip.

Randochap

I use Speedplay X. Never lost a screw (touch wood) over 4 seasons ... and I don't use Locktite. You people have wimpy wrists, or what? :-)

P.S. Those cleats are obviously pretty new, so you didn't tighten them down well.

DirtPedalerB

lost one on my mountain bike ... another rider is coming so I pull off to unclip and let him by and fall over. I get back up, get back on and try to check the clips by uncliping again and fall again.. haha

**brian**

Same thing happened to a guy I was riding with this past weekend: he lost 3 screws from one cleat... and 2 screws from the other. If he lost one more screw he would either have his foot go flying, or not be able to unclip either side when he stopped!

I gave him a screw from one of my cleats, so he was able to make it to the end of the ride. I picked up a bunch of extra screws (gratis!) at LBS this week.

I try to make sure I clean/lube my cleats every ride or two, and check out the screws when I'm doing that. I love my Speedplays... but it is important to pay a little bit of attention to the cleats.

huytheskigod

I've lost a heel pad.

ElJamoquio

Guess what: the OP's pedals aren't clip pedals, either.

ElJamoquio

Are you joking? I've never had this happen to my Speedplay's, but it's pretty common. I love speedplay stuff, but their fastener-joint design is pretty shoddy.

gr@sshopper

It seems like lots of bike fastener hardware isn't the greatest.

merlinextraligh

The problem is that if you really crank down the screws then the cleats don't work well. That's why Speedplay started shipping them with Loctite. The Speedplay directions specifically tell you not to overtighten the screws.


It's a balance between loose enough for the cleat to engage freely, and tight enough to stay put.

I tighten mine snug, but not cranked down, and rarely loose a screw.

I'm also not using the 3 bolt adapter, which can cause a problem. OP, If you have recurrent problems with loosing screws you should change out the adapter, which can have crappy threads in it.

Phantoj

I have some of those Sidi mountain shoes with the replaceable lugs. They shedded screws like crazy until I wised up and loctited 'em all.

Carbon Unit

I haven't had a problem with my Speedplay cleat screws since I started putting extra blue Locktite on the screws. The Locktite that comes on the screws from the factory isn't enough.

Carbon Unit

What are you using in place of the 3 bolt adapter? Do you have a shoe with a 4 bolt pattern? I would love to see more shoe manufacturers sell a shoe with a 4 bolt holes for Speedplays.

coasting 

i heard a clink as i was going 27mph downhill. i stopped and found a screw had fallen off the right cleat and my foot couldn't stop moving around. it sure was fun looking for that screw wallking up the hill. i was 40 miles away from home

Randochap

I agree. And, as above, I've never lost a screw. Good idea to check once in a while, like all other bike fasteners.

merlinextraligh

Rocket7's. I believe Lake also makes a 4 bolt shoe.

timster

I had it happen a few times with my old SPDs (I was able to catch it when the screws loosened, but they didn't come out completely), but I've never had it happen with my Keos

bdcheung

yogi13

I've lost screws off my keos.

Carbon Unit

I would love to have a set of Rocket 7s but they are more than I am accustomed to paying for shoes.

However, the Lake shoes may be an option. I would like to find a pair that I could try on to see if they fit. The shoes I am using now are still working for me so it might be another year before it is time to replace them. I really like Speedplay and have no intention of using another pedals. Having shoes with a four bolt pattern would make walking and probably riding much more enjoyable.

bikeman68

Nacho
as meticulous and high maintenance as rd bikes are, how much time do you think it takes to regularly love your road shoes? Just keep regular checking of the cleat screws (and I know your speedplay cleat system has alot) The first month of the break in of the new speedplay cleat is the most critical.you want to use the heavyier, industrial grade drivers too, like a Matco large gauge phillips, the one that fits just right.
Some shoes have an imperfect mesh with the speedplay cleat system, which adds to the screw loosening, but thats only if the radius of the sole causes air gaps at the front and back edge of the speedplay plates.
The CSC team has been using custom adapters on their Sidi shoes/speedplay Zero setups.Speedplay should make this available to consumers, maybe you speedplay users should contact them? www.speedplay.com