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Which speedplays? Too many choices...

Jun 18, 2009
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Currently riding Time RXS and am looking to change to speedplays. But there are so many choices.

I don't race anymore so nothing more than fitness riding. Which models do you recommend?
 
May 15, 2010
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Dumb story.... But it goes to show how one incident can affect the way you view something

I was in one of those charity rides riding with a co-worker and a female riding friend and her female friend.

As we were all leaving the start, her friend couldn't clip into her speedplays, she tried a few times and we stopped and the hundreds of other people including my very fit male co-worker who was supposed to do all the pulling rode away and we were shortly alone at the start.

The girl quickly went mental. (Some people just look like a bomb waiting to go off, she had that look.) She starts slamming her foot into the pedal, organizers came over to help and she is in a complete grand mal meltdown. Finally my female friend and I just decided to ride off and like an idiot, I pushed way too hard trying to catch the tail of the hordes who were a mile or two ahead of us by now.

Moral of the story is that a grain of sand or gravel from the parking lot got stuck in the cleat or the pedal preventing clipping in. Either that or the woman was a complete 'tard as I have already implied. But whenever someone mentions speedplay, I worry if I might suffer the same inability to clip in from a grain of sand.

I have hated her ever since that day.
 
bobs *** said:
Dumb story.... But it goes to show how one incident can affect the way you view something

I was in one of those charity rides riding with a co-worker and a female riding friend and her female friend.

As we were all leaving the start, her friend couldn't clip into her speedplays, she tried a few times and we stopped and the hundreds of other people including my very fit male co-worker who was supposed to do all the pulling rode away and we were shortly alone at the start.

The girl quickly went mental. (Some people just look like a bomb waiting to go off, she had that look.) She starts slamming her foot into the pedal, organizers came over to help and she is in a complete grand mal meltdown. Finally my female friend and I just decided to ride off and like an idiot, I pushed way too hard trying to catch the tail of the hordes who were a mile or two ahead of us by now.

Moral of the story is that a grain of sand or gravel from the parking lot got stuck in the cleat or the pedal preventing clipping in. Either that or the woman was a complete 'tard as I have already implied. But whenever someone mentions speedplay, I worry if I might suffer the same inability to clip in from a grain of sand.

I have hated her ever since that day.

Yep SP cleats gotta be clean and lubed and on smaller shoes(and larger also), it is very important to install the cleats so they are flat, FLAT. That's why they come with a wad of shims.
 
bobs *** said:
Dumb story.... But it goes to show how one incident can affect the way you view something

I was in one of those charity rides riding with a co-worker and a female riding friend and her female friend.

As we were all leaving the start, her friend couldn't clip into her speedplays, she tried a few times and we stopped and the hundreds of other people including my very fit male co-worker who was supposed to do all the pulling rode away and we were shortly alone at the start.

The girl quickly went mental. (Some people just look like a bomb waiting to go off, she had that look.) She starts slamming her foot into the pedal, organizers came over to help and she is in a complete grand mal meltdown. Finally my female friend and I just decided to ride off and like an idiot, I pushed way too hard trying to catch the tail of the hordes who were a mile or two ahead of us by now.

Moral of the story is that a grain of sand or gravel from the parking lot got stuck in the cleat or the pedal preventing clipping in. Either that or the woman was a complete 'tard as I have already implied. But whenever someone mentions speedplay, I worry if I might suffer the same inability to clip in from a grain of sand.

I have hated her ever since that day.

Funny thing. I rode a century once with a woman who could not clip into one of her Speedplay Zeros during. She did not go Postal about it, though.

My brief affair with Speedplays ended when I got tired of being afraid to put my foot down in gravel or dirt during the early season. I decided that any design that was so finicky that it required cleat covers was fundamentally flawed. With a wallet, cell phone, and keys I have enough crap in my jersey pockets without cleat covers. I am seriously considering giving into the dark side and going all tri geek by getting a bento box for carrying that stuff.
 
Apr 5, 2010
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BroDeal said:
. I am seriously considering giving into the dark side and going all tri geek by getting a bento box for carrying that stuff.

LOL, with your bento box comes an obsession with heart rate! Don't give in, fill your jersey pockets until they to tip you over!:)

Funny, I've never had a problem with my speedplays being finicky, and I abuse them with reckless abandon. I pay no regard to dirt, grit, glass, dog **** or whatever. I just clip and go, never a problem in three years. Guess I'm lucky!
 
May 1, 2010
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speedplay are a pain in the *** i had a set and quickly got rid of them as i was always pulling my foot and as were the other riders in my team who rode them for a month or so
 
Mar 10, 2009
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locker said:
speedplay are a pain in the *** i had a set and quickly got rid of them as i was always pulling my foot and as were the other riders in my team who rode them for a month or so

I hate to say it but Thor and Heinrich don't appear to have this issue. Sounds to me likely set up issues rather than inherent design flaw.
 
I use X-Series and have never had an issue. And I am not too gentle with them, I walk on whatever surface is on the side of the road. If it were gravel and I could not clip in, then I would simply check for something wedged in there, like a pebble. A speck of sand will not be an issue, so it's really just common sense. I find them to be really easy on my knee and having ridden on 4 different pedals, like them by far the best.

I only use something like cleat covers if I am doing a fair bit of walking with them, like when I commute and I have to walk a fair way on linoleum floors. However, that has more to do with not wiping out than cleat care! (carbon soled shoes :eek:)
 

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