Originally Posted by
msl109
Hi folks - question regarding Speedplay light actions and disengagement. Bought a pair a few years back but never got around to setting them up till now. And as I'm looking over the installation instructions I see Speedplay makes it clear the pedals are NOT designed to disengage in the event of a fall. I'm not a pro, don't race and don't need to be locked in super tightly. Having had my ankles saved once by a pair of traditional Looks, this disclaimer about disengagement furrows my brow - one of the main reasons I like clipless is the idea of automatic disengagement in such instances. Thoughts on the issue? Is the warning just there for legal reasons? Would they disengage in a fall as easily as Looks or is the ankle breaking risk higher? If the answer is that they truly do not disengage, then I'll be looking for recommendations for lightweight Looks, I think ... Any comments are very much appreciated!
This sounds like lawyer-speak to me - so saying that they're "NOT designed to disengage in a crash" basically says that "whatever happens happens, but it's not something we did". There's no way of predicting how the pedal will behave in a crash, because crashes are chaotic and unpredictable, so they're washing their hands of any consequence, which is perfectly understandable. If, in the other hand, they had said that the pedals were "designed NOT to disengage in a crash" - same words, different order and different meaning - then if they
do disengage in a crash and an injury results, they're open to liability.
Pretty much any pedal system (except maybe toestraps) will disengage in a crash, but there's no way to
guarantee that they will or won't, given the unpredictability of crashes, so manufacturers steer clear of making definitive statements one way or another.