martslc

I’m sure this has been brought up but would someone be willing to give me an answer to the following. I’m looking at getting speeplay’s and it’s between the following 3. Zero’s, Light Action’s and X-Series.

Here’s the explanation of the differences between the 3.

(-Zeros have adjustable float within a 15 degree range)

(-Light action have a non-adjustable, non-centering 15 degrees of float)

(-X series has Non-centering free float)

Questions:
Does the “cannot be adjusted" refer to the clip in and out force.
Does the "non-centering 15 degrees of float" mean they do swivel 15 degrees but there’s no adjustment to the 15 degree?

Thanks a bunch!,
Marty

Wingsprint

Yes and Yes.

martslc

Great thanks!

So does "Light Action" mean they are the easiest to clip into??

sam_cyclist

Speedplay not only claims their light action to be the easiest to clip in and out of within the speedplay brand, but that it's the easiest to clip in and out of among all clipless brands.

I don't know if that's the case, as I haven't tried them. I have tried looks and speedplay frogs, and both of those are very easy to clip in/out of, if you want further options.

HOWSER

They are very easy to clip into, but also come out easier too. I have pulled out twice with the light action while climbing both time and nearly took a dive. It was at that point I went to the Zero's. Just a heads up.

roadwarrior

Which is important information.

The opposite end are the Zeros. They are really tight. They loosen up after a while, but I've had customers come back with them (because the recreational rider could not get clipped in, for example) and exchanged them for Light Action.

Outside of what's been said, the biggest difference between Speedplay and the others is that their cleat is the "active" part of the pedal (the cleat grabs the pedal if that makes sense) and the rest the pedal grabs the cleat. If you have adjustability, you do it in the cleat in Spedplay, the rest (Look and Shimano, for example) you adjust in the pedal.

Having ridden them in a test, Speedplay works the absolute best if it is on a shoe designed for that cleat. The downside is that the shoes that are designed that way tend to be the more expensive ones.

merlinextraligh

Zeros are your best bet. The X series at this point is a legacy system for people like me who don't want to change pedals on a bunch of bikes.

The cleats on the Zeros are better, and the ability to adjust the float solves the objection of some that there's too much float

kc0bbq

You can't adjust the amount of float but you can adjust the release point on the Light Actions. If you use a heel out release and move the release point in you can artificially limit the float. Kind of.

link0

I really like my light actions. I have a couple pairs of them. They function flawlessly if the cleats are kept clean.

I <3 Robots

You can't adjust anything on the Light Action cleat. The Zero has two grub screws on the cleat to let you adjust float. There is no tension adjustment of any kind on SP pedals.

The Light Action cleats will work with Zero pedals and vice versa. I've got the Zero and my GF has the Light Action. If you look at the cleats. They are the same with the exception of the grub screws on the Zero cleat.

I recently picked up a pair of the new Ultra Light Action for her new shoes. SP now has a rubber cover that fits over the metal base of the cleat. So you don't need to get the Keep on Cover to protect the cleat.

When my Zeros were brand new, they were extremely hard to clip into. It took a couple hundred miles to break them in. Initially it pretty much took all my weight to get my foot into the pedal. After the break in of the cleat and pedal...they would clip in fairly easy. Even after getting new cleats...with the pedal broken in...it was not nearly as difficult as when they were new.

Found a couple images online to show the differences.

A. Zero
B. X
C. Light Action

https://university.tri-sports.com/201...ipless-pedals/

halfspeed

No. While the engagement/disengagement force is not adjustable, what they mean in that context is that you cannot adjust the amount of float. It's 15 degrees always. Zeros, on the other hand, have an adjustable amount of float.

No. While it's true there's no adjustment to the 15 degrees of float on light actions, in this context "non-centering" means that the pedal floats "freely" and has no tension to return you to a neutral center. All Speedplay pedals are non-centering.

To be clear, no Speedplays have an adjustment for engagement/disengagement tension. They do wear in, somewhat, but the Light Action are for easy engagement, Zeros are for stiffer engagement and X is for dinosaurs.

TrojanHorse

I have 3 pairs of light action and one pair of X pedals. I have to say the simplicity of the X system is pretty excellent. I have never had problems with those (stopped using them 2 or 3 years ago) and never had problems with the cleat getting gummed up either.

The LA cleats are pretty easy to clip in and out of BUT... if you do not have speedplay compatible shoes, you have to get the shims right under the cleat to provide a perfectly flat "bed" for the cleat. If it's not flat, your clipping experience will be poor.

The little adjuster "switch" on the LA cleats seems pretty worthless to me. I can put it where I want and it won't stay there, so I just ignore it.

I <3 Robots

You don't necessarily need a SP compatible shoe. If the cleat does not mount flush to the three hole adapter, you can always "plane" the black adapter on a piece of sandpaper. I've done this and it works quite well. I have a pair of Specialized Pro shoes. The SP cleats mount just fine.

Marcus_Ti

Also..if you shop for speedplay 4-bolt shoes only...your options are...well...not a whole lot if any.

I love my X-5s. Great for my knees.

martslc

Thanks guys! Wish me luck. I've got them on and adjusted ready to ride and it's a 30 mile loops were doing tomorrow so wish me luck. I got the Zero's and I've got to say they are much, much stiffer then my Shimano SPD-SI's. It will be challenging navigating the traffic light tomorrow and there's a few, like 40 or so. I should be better by the time I get home. LOL

- Marty

Dunbar

The trick to clipping out is push down at the same time that you're your twisting your ankle.

sam_cyclist

I couldn't even clip into the pedals at all when I first started. I clipped in and out repeatedly to loosen them up. Clipping in and out is still pretty stiff, but no longer near impossible.

Speedplay recommends some dry lube on the inside of the cleat so that can help also.

But repeated clip ins and outs, both sides, both pedals, is really the best way to loosen them up. ZS

Zero's are by far the stiffest cleats to clip in and out of by far of all the systems I've tried. Ironically, frogs are just about the easiest to clip in and out of.

I think looks are easier and more intuitive to clip in and out of, but the free float, light weight, double sided design are strong selling points: and the fact that not every other rider lends a coolness factor as well.

It's really not clear to me why speedplay designed the pedals to be so stiff in engagement/disengagement, but I suppose they had their reasons.

Speedplays are far from perfect, and slightly quirky, but I feel good supporting an american company and I do think it's cool to be riding a system that not every one else uses (shimano, spd, look).

I would have no problem trying look in the future: they have free float and very easy engagement/disengagement at a low price.

But speedplay's abundant free float differentiates them from the competition.

Campag4life

Best to apply dry lube to the pedal..rotate on edge and apply to each side and let lube drip drain over the body and let dry.

Coolness factor is a joke. How cool are pedals? Reason for Speedplay success is because they are so good period. Their strengths are greater than their weaknesses.

They aren't quirky in function...just more fiddly to set up however...where many go wrong that struggle with engagement effort..if the mounting surface isn't planar. The more planar the four corners of the cleat, the less sensitive to small screw torque. Non planar cleat corners and big sensitivity to even modest screw torque inhibiting click in.

As to not being clear when Speedplay designed the pedals to be so stiff in engagement is...because of the interference of the cleat retainer...the higher the cleat retainer spring rate and tongue/groove overlap, the higher the pull out force that better riders will prefer. These metrics are proportional and why Zeros are better than other versions for the better rider who has higher pedal forces including upstroke when climbing.

Not mentioned here is one of the principle reasons why I ride Zeros. Speedplay offers an extension mounting bracket whereby you can move the cleat rearward by more than 1/2 inch. This is a big factor for greater fore/aft adjustability of the cleat on the shoe as I prefer to ride with the cleat center behind my first metatarsal. I pretty much run my Speedplays wide open on float...a lot of float a major benefit of Speedplays.

Sy Reene

So, what's wrong with the X's anyway? I have a 10yr set on my bike, and they work fine. From the specs they are evidently lighter than the Light Action, and presumably offer even more float. I guess my question is why would one consider the Light actions over X's ?

sam_cyclist

Dude, chill. You come across as pompous and anal. I doubt this is the first time you've heard this. Just enjoy your bike.

10K posts, dam!

But yeah, I know this will just encourage you to post even more pompous, anal and defensive posts. :-)

Oh, btw...campagnolo sucks! Shimano all the way!!

sam_cyclist

Nothing. Bikeforums posters splitting hairs again.

Garfield Cat

The dry lube I use for my Zero's is from Home Depot. Try their Garage Door lube section.

Nachoman

I'm sure you know that your post does not come across defensive at all.

Campag4life

No issue with your opinion of Speedplays relative to Look. I have ridden both pedal types for years.
But what is unacceptable is the tone of your post including your persistent name calling.
So to let you know, whenever I see you call me names or anybody else, I will report you which I have in this case. We will see if the moderators agree. Unbelievable what you have extrapolated from my posts and your insistent name calling.
And to further let you know, I almost never report anybody because I believe in letting people play and have some latitude as opinions can get passionate at times. But in your case, your comments are so over the top and disrespectful, I have no choice.

largefarva

This thread has actually been pretty helpful for me. I've been considering getting some clipless pedals as of late and have had the hardest time trying to figure out what I want to go with. I was thinking about those Click'R pedals and shoes from Shimano but after reading about limited float and problems with knees and SPD cleats I started looking into Speedplays due to things mentioned in this and other threads recently.

Right now I'm thinking I want to go with Frogs because I like the idea of the recessed cleat for walkability and whatnot. My LBS sells Giro shoes and recommended the Privateer HV for me but warned me that Speedplay pedals might not be compatible. So I checked out the compatibility chart for the Frogs and under the MTB shoe list it has the Giro brand listed and no mention of any Giro shoes under their excepted/incompatible list....so would it be safe to assume that the Privateer HV would be good to go with the Frogs?