Time to ditch Speedplays

[Jack Watts]

Before Speedplay introduced their walkable cleats, there is some called Keep-on-Kovers. It's in expensive and go over the cleat, so you can walk on them without worrying about grinding down the screw heads.

I never accidentally unclipped during a sprint with them, Look Keo's (classic), yes.

Float isn't a substitute for poor fit. People like to think zero float gives you more power to the crank, but a small percentage of people's biomechanics can take advantage of zero float, otherwise you risk injury and produce less power fighting against your joints

the problems I (and many others) have had is not the bolts holding the cleat to the shoe, but the actual cleat itself getting worn and releasing.

I hate to go down the road of "what pros do", but guys who ride their bikes for a living rarely use pedals the offer much float.They aren't anatomically different than recreational riders, and they're seeing a lot more mileage. I personally have seen more injuries caused by excessive float than I have too little float. I still view it as a band aide. My $.02.

 

[whosmatt]

it's mountain bike pedals on my road bike (the horror)...

Same here. SPD everywhere. I'm not proud; they work great for me.

 

[Surestick]

I hate to go down the road of "what pros do", but guys who ride their bikes for a living rarely use pedals the offer much float.They aren't anatomically different than recreational riders, and they're seeing a lot more mileage. I personally have seen more injuries caused by excessive float than I have too little float. I still view it as a band aide. My $.02.

Pros have the benefit of the best of the best of professional bike fits.
Injuries from float?? If that were the case why aren't flat pedals causing injuries?

 

[Jack Watts]

Pros have the benefit of the best of the best of professional bike fits.
Injuries from float?? If that were the case why aren't flat pedals causing injuries?

because flat pedals aren't nearly as restrictive as a pedal that articulates from a single point (excluding Time pedals, which articulate on a 2 dimensional plane). I've been fitting people on bikes, professionally, for over 20 years, and this is what I've observed: excessive movement of the knee is way more likely to cause medial and lateral knee pain and IT band issues--which are the most common over-use injury. Float really doesn't help here vs. a correctly set-up cleat. If it works for a specific person, then great. Not everyone is the same. On the whole though, as I said, I've seen it cause more problems than it solves.

 

[Surestick]

because flat pedals aren't nearly as restrictive as a pedal that articulates from a single point (excluding Time pedals, which articulate on a 2 dimensional plane). I've been fitting people on bikes, professionally, for over 20 years, and this is what I've observed: excessive movement of the knee is way more likely to cause medial and lateral knee pain and IT band issues--which are the most common over-use injury. Float really doesn't help here vs. a correctly set-up cleat. If it works for a specific person, then great. Not everyone is the same. On the whole though, as I said, I've seen it cause more problems than it solves.

So very restrictive pedals (clipless with no float) don't cause injury, if set up properly.
Clipless with float is more likely to cause injury.
Flat pedals with even more float are less likely to cause injury.

Clipless with float must be in some magical sweet spot of ability to cause injury.

I'd argue clipless with a bad bike set-up (saddle height wrong, likely too high) or poorly aligned cleats (given most designs have a certain amount of spring tension off-center) are the big culprits for leg issues and they're just more likely to occur for less experienced cyclists who are also less likely to use pedals without float.

 

[Jack Watts]

So very restrictive pedals (clipless with no float) don't cause injury, if set up properly.
Clipless with float is more likely to cause injury.
Flat pedals with even more float are less likely to cause injury.

Clipless with float must be in some magical sweet spot of ability to cause injury.

I'd argue clipless with a bad bike set-up (saddle height wrong, likely too high) or poorly aligned cleats (given most designs have a certain amount of spring tension off-center) are the big culprits for leg issues and they're just more likely to occur for less experienced cyclists who are also less likely to use pedals without float.

flat pedals do not have float. If your foot is articulating on a flat pedal, it's sliding off... Ultimately a flat pedal has 0 degrees of float when you come right down to it.

 

[Surestick]

flat pedals do not have float. If your foot is articulating on a flat pedal, it's sliding off... Ultimately a flat pedal has 0 degrees of float when you come right down to it.

Shoes for flat pedals and the rubber in the sole provide some float for the foot itself, they aren't build as stiff as regular cycling shoes.
Additionally, the rider's feet aren't forced to take the exact same orientation every time foot meets pedal which will go a long way towards reducing repetitive strain injury.

 

[UG_Passat]

Update... LBS is taking forever on the PD530

Also ordered it's replacement, PD-ME700 and it's delayed until October from an online shop. It's a race of which one gets to me first

Found my spare set of PD520 and put that on the bike until the the 530 or ME700 shows up