How freely do speedplay pedals float?

birdy247

Hi

On my commuting bike I have some SPD mountain bike pedals, and have set the float to as loose as it goes.

On my road bike I have shimano SPD-SL, and have also set the float as loose as it goes.

I notice that I feel much more comfortable with the loose SPD peadls as they really do float very easy and they have more degrees of float.

I was wondering if I baught a pair of speedplay pedals for my road bike/TT bike what the float would be like. If I open it up to the full range, is it very easy for the foot to move during the pedal stroke, or is it failry stiff? Ideally I would want it to be simlar to the SPD-SL float (but I like spending money so want some speedplays :-) )

Thanks

sungod

speedplays have free float, there is no spring resistance at all until you reach the clip-out point

for other pedals the adjustment is generally of clip in/out force rather than float, which tends to be determined by the cleat, for spd there're two different cleat types, one fixed, one with a bit of float, 8 or 10 degrees i think


there are three ranges of speedplay road pedals, probably all have more float than anything you've tried...

x series - over 20 degrees float

light action series - 15 degrees float, and lower force to clip in/out

zero series - adjustable float (separate adjustment for heel in and heel out), range of adjustment is 0 to 15 degrees, clip in/out force does not change with float adjustment

if you just want huge free float, look at the x series

i've got zeros, so i can set the heel in/out just right for me, they're lovely

speedplay also do an mtb pedal, frog, with 26 degrees free float

you'll find full details on their website...

http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuse ... ome.choose

jonmack

Yeah there's no resistance what so ever in speedplay float.

birdy247

And what is the mechanism to clip in/out like?

Thanks

sungod

works fine, nice positive action

large entry angle

clip-out only starts at the limit of the free float

jonmack

It's good, it's similar to mtb pedals I guess, where you just kinda step down onto them, rather than standard road pedals where you have to put your toe in then step back down into the pedal. You literally just get the pedal under the ball of your foot, put your weight on your foot, and you're clipped in. Clipping out is the same as any other pedal, twist your foot and it comes out, obviously how far you have to twist is dependant on your float setup, but they're no different to any other pedal i've ever ridden.

infopete

I used to ride on Atacs but my antique knees started complaining so I switched to speedplay frogs.

Just brilliant.

lancejambo

have speedplay zero ti's amazing will never chaange them just expensive but have them for life now.

Canny Jock

Zero's are great, but they take a few rides before clipping in becomes smoother. Maybe because I'm quite light. Bought the for the same reason, wanted float more like mtb pedals.