speedplay cleats

Triangle Kebab
Triangle Kebab Posts: 85
edited November 2012 in Road beginners
Just a quick question, can i use speed play zero pedals with light action cleats? And vice versa. The official Speedplay web site says you can't, but i really cant see any reason why not. Only asking as i need new pedals and a friend of mine has some zeros they don't need, but i am currently riding on light action pedals and he will be keeping his cleats.
thanks

Comments

  • adr82
    adr82 Posts: 4,002
    Apparently you can't, I asked an online retailer about this a while back because I was waiting on a pair of Zeros and they had the Light Action type in stock at the time. They told me they weren't compatible. If you look at the photos of them both on speedplay.com they do seem just different enough that I can believe it wouldn't be a good idea to try mixing and matching.
  • jezzpalmer
    jezzpalmer Posts: 389
    You can, they are identical apart from the lack of adjustment and the spring is softer.
    I'm using zero cleats with the spring from the light actions, with zero pedals.

    I asked speedplay if they did a softer spring as i'd read that they did, but they said no. However I found a thread where someone analysed the two cleats and established they were interoperable, so I bought some light action cleats for the spring.
  • Peddle Up!
    Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
    What's the difference in "feel" between Zero and Light Action cleats? My Zero pedals were a bit stiff for the first four or five rides, but are easy to unclip now (but not too easy :) ). About the same force as my old SPD-SLs I'd say.
    Purveyor of "up" :)
  • jezzpalmer
    jezzpalmer Posts: 389
    Difficult to quantify, but they are easier.

    Despite spending about an hour on the turbo trainer over a couple of evenings just repeatedly clipping/unclipping I could not get an easy in or out with the zero springs, it took about 10 mins to get both feet in the first time but it got easier than that, but not easy enough for me to feel comfortable with, so I did some digging which lead me to using the light action springs.
    To look at the springs they appear identical, I expected them to be thinner in places or have a different chamfer.
    However they are definitely easier.
  • Fr Howie
    Fr Howie Posts: 28
    I found my Speedplay Zeros to be impossibly stiff initially, but the quickly became normal and I am now very happy with them. I recommend keeping them lubricated with a spot or two of PTFE oil every ride. They went rusty on my on a sportive and they started to lock me onto the bike!

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