Carbon shoes for speed play pedals.

toneredd

Looking at getting new shoes to suit my speed play pedals, LG Carbon Pro team shoes , Sidi,s or other???

Have read the review on LG,s Carbon wire, so NOT going to get them because of problems with speed play base plates not fitting flat, have not seen any bad reports on LG Carbon pro team shoes.

Any suggestions from people who have used speed play,s and NOT had any trouble with their shoes.

Cheers.

jordan_217

Northwave Extreme Tech SBS. Brilliant shoes. The sole on them was co-developed by SpeedPllay themselves.

mpatts

toneredd wrote:

Looking at getting new shoes to suit my speed play pedals, LG Carbon Pro team shoes , Sidi,s or other???

Have read the review on LG,s Carbon wire, so NOT going to get them because of problems with speed play base plates not fitting flat, have not seen any bad reports on LG Carbon pro team shoes.

Any suggestions from people who have used speed play,s and NOT had any trouble with their shoes.

Cheers.

I use speedplay with carbon LG's, with no issues.

spasypaddy

any shoe will work.

just use the correct baseplate pieces.

do not restrict yourself on shoes because you use speedplay pedals. i currently have cleats set up on:
2013 sworks
sidi ergo 2s
2012 bont vaypors
a pair of ancient diadoa tri shoes that the internet has no recollection of
northwave winter boots

graeme_s-2

As above, I have speedplay cleats currently on a pair of 2012 sworks and a pair of Fizik R3s. As long as you use the right adaptors they're absolutely fine on a 3-hole shoe.

verloren

I run a pair of Shimano shoes with converter plates, which work fine, but I prefer my Lake Speedplay-specific shoes. One of the benefits of Speedplay is lower stack height, something that converter plates take away. Oh, and the BOA closure system is great on long rides if you want to give your feet a bit of a rest.

graeme_s-2

verloren wrote:

I run a pair of Shimano shoes with converter plates, which work fine, but I prefer my Lake Speedplay-specific shoes. One of the benefits of Speedplay is lower stack height, something that converter plates take away. Oh, and the BOA closure system is great on long rides if you want to give your feet a bit of a rest.

On a carbon sole where you need the carbon protector insert for a 4-hole shoe, do you really save that much stack height over the 3 to 4 hole adaptor? Surely there's only a couple of mm's difference

verloren

Graeme_S wrote:

On a carbon sole where you need the carbon protector insert for a 4-hole shoe, do you really save that much stack height over the 3 to 4 hole adaptor? Surely there's only a couple of mm's difference

Based on a trick I read on the internet (so it must be right!) I use a piece of plastic from a milk bottle as the carbon protector, which is light, thin and cheap. But you're right, it does only save 2-3mm. That's enough that I can feel the difference between the two shoes, but not so much that it feels like a relief to get the 'right' shoes on. Nonetheless I'm persuaded that a low stack height is preferable, so that's 2mm in the right direction.


Edit: changed 'two pedals' to 'two shoes'

graeme_s-2

verloren wrote:

Based on a trick I read on the internet (so it must be right!) I use a piece of plastic from a milk bottle as the carbon protector, which is light, thin and cheap. But you're right, it does only save 2-3mm. That's enough that I can feel the difference between the two pedals, but not so much that it feels like a relief to get the 'right' shoes on. Nonetheless I'm persuaded that a low stack height is preferable, so that's 2mm in the right direction.

Fair enough! I'm not saying I wouldn't use a 4-hole sole, it's just not that high up the list of things I look for when buying cycling shoes (far below "bargain" and "looks pro" on my list).

I might have been suspect in the past about really being able to notice that much difference in stack height, but last year I swapped a broken Fizik Arione for a new one on my commute bike. I spent the whole ride home stopping to adjust the saddle height as the difference between the two felt enormous, but realistically can have only been a couple of mm.

verloren

One problem the lower stack height *might* have helped with is ankle pain. On longer rides using SPD-SL pedals I used to get a sore right ankle, I assume as a result of holding it relatively rigid (souplesse is literally a foreign concept to me!). Since switching to Speedplay, and the Speedplay-specific shoes for longer rides, the problem has largely gone away. Not proof by any means, but possibly useful.

graeme_s-2

verloren wrote:

One problem the lower stack height *might* have helped with is ankle pain. On longer rides using SPD-SL pedals I used to get a sore right ankle, I assume as a result of holding it relatively rigid (souplesse is literally a foreign concept to me!). Since switching to Speedplay, and the Speedplay-specific shoes for longer rides, the problem has largely gone away. Not proof by any means, but possibly useful.

Could also be related to the adjustable float you get with Speedplays? Always nice when you eliminate aches and pains though!

verloren

That's definitely true, though in practice I have the float about the same as it was on SPD-SL. I also have a shim to help compensate for uneven leg length, and for unquantifiable reasons prefer Speedplays implementation to the 3-hole options, which I guess would be a factor for some.

BBH

Speedplay with standard 3 hole bonts here - works really well, have previously had them on 3 hole shimano's too with no problems. Go for whichever shoe 1) fits the best then 2) looks most pro

neeb

The sidi ergo 3s and sidi wires have a speedplay-specific sole option. I've been using the speedplay version of the ergo 3 for nearly 2 years now and it's been completely hassle-free, but the main consideration should be fit. The standard sidi fit (you can't get the wide option in the high-end shoes) is fairly narrow and low-volume.

You can also get a speedplay specific sole on the Genius 6.6, and the fit of that is apparently a bit wider / higher volume than the ergo3. I've also heard some people say that the fit of the wire, while very similar to the ergo 3, is just a little roomier around the toes.

The only advantage of the speedplay sole is that the stack height is a little bit lower (I can't say I noticed much difference from my previous ergo2s with the normal sole), and there is one less layer to worry about as you don't need the 4 hole adaptor plate. If you run speedplay all of the time anyway and want sidis, you may as well get the speedplay sole, but it's not such a big deal.

One mildly annoying thing is that there is only ever one colour option for the speedplay specific models - usually white, but in the Genius 6.6 it is white and blue...

Allza

I have sidi ergo 3's with the speedplay 4 bolt sole and I'm not that impressed. I find that as you only have the 4 small screws for the cleat it moves forwards by the end of the ride. Only a small amount but enough to reset it every ride. If I do the screws up any tighter then it stops the float moving freely. I am switching back to 3 hole shoes as these lock the front to back adjustment with the adapter with bigger screws. It may just be my pedalling stroke mind!

neeb

Allza wrote:

I have sidi ergo 3's with the speedplay 4 bolt sole and I'm not that impressed. I find that as you only have the 4 small screws for the cleat it moves forwards by the end of the ride. Only a small amount but enough to reset it every ride. If I do the screws up any tighter then it stops the float moving freely. I am switching back to 3 hole shoes as these lock the front to back adjustment with the adapter with bigger screws. It may just be my pedalling stroke mind!

Never had that problem with mine. Do you have the metal protection plate fitted as recommended, and do you use blue loctite on the screws?

Admittedly I have the float "dialled out", so I wouldn't notice if it wasn't moving freely. Otherwise, you can tighten the screws as much as possible as long as the springs for engagement/disengagement can still move (test them by pressing hard with a finger or a metal implement).

Allza

Yep I have loctite and the sole protection plate fitted. The screws aren't coming loose and they only move about 1 or 2mm. Seems worse if I am doing a lot of out the saddle climbing. I still like the speedplay pedals just not keen on the 4 bolt shoes. It may be the way I pedal though as its always the right cleat slides forward and the left moves back!

neeb

It shouldn't happen really, however you pedal...

One thing that may help in my case is that I have BikeFit purple plastic shims on each shoe as well (the ones that correct for forefoot tilt). So the shim goes on first, then the protection plate, then the cleat. Maybe the plastic shim allows for more friction and a better hold between the protection plate and the carbon sole, both of which are hard, smooth surfaces.

Allza

Yes that is one thing I thought of too. The metal sole plate will mean less friction. I think without this they wouldn't move but you will eventually wear out the sole, especially with a lot of float.

neeb

You could probably just get a thin sheet of plastic and cut a shim to size (and then put it between the carbon sole and the metal plate).