Speedplay Grease

pete8uk

I've had my new Speedplay Zero pedals for around a month now (and loving them so far, so much easier to clip in to)

But, it's time to start thinking about maintenance. So, without doing much research, I ordered the official Speedplay grease (knowing it was probably over priced). Now it's arrived, I see it needs to be used in the official Speedplay grease gun, a snip at £40.... so I'm sending the grease back!

No doubt, there's a cheaper solution. So, to all Speedplay pedal owners: what are you using to grease your cleats? And, how do you apply it? A "cheap" syringe? If so, where did you get it from?

Many thanks in advance :-)

majormantra

A cheap syringe (ebay) plus any half decent grease should do the trick.

Reminds me, I haven't done mine for ages...

Oxo

Ditto, cheap syringe and general purpose grease.

The main thing is to remember to grease them once in a while and not to let the bearings go dry :oops:

wishitwasallflat

Any chemists or pharmacy will sell you a plastic syringe for pennies (just don't ask for a needle!). I have always used Park PolyLube 1000 cause I had it around anyway but any good grease should do. I just recently got this for my wheel bearings

http://www.rocklube.com/super_web.htm

after a recommendation it was the best grease for bearings - not tried it yet though.

crankycrank

Speedplay aren't too fussy about the kind of grease used. High priced special bike greases, automotive wheel bearing grease, marine grease are all fine. The syringes mentioned also work well but you can get basically the same type of grease gun that Speedplay sell at automotive supply stores for far less than the official SP unit. A few examples here. http://www.amazon.co.uk/mini-grease-gun ... ease%20gun For the cleats I've found that wax type chain lubes work well. You at least want something that doesn't stay wet or gooey such as oils and grease as they will clog the cleats with gunk and get it all over anything you walk on.

pete8uk

Thanks all for your help

I came across this while googling an alternative grease gun / syringe

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weldtite-Grease-With-150ml-Teflon/dp/B0035C0F2S

Hasn't arrived yet, but one of the reviewers says it's perfect for speedplay cleats.... so thought I'd give it a try! (even though a bit pricier than getting a tub of grease and a cheap syringe)

Ta

napoleond

pete8uk wrote:

Thanks all for your help

I came across this while googling an alternative grease gun / syringe

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weldtite-Grease-With-150ml-Teflon/dp/B0035C0F2S

Hasn't arrived yet, but one of the reviewers says it's perfect for speedplay cleats.... so thought I'd give it a try! (even though a bit pricier than getting a tub of grease and a cheap syringe)

Ta

Super! Just ordered one myself.

majormantra

Rereading your first post, I've just realised you're talking about greasing cleats, not the pedals. The cleats only really need a drop (or a squirt) of dry lube to keep them happy, not grease. The Speedplay gun is for greasing the pedals themselves to preserve the bearings, which you must do periodically.

The grease gun you've bought is very good for general use but I doubt it will generate the pressure required to force grease through the pedal. I could be wrong.

pete8uk

MajorM: Thanks for paying close attention, you've caught my "intentional" mistake I meant for this grease to be for the pedals, which is what the reviewers said this grease gun works well for.... Hopefully they are right!

napoleond

Ooo eck! I bought it for the pedals too...

majormantra

Failing that, you can use your new grease gun to fill a 50p syringe off ebay, and that will work fine. All is not lost!

vanleapo

I have one of those grease guns and it works perfectly on Speedplay pedals. I give mine a squirt of grease every couple of months.

majormantra

So you can see the old grease being forced out of the other side of the pedal body? If so, then it's fine.

Monty Dog

Don't get sucked-into Speedplay's BS about special grease-guns, lubes and bearings - it's all off-the-shelf parts without the ridiculous mark-ups.

majormantra

I agree completely. The budget approach to maintaining the pedals works fine.

pippi_langsamer-2

If you want a gun, Google "MTB shock grease gun", or similar. You'll find them for about £10-£15. They'll do the job. Not sure a normal medical syringe would be well suited to very viscous grease.

I have a Manitou M Prep gun and it's small nozzle fits the Speedplay port perfectly. Chain Reaction have them for £12.

Pump the grease thru the pedal grease port til it oozes out and wipe excess off.

racingcondor

That Weldtite set will do fine and has the benefit that you can really tell when you're pumping through clean grease as it's a fetching pink.

majormantra

A grease gun is just a glorified syringe. The Speedplay version is ridiculously expensive for what it is.

gaanrowl

madasahattersley wrote:

MajorMantra wrote:

A grease gun is just a glorified syringe. The Speedplay version is ridiculously expensive for what it is.

If your pedal bearings are in a bad state then a syringe just won't work. You won't be able to get the grease through at even close to a high enough pressure to do it properly. Not sure if you've ever picked up the speed play grease gun but it couldn't be much further from a syringe.

+1 I use a syringe, it doest really require alot of pressure to push the grease through and you can quite easily see the `old` grease coming out of the spindle side.

if your bearings are in a bad state no amout of pressure or grease will help only new bearings will fix the issue.