speedplay front to back play

ashleydwsmith
ashleydwsmith Posts: 693
edited June 2015 in Road general
Drive side pedal/cleat system on my speedplay has forward to backward play in. I dont think they should have this. checked the tightness of the screws on the cleat and all good.

Any ideas?

Comments

  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Check if the play is in pedal or cleat that might help narrow it down, in the meantime have you checked:

    cleat
    Is the adaptor/mounting plate (3 to 4 hole) (if your using one) intact and tight
    Are the shoe's mounting screw holes intact
    Is the sole cracked or damaged
    Is the yellow plastic bit of the cleat cracked

    Pedal
    Is it tightly screwed in
    Is crank screw hole threads ok
    Are the bolts holding the pedal body together tight
    Is there play in the pedal body or axle
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 15,018
    Speedplays do get loose over time - the bearings in them aren't great. But in my 15 years' experience on them, the greatest amount of play you can perceive comes from worn cleats. Once the spring wires are flattened, they can move up and down in the slots in the pedal body, which means the whole cleat can move in relation to the pedal body.

    If it is the bearings, they do replacement pedal bodies now, which only cost an arm. Or spindles, which only cost a leg. Or bow ties for the pedal bodies, for which you only have to sell your soul at the crossroads.
  • DKay
    DKay Posts: 1,652
    First Aspect wrote:
    If it is the bearings, they do replacement pedal bodies now, which only cost an arm. Or spindles, which only cost a leg. Or bow ties for the pedal bodies, for which you only have to sell your soul at the crossroads.

    You can actually service and replace all of the bearings in Speedplays, without having to buy replacement bodies which nearly cost as much as a new set of pedals with cleats. I recently bought a bearing kit from ebay for £13 and it took me a couple of hours to do the whole job. If I were to go it again, it would probably take me about an hour. Speedplay would like you to believe that the needle bearings in the pedal body are bonded in and aren't replaceable, but they are lying.

    Also, you can buy non-official replacement Ti spindles for under £30. You can even buy Ti bow ties for under £20 a set.
    N
    N+1
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    DKay wrote:
    First Aspect wrote:
    If it is the bearings, they do replacement pedal bodies now, which only cost an arm. Or spindles, which only cost a leg. Or bow ties for the pedal bodies, for which you only have to sell your soul at the crossroads.

    You can actually service and replace all of the bearings in Speedplays, without having to buy replacement bodies which nearly cost as much as a new set of pedals with cleats. I recently bought a bearing kit from ebay for £13 and it took me a couple of hours to do the whole job. If I were to go it again, it would probably take me about an hour. Speedplay would like you to believe that the needle bearings in the pedal body are bonded in and aren't replaceable, but they are lying.

    Also, you can buy non-official replacement Ti spindles for under £30. You can even buy Ti bow ties for under £20 a set.

    Cheers DKay - I almost bought one of those kits myself but was worried about the cost of additional tools I may need (pedals were old and I was balancing if it was worth it or not). The eBay seller I found wouldn't send me the instruction leaflet or tell me which tools were needed without the kit -

    could you possibly post a list of what tools you needed for the job?

    PS - This Co do bearing kits as well as on EBay, never used them but spotted them via another thread a few days ago:
    http://rullabearings.com/product/pedal-bearing-kits/
  • damocles10
    damocles10 Posts: 340
    I love Speedplays and have used them for over ten years. Occasionally the cleat works it's way loose at the base between the cleat and the shoe which requires tightening and re-seating. Sometimes the small screws come loose and may fall out. When the bearings start to fail I usually re-grease them and they are fine for a bit, when they actually fail they seize up ( not much fun on a cold winter hill )....this was in the days before rebuild kits. It should be reasonably quick to swap them out with new bearings - better than spending £120 on a new set.
  • DKay
    DKay Posts: 1,652
    wishitwasallflat wrote:
    could you possibly post a list of what tools you needed for the job?

    PS - This Co do bearing kits as well as on EBay, never used them but spotted them via another thread a few days ago:
    http://rullabearings.com/product/pedal-bearing-kits/

    That's the kit I bought. It's pretty comprehensive with new torx screws, retainer clips and circlips.

    You'll need:

    T20 torx bit.
    A narrow punch to drift out the old needle bearings from the pedal body.
    Small circlip pliers.
    Stanley knife/pick/small screwdriver (to prise out the round retainer clips).

    The only problem I had was that the internal torx screws have a silly shallow head, so they're easily rounded off as it's loctited in. I had to hammer in a larger T25 bit into the mashed head, then heated the bit over the hob to transfer the heat to the screw threads to melt the loctite. the hammering and heat then made it really easy to unscrew.

    Any issues, just give me a shout. The kit comes with it's own instructions sheet too.
    N
    N+1
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    DKay wrote:
    wishitwasallflat wrote:
    could you possibly post a list of what tools you needed for the job?

    PS - This Co do bearing kits as well as on EBay, never used them but spotted them via another thread a few days ago:
    http://rullabearings.com/product/pedal-bearing-kits/

    That's the kit I bought. It's pretty comprehensive with new torx screws, retainer clips and circlips.

    You'll need:

    T20 torx bit.
    A narrow punch to drift out the old needle bearings from the pedal body.
    Small circlip pliers.
    Stanley knife/pick/small screwdriver (to prise out the round retainer clips).

    The only problem I had was that the internal torx screws have a silly shallow head, so they're easily rounded off as it's loctited in. I had to hammer in a larger T25 bit into the mashed head, then heated the bit over the hob to transfer the heat to the screw threads to melt the loctite. the hammering and heat then made it really easy to unscrew.

    Any issues, just give me a shout. The kit comes with it's own instructions sheet too.

    Brilliant many thanks
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    I had some play on one Speedplay Zero pedal a couple of months back, turned out to be a crack in the plastic pedal body, not sure how it happened (wasn't a crash for sure).
    I also had limited success using a bearing replacement kit a couple of years back, installed it OK but required greasing a lot more frequently otherwise it would stiffen up/seize
  • on-yer-bike
    on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
    Ive tried the bearing kit and the problem I had was removing the circlip. I damaged it and the kit does not include a spare. The seller sold me another but warned me they are very difficult to come by. Removing the screw holding the assembly is apparently usually the problem.
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