I’ve got a few seasons on my Speedplays and there is some play in one when clipped in. I’m not talking about the float - it’s more like the pedal has a small gap/space around it within the cleat and I can feel the play as I come over the top of the pedal stroke. The cleats are new a couple of months back. Best I can figure, the body of the pedal may be work down enough to no longer completely fill the cleat.
The metal butterflies are replaceable. Get new ones if they are too worn. The polymer portion of Speedplay pedals does not affect the serviceability.
Can’t exactly answer your question but my speedplays are 10 years old and still work great.
I have some old Speedplays that were gifted to me that also have play in the axle/body. You can hold the axle with one hand and rock the body back and forth/up and down. You can buy all the parts to rebuild Speedplays (metal bow ties, bearings, polymer body), but it gets really expensive.
The pedal itself seems to hold strong. I’ve replaced the cleats and it has taken any slop out of the setup.
Make sure the spring in the cleat is fully engaging (sometimes they get wedged between the plates of the cleat).
The loose feeling could be worn bearings; see if you can wiggle the pedal on the spindle.
The bearings on my X2s are shot and have a lot of slop, so I’m replacing them after 14 YEARS (gotta love Speedplay).
I’ve replaced the cleats 3 times, but after 11 years my speedplay pedals still work fine.
IMO a pedal shouldn’t be a wear item.
Yet pedals do wear. For example, Shimano pedals, last I checked, have wear plates that are supposed to be replaced before permanent damage is done.
they were one of my sponsors in 1990, I think I still have a pair of the titanium pedals that I still use for my everyday riding. I think Richard rebuilt them once in all that time too, so I guess they can last a long, long time. And if you knew how I take care of stuff, you can add a bunch of years to that total too!!!
Do you regularly - every 1500mi or so - grease the bearings in the pedal. I’ve seen pedals where the bearings got trashed and that created a lot of lateral play. People are - generally (not saying this is you) - quite poor about maintenance of their pedals.
You can get a re-build kit that has new bodies (with bearing inside)- install that and you have new pedals.
If you need cleats- buy a set of the cheapest ones (with cromo spindles). Put your spindles on the new bodies (if you have the stainless or ti spindles)- like new pedals for cheap!
Also, use the thin metal carbon shoe protector plate no matter what shoe you have. This prevents the mounting screws of the cleat from damaging the pedal body.
Got to admit I’m not very good about servicing my pedals. I’ve shot some lube in the ends a few times but that’s about it. Now that I’ve checked there does seem to be a tiny bit of play between the pedal and spindle but it doesn’t seem like as much as I feel when I have my shoe clipped in. So assuming my bearings are shot, are they relatively cheap to replace or is it easier to pick up a new set of pedals…and have the extra cleats for replacements down the road? I’m using titanium BTW.
Got to admit I’m not very good about servicing my pedals. I’ve shot some lube in the ends a few times but that’s about it. Now that I’ve checked there does seem to be a tiny bit of play between the pedal and spindle but it doesn’t seem like as much as I feel when I have my shoe clipped in. So assuming my bearings are shot, are they relatively cheap to replace or is it easier to pick up a new set of pedals…and have the extra cleats for replacements down the road? I’m using titanium BTW.The bearings themselves are not replaceable. The whole pedal body gets replaced because the needle bearings are part of the it. So you actually are changing the bearings but not without rebuilding the whole pedal anyway. Rebuild kits are around $70, but when compared against the cost of new pedals and how long they last it is actually a pretty good deal. The rebuild is fairly easy, and you will be good again for many seasons.
Rebuild kit I just found is $100 but only for stainless and cromo pedals. Guess I need to look harder for the titanium kit.
Got to admit I’m not very good about servicing my pedals. I’ve shot some lube in the ends a few times but that’s about it. Now that I’ve checked there does seem to be a tiny bit of play between the pedal and spindle but it doesn’t seem like as much as I feel when I have my shoe clipped in. So assuming my bearings are shot, are they relatively cheap to replace or is it easier to pick up a new set of pedals…and have the extra cleats for replacements down the road? I’m using titanium BTW.
Yes, the bearings are relatively cheap and easy to replace. I hope by “shot some lube in the ends a few times” you don’t mean you put something like an oil based lube (like triflow) on your pedals. That would be even worse, as it would thin out the grease.
Rebuild kit I just found is $100 but only for stainless and cromo pedals. Guess I need to look harder for the titanium kit.
There is no titanium rebuild kit - you have to contact Speedplay, get an RMA #, and send them in for rebuild. I don’t remember exactly why you can’t do it yourself or how much it costs but the result is basically a new pair of pedals.