I am looking for a new pedal system. I have Keo Look pedals and have a difficult time clipping in. They are extremely slippery and my foot always slips when trying to clip in. Are the speedplay pedals any easier to clip into? If not, is there a trick to clipping in to avoid slipping every time? I have tried pushing down at the top and bottom of the pedal stroke but nothing seems to work. It takes me several attempts to clip in without slipping, and is getting very frustrating.
Could be worth trying to clean (degrease with isopropyl alcohol on a rag) the surfaces of the cleats and the plates on the pedals that are in contact. That may add a bit of friction.
I say this because I went the other way and put a few drops of wax lube onto the stainless steel plates etc to make the float more floaty by reducing the friction! It made a big difference to how I can shuffle my feet around whilst still clipped in (which I wanted).
The other thing - have you backed off the spring tension to makenthe clipping in easier ?
And finally - what are your cleats and shoes like ? Are the cleats worn badly ?
And cracked up around the cleats / sole of the shoe ?
The Keos are like putting on skis. Toe first, then heel down. It might be that the tension is too high, so you’re having to use a lot of pressure to click in, but it also could be your technique. I only find my pedals ‘slippery’ when I’m unable to seat the front properly, either through worn out cleats or worn out brain.
Ditto bufordt’s post above. “Slippery” is not a thing that comes to mind when clipping into Look-style pedals. You do it kind of like a ski binding. So, it may be a technique thing. The key is to start with the pedal oriented with the tow facing up to flat around a 11 o’clock to 3 o’clock position. (Some pedals naturally hang almost vertically.) The process is to glide your shoe across the pedal so the toe of the clip hooks into the toe of the pedal. This will align the pedal to your shoe, then you just press down at the back to lock it in.
I usually clip in at the top (or just past the top), or at the bottom of the pedal stroke. As others said above, it’s a down-and-forward motion, like you’re sliding your toe in. Sometimes I wiggle my heel back and forth a bit to help find the sweet spot.
Thanks for the tips. I will try pointing my toe downward to see if that helps. I have had a tri bike and a cyclocross bike with the same pedal system, but for some reason these pedals are far more slippery and difficult.