I’ve been a speedplay user for quite a long time now - probably going on 10 years. Have a lot of lolipops and cleats around the shop!
Since my last pair are getting a bit worn, I figured I’d see what all the buzz was about with the Zero’s. Long story short, didn’t even mount them on the bike. Not enough float for my tastes, and not worth the upcharge from the X2’s in my opinion. Going back to the shop tomorrow. By chance, I stumbled across the Bebop website and liked what I saw.
Here’s what I can tell from a spec comparison
Bebops slightly lighter - not a big deal, but quite a bit cheaper - bigger deal!
Bebops cleats either wear like iron or are crap - depends who’s writing the review. Any comments?
Bebops may have a slightly more stable platform due to cleat design and flat top pedal? The one complaint I have with the speedplays is slight rocking when the cleats start wearing (usually around 3000 miles or so).
Bebop cleats can only be attached to SPD style soles? Just got a new pair of the shimano carbon road shoes, and they ONLY have a 3 hole pattern - might be a problem?
Like Bebops irreverant attitude and am starting to really dislike speedplays policies on pricing, who can sell, etc.
Anybody out there have a chance to ride both pedals and compare? FWIW, I’ve never had hotspots with the speedplays (140lbs dripping wet riding carbon shimanos), and don’t expect to with the Bebops.
Any and all opinions welcome (except to try Look, shimano, etc. I’ve grown used to the large amount of free float the speedplays have, and would hate being locked in ).
I rode Be-bops for quite a while, and they are the only pedal I have ever used that gave me consistant problems with scary-foot-popping-out-in-the-sprint-Zabel-style premature release. Also had terrible cleat wear - less than a month with one set. When the cleats wear out, you know it because your foot comes flying out at inopportune moments.
Yikes! Great idea, but, Yikes!
I have a barely used pair of pedals sitting in my closet somewhere that I would sell cheap if someone wanted them. No cleats, though - this is the set that had the 1 month cleats. Gave up after that.
I’ve been riding Be-bops for over 10 years. They are hard to find and a couple years ago I tried to switch to Speedplays. Bleeeaaah. The Be-bops are a better design. They are the Betamax. the Macintosh of pedal design. They are BETTER than the predominant design (Speedplay) but have been lousier at the business of producing and selling pedals. Try 'em, you’ll like 'em.
The biggest problem I’ve had with them is FINDING them. I believe Hi-Tech Bicycles in San Diego still has them. Support from the manufacturer sucks, I’ve never received a reply to inquiries. I’m sure that’s why they’ve never taken off, because the product is good.
I have Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL pedals mounted both the road and TT bike but recently I have been ridign with the wifes old Speedplay X-series pedals/cleats because I am debating making the switch such that all of our bikes would have Speedplay Zero’s. Now bear with me here - this was the result of a question last week about whether or not the Zero cleat would work with the X-series pedal body and trial and error indicates that yes - this will work (not sure how durable). Drifting a little but a good friend owns a local bike shop and he swears by Beebops (has them on his road and mountain bike).
Last week while we were out riding, I was on my TT bike with the wifes old X-series (which I like except for the float) and I wanted to give my friends new Airborne (had Bepops installed) a quick spin - liked the paint sceme on the polished Ti. Since we wear the same size shoe, we simply swapped shoes so that I could take his bike for a brief road test durign which time my friend stated that he felt the Bepops were better pedals because they were so much easier to “clip” into.
Well, being someone use to SPD-SL pedals, that made both pedal systems sort of foreign to me but I had already put in 50 or so miles on the Speedplays before we switched. Interestingly I had trouble clipping into the Bepops while my friend clipped right into the Speedplays and more interestingly the inverse was true when we switched back in that I clipped into both Speedplays before he did with the Bebops!
So from my point of view, I think both systems have there merits, but it seems to me that the design of the Bebop cleat would be prone to accumulating debris/mud/dirt/small pebbles in a T1/T2 environment but I may be way off base. If it helps, I am leaning even more towards making the switch to the Zero’s despite the fact that it is going to cost upwards of $380 as I think like the limited float that the Zeros offer while maintaining the same release tension! So I think that if you like the X-series pedals then it seems to make sense that you should stay with them - but seeing as you now have a set of brand new Zero pedals/cleats - ** disclaimor - Speedplay does not advocate the following ** why not try using the Zero cleats with the X-series bowties?