I have finally worn out a pair of Speedplay X1s. My best calculation is 60,000+ miles on them. I sent them back several times for maintence/rebuild, but this time they have had it.
BTW, for those of you who don’t know, Speedplay provides free service on any of their Ti pedals - you only pay for parts. Chan at Speedplay in the service dept is great.
Anyway, I have had no problems with the pedals. I intend to replace them. Chan said I should consider the Zeros because they tend to wear less. At the same time, since I haven’t shopped pedals in a while, I thought I’d see what others think is state of the art. I do believe that the free float has really helped my knees over the years.
While my friends at Speedplay may not entirely agree with me, my opinion is that the Zero represents the new generation of “X” pedals. The cleats, according to Speedplay labelling, are not to be interchanged between pedals.
The additional features and benefits of the Zero pedal over the “X” series are the capability to precisely control the amount of rotational movement you want in the pedal/cleat interface.
If this feature is attractive to you, i.e. the “X” series strikes you as having a triffle too much free rotational movement, you will like the Zero family. We sell Zeros 12 to 1 I bet over “X” series.
If you got 60K out of the X pedals I don’t think wear rate is an issue vs going to the zero series. I just bought the X2’s upgrading from X3’s which I left on my training bike. I stayed the same so both pairs of cycle shoes are interchangeable on both bikes. I now wish I had looked at the zeros as my only complaint with the X’s is that I lose a shoe at T2 almost every race as it is so easy to turn the dismount shoe enough to disengage as you step off. Other than that I still like them for the free float although maybe I only need as much float as would be available with the zero’s.
Wore’m out huh! I’m surprised. I find myself continutally amazed at how my Ti speedplays continue to operate like they’re brand new, with probably 7 years on them. Never do anything other than lubricate them. I’ve worn out a few pairs of cleats but the pedals are good as new.
I have absolutely no way to judge the mileage on them but they have several IMs on’m.
I believe I’ll go for the zeros if I ever have to replace them.
“Wore’m out huh! I’m surprised. I find myself continutally amazed at how my Ti speedplays continue to operate like they’re brand new, with probably 7 years on them.”
Oh, I agree, and am not complaining at all. They still work great too - just starting to get wobbley, leak grease, and scored axel. However, when I sent them back for the free maintenence this last time they just advised that I am now to the point where I’d be better off putting the $$ into a new pair. Mine were 10-12 years old with 10 or so IMs on them and all the requisite training and fun!
Since the X and zero series use different cleats ,I will stick with X’s . I have two cheap pair of X3’s , I got one pair for $50 with cleats ,when a store closed. I will have to send mine in if you can up grade to X2’s . The X3 has a sleeve bushing instead of a needle roller bearing, I think they all have a recommended max 185 lb rider…I can’t understand " too much float " thats like " these shoes are way too comfortable " , I need to grind my knees more in one area.
There’s is a guy here in Pasadena (Open road bicycles), who has patented and will go to market this fall with a totally new pedal. The 'pedal is a knob that screws into your cranks. The ‘cleat’ is is a pedal that ataches to the show and has a curved cup arrangement that clips onto the knob, so that the effective axle is at the level of the first metatarso-phalangeal joint (that bump on the inside of your foot right behind your big toe,) instead of below the bottom of your shoe. This effectively makes the crank longer, instead of shorter, from 3:00 to 9:00, with a max of 4 cm at 6:00.
PS another advantage is that anyone trying to ride off on your bike, without your shoes, won’t be able to pedal using only those knobs.