Pedal Info Needed

rplace13 said:

Thinking of going with Look Keo

I'll be watching closely as I'm very curious to hear the group wisdom on this.

Just heard back from Performance the non-carbon pedal uses the standard Delta/ARC cleat. The carbon one uses Keo.

In digging around a bit online it seems that all of the Keo pedals do use the same cleat. Not 100% sure though, can anyone confirm this? Easy/Sprint/Classic/Keo 2Max/Blade/etc???

rplace13 said:

Just heard back from Performance the non-carbon pedal uses the standard Delta/ARC cleat. The carbon one uses Keo.

In digging around a bit online it seems that all of the Keo pedals do use the same cleat. Not 100% sure though, can anyone confirm this? Easy/Sprint/Classic/Keo 2Max/Blade/etc???

All Keo pedals use the KEO cleat but there are 3 of them Black, Grey and Red. The black are no float the Grey are 4.5 and the Red are 9 degrees of float.

I have said this before, but if I needed to replace my pedal system I would go with crank bros eggbeaters. Have them on my MTB and cross bike, and sppedplays on my road bikes (2 of them). Love the simplicty, ease of use, price and nice float. I also really miss being able to walk in my bike shoes without worrying about every little grain of sand jamming up my cleats. I'm likely a year away from switching over to all crank bros, unless my speedlpay cleats fail me before then.

You should be able to use the Keo cleats for all the Keo models.

The Keo Easy pedals do not have adjustable spring tension. The Keo classics do.

As you go higher up in the Keo line, what you're paying for is lighter weight and greater spring tension capacity. The Keo 2 Max pedals also have a metal plate bolted on the surface to improve durability. Keo 2 Max Carbon is lighter.

The Blades are ridiculously expensive because they're a new technology. This means that there's more stuff in those pedals that are protected by patents, which drives up the Blade's market power as a product, and thus the price. Upsides: ridiculously light. Downsides: you don't have that many options for tension! You have 2 options pretty much, and if you want to adjust the tension mid-ride you have to bring a spare carbon leaf with you to do so.

I have 2 bikes. One with my high-end look keo pedals, and another bike with look keo easy's. I mainly bought the easy's so my shoes would be compatible with the pedals on both bikes. I just use the other bike for commuting so no need for fancy stuff there.

A downside to the Keo system is that the cleats don't really last too long. Probably 1500-2000 miles max.

PeterF said:

I have said this before, but if I needed to replace my pedal system I would go with crank bros eggbeaters. Have them on my MTB and cross bike, and sppedplays on my road bikes (2 of them). Love the simplicty, ease of use, price and nice float. I also really miss being able to walk in my bike shoes without worrying about every little grain of sand jamming up my cleats. I'm likely a year away from switching over to all crank bros, unless my speedlpay cleats fail me before then.

I love the Eggbeaters on my road bike, with the cleat mounted on my road shoes and walkable MTB shoes (they're SPD 2-bolt compatible). I have the simpler and less expensive of the two Ti versions of the pedal (the coil spring is red). The stainless version is now available in 2010 with several spring colors besides the previous blue. Light, simple, and repairable. The cleat is small, but if the sole is stiff, you'll likely not have any problems with hotspots.

JML said:

I love the Eggbeaters on my road bike, with the cleat mounted on my road shoes and walkable MTB shoes (they're SPD 2-bolt compatible). I have the simpler and less expensive of the two Ti versions of the pedal (the coil spring is red). The stainless version is now available in 2010 with several spring colors besides the previous blue. Light, simple, and repairable. The cleat is small, but if the sole is stiff, you'll likely not have any problems with hotspots.

The blue springs would go well with my metallic blue CAAD8. What do you notice about durabilty (cleat and pedal)? the cleats are cheap enough and easy to replace, but do the pedals hold up well? As a speedplay guy, the cleats last but require care. The pedals seem to last well too, although I hate the soft stainless spindle with a less than generous wrenching surface.

PeterF said:

I have said this before, but if I needed to replace my pedal system I would go with crank bros eggbeaters. Have them on my MTB and cross bike, and sppedplays on my road bikes (2 of them). Love the simplicty, ease of use, price and nice float. I also really miss being able to walk in my bike shoes without worrying about every little grain of sand jamming up my cleats. I'm likely a year away from switching over to all crank bros, unless my speedlpay cleats fail me before then.

neither here nor there on the issue of using mountain bike pedals on a road bike, since i use keo's on the road bikes and don't do the mountain biking. just thought i'd throw this person's opinion and experiences in the mix concerning the +'s and -'s of pedals specifically for the track type.

Product Review: Look Keo Pedals Tree Fort Bikes Blog

Im curious. i recently picked up a nice but inexpensive pair of road shoes and now need to get pedals and cleats. Is there really any high/low in going with shimano or look keo?(love this is a very infomative thread!) :o

PeterF said:

The blue springs would go well with my metallic blue CAAD8. What do you notice about durabilty (cleat and pedal)? the cleats are cheap enough and easy to replace, but do the pedals hold up well? As a speedplay guy, the cleats last but require care. The pedals seem to last well too, although I hate the soft stainless spindle with a less than generous wrenching surface.

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to give you the answer you like about the cleat life, because my Carnac road shoes and Carnac MTB shoes (older models) have protective sections for the cleats that would prevent wear from walking on them! I have not noticed any unusual wear on the cleats or pedal cage, and my son's pedals, used more than mine, show no real problems. I don't recall seeing any review that suggested the wear was an unusual problem. They'll all wear out eventually, but at least Crank Bros. has good support and the parts are available. The design has lasted a long time, and that's a good sign.

The spindle on the SS and Ti models has a deeply recessed hex fitting and is mounted on the crank arm with an 8mm hex key. My previous four pedals used the same system. As long as you use a high-quality hardened and properly ground hex key, there should not be any problems, as long as you use silver antiseize compound on the threads (not grease). I think the possibility of damage is less with this system than it would be from thin flats on a traditional spindle, such as a classic Campy SL pedal. The right wrench, such as one from Bondhus (they make the Park tools, I believe) or a high-quality hex key socket for a 3/8" drive ratchet, makes it really easy! This is exactly the type of situation that antiseize was made for.

I think they even look good with vintage Campy parts:

[ATTACH]12081[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12082[/ATTACH]

Your avatar leads me to ask: is that the Medici logo?

JML said:

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to give you the answer you like about the cleat life, because my Carnac road shoes and Carnac MTB shoes (older models) have protective sections for the cleats that would prevent wear from walking on them! I have not noticed any unusual wear on the cleats or pedal cage, and my son's pedals, used more than mine, show no real problems. I don't recall seeing any review that suggested the wear was an unusual problem. They'll all wear out eventually, but at least Crank Bros. has good support and the parts are available. The design has lasted a long time, and that's a good sign.

The spindle on the SS and Ti models has a deeply recessed hex fitting and is mounted on the crank arm with an 8mm hex key. My previous four pedals used the same system. As long as you use a high-quality hardened and properly ground hex key, there should not be any problems, as long as you use silver antiseize compound on the threads (not grease). I think the possibility of damage is less with this system than it would be from thin flats on a traditional spindle, such as a classic Campy SL pedal. The right wrench, such as one from Bondhus (they make the Park tools, I believe) or a high-quality hex key socket for a 3/8" drive ratchet, makes it really easy! This is exactly the type of situation that antiseize was made for.

I think they even look good with vintage Campy parts:

[ATTACH]12081[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12082[/ATTACH]

Your avatar leads me to ask: is that the Medici logo?

It is the Flemish Flag (although As I understand the tongue and claws should be red). I'm not Belgian, but I love the Northern Classics and the Flag is everywhere along the Ronde Route.
Favorite all-time rider: Peter Van Petegem

CenturyGirl said:

Im curious. i recently picked up a nice but inexpensive pair of road shoes and now need to get pedals and cleats. Is there really any high/low in going with shimano or look keo?(love this is a very infomative thread!) :o

I've had Shimano SPD-SL pedals and shoes for several years and I really like them. The Shimano pedals all have float built into the pedal, so the float is not dependant on the cleat you currently have attached to your shoe.

They all also have adjustable release tension, although I've never needed to adjust that myself.

I haven't had to replace my cleats so far and I probably have at least 12,000 miles on them. From looking at them I think they'll probably last several more years. I don't walk on them anymore than I have to and I'm sure that helps keep the wear down.

You can read what the others have already said about other pedal systems, and possible some more folks will add their experiences.

What kind of road shoes did you buy?

PeterF said:

The blue springs would go well with my metallic blue CAAD8. What do you notice about durabilty (cleat and pedal)? the cleats are cheap enough and easy to replace, but do the pedals hold up well? As a speedplay guy, the cleats last but require care. The pedals seem to last well too, although I hate the soft stainless spindle with a less than generous wrenching surface.

My speedplay zero's have 26K miles now and are going strong. I lube them every 2K miles, as specified. They are the most durable pedals I've ever used. Cleats last a long time if you use the covers....just put on my third set of cleats last month.

Not sure what you mean about hating the "soft" SS spindles or the wrenching surface. My standard 15 mm wrench fits fine; no skinny pedal wrench required because the clearance and wrench surface is wide. Perhaps you had a spindle sieze to the alloy threads of the crankarm and had to apply a lot of force to break it loose.

dhk2 said:

My speedplay zero's have 26K miles now and are going strong. I lube them every 2K miles, as specified. They are the most durable pedals I've ever used. Cleats last a long time if you use the covers....just put on my third set of cleats last month.

Not sure what you mean about hating the "soft" SS spindles or the wrenching surface. My standard 15 mm wrench fits fine; no skinny pedal wrench required because the clearance and wrench surface is wide. Perhaps you had a spindle sieze to the alloy threads of the crankarm and had to apply a lot of force to break it loose.

I have the X2's. And the wrench surface is smaller than it needs to be. The X5's have a more generous surface. Have used the shoe covers. Kind of a pain and they stretch after a while.