There’s no denying that Speedplay has some real benefits, but as Matt states, they’re the highest maintenance option suggested here and are therefore not for everyone. The pedals themselves run on tiny needle bearings and need periodic greasing (easily done with a grease gun). Likewise, as Neal noted, you need to be especially careful of what you step in to prevent fouling the cleat mechanism with debris, and on occasion, it’s suggested to lube the cleats with a dry lube. I remember a bike fitter friend used to say “Speedplay are not a pedal for Sydney”, a reference to the reliability issues that would surface through constant clipping in and out at lights.
Want to know more about all the other pedals on test? You can get your hands on the full feature from Issue #117 of Singletrack Magazine, which includes all reviews of the winning pedals along with a guide on what goes into making a high performance clip-in pedal. Head here to get a preview of the magazine, then get it shipped right to your door!
“First introduced in 2012, Hope’s F20 flat pedals have been relatively unchanged in the past five years, with just a tweak to the pin shape changing the tips from slightly rounded, to a much sharper, pointier, hollow design. At 15mm these are among of the thinnest pedals we have on test, but the bodies are good wedges of aluminium with no horizontal cutouts, keeping them suitably tough while the weight sits below 400g…” Read the full review here.
As CXR94Di2 has demonstrated and I can confirm that road shifters do work with the XT mechs, but as I said you must use front and rear. I took my advice from CXR94Di2
Flat pedals can also work as an educational tool. If you’ve ridden clipless pedals long enough, you know you can simply pull up on them to get you and your bike over an obstacle. Switching back to flat pedals forces a rider to learn how to actually bunny-hop in a controlled manner, without the clipped-in crutch.
The Keo Blade features a solid carbon fibre leaf spring that snaps the rear jaw of the pedal shut on the cleat. In the event of a direct impact, though, this spring (or the surrounding material) can break.
At just 140g for the pair, they’re phenomenally light thanks to carbon bodies, titanium axles, aluminium top plates and ceramic bearings. Clipping in is very easy thanks to a spring mechanism that stays open after you click out.
Look pioneered clipless pedals back in the Eighties, and they’ve maintained a huge presence in the market ever since.
After cobbling together a few hundred quid during his student days off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story), Jack bought his first road bike at the age of 20 and has been hooked ever since.  He joined road.cc in 2017, having previously worked for 220 Triathlon magazine. Jack’s preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking (the latter being another long story), and on Sunday afternoons he can often be found on an M5 service station indulging in his favourite post-race meal of 20 chicken nuggets, a sausage roll, caramel shortbread and a large strawberry milkshake.Â
It’s a shift that Jonathan Maus, publisher and editor of BikePortland.org, has been watching unfold for awhile.
Actually, I needn’t have worried. The trails soon venture into the woods proper, and traction issues largely disappear. All that chalk is hidden under layer upon layer of leaf mulch, and as lacking in traction as it is, it’s much more of a known quantity for my delicate Northern sensibilities – and it’s no match for the tyres. It’s gratifying to be able to lean the bike over into corners and accelerate out the other side without worrying (too much). The trails are everything I’d imagined them to be – a happy flowing middle ground where there’s fun to be had riding them gently, and fun to be had riding them hard. Short, flattering climbs lead onto flowy, bermy descents. A short, steep chute gives a few of us pause, before we decide that our collective confidence is up to the task, and we ride it anyway. And, once again, grip was there in unexpected but welcome profusion.
I did experience a hiccup with unclipping the Hellcats. Essentially, the wide toe, combined with the cleat placement, causes the crankarm to block the twisting motion required for me to unclip. This turned out to be a problem from the beginning, and it didn’t matter if the cleat was slammed all the way forward or back.
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