Pedals

[cervelo-van]

Enjoyed your components review. I have been thinking about Speedplay. Currently I have 4 bikes with Shimano, so it would be a bit of a switch. I find that riding in the city, the Shimano pedals are nice in that I can rest the un-clipped foot on the broad platform as I go through the intersection and still pedal and still clip in as I go along. Would you say that the Speedplay is good when riding a long distance and not having to clip in and out for intersections, lights etc. versus the Shimano, but might not be that good when starting/stopping often?

Today I rode with some people who had Speedplay. We were going up a twisting narrow ramp up to a bridge. We all had to clip out to negotiate the turns. However, I was able to pedal up the ramp with my foot resting on the Shimano platform, while those with Speedplay had to hop on one foot to get to the next section 

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

I love my shimano pedals beause the cleats are super quiet when walking around, versus the speedplays!

[doc]

you should always think safety first
the usual aerodynamic  talk , misses the point ,
cant be faster if your out injured cause you had an emergency and cant get your foot out
or down in time

[Tereza Macel - "TMac"]

Hi cervelo-van,

 Sounds like you have a pedal you are happy with. The speedplays don't have a very big platform, and there is not much chance of riding them with your foot unclipped but just resting on top. I have not had any problems clipping in and out, even when going over gravel, or road obstacles. But the different speedplay pedals do have different tesions and are not all equal in terms of force it takes to get in and out.
 And when I am lucky enough to be riding somewhere, like training camp, where there is very little stop and go, I have been happy with my pedals as well. They even stand up to the sprints when a dog suddenly appears and starts chasing fast.
  As doc points out the most important thing is your comfort level with the pedal. It can be the most amazing pedal out there, but if you fall over at the first stop sign you won't love it for too long.

[Keith Watson]

Tez, I recall seeing a pic of you with the platform imbedded in the cleat and no longer on the spindle during a race. Did you end up DNF'ing that race due to a mechanical? No knock against speedplay (all components have the opportunity to fail at somepoint), just curious what happened in that instance since you brought up the topic of pedals. 

[Tereza Macel - "TMac"]

Hi,

 Yup, true, I have been racing a lot of years, and have had very few incidents with mechanicals. But that was an odd one. It was Wildflower last year, and very early into the bike as I was going down a hill my foot flew loose. At first I thought I had just not tightened the pedal, but when I looked down the pedal was still on my shoe, and the axle attached to the crank. Very odd. I guess when you add up all the hours we spend on the bike over the years odd things are bound to happen, this just happened to be during a race unfortunately.

[Keith Watson]

Well I guess it could have been worse...standing on an uphill section.  thanks for the reply and keep up the great posts!