Speedplay rocking issues

[Infin1ty]

I managed to break my left Speedplay pedal a few months ago, Speedplay warranted the Pedal and sent me a new left Pedal without any issues.
So far so good, until this time the right Pedal started to suffer from small play (rocking issue), at the same time the new left Pedal started to suffer from this issue as well, because the pedal didn't break this time, Speedplay didn't issue any warranty at all (I mean, they ignore my emails so i get the point...).
As i was just about to order a new pair of bowties i did some more research in here and some other forums and found out this might not help as the spindle (axle) probably suffered wear as well.
As you can see from the photos, one of the spindles suffer a severe wear from the bearing metal piece (probably because of the severe Pronation that i have, though i do use Orthotics from Solestar).
I believe i will just order a new spindles and replace the needle bearing on both of the bowties.

As a side note, i did manage to replace the normal bearings without any issues, When it comes to the needle bearing, that's a different story, I took my faulty pedal that broke and i just couldn't take the needle bearing out , any tips? (I did read the official thread in here, i took the bearings size from there ).

[Liggero]

You might need new spindles, and maybe new bearings. I sent you a PM.

[g32ecs]

I'm leaving SP for good and going back to Shimano. Too much maintenance and knick knacks to check out it's not worth the headache.

I will miss the double sided entry though.

[Butcher]

Yeah, the one spindle is shot. Speedplay does not sell the needle bearings separately. There are some aftermarket sources and they may give you some pointers on how to remove them.

From what I see, a new complete repairs is what you're going to need.

[speeddemon]

Since i grease my Sp-pedals every 2500 km i have no problems (around 8000 km on actual pair).

[Infin1ty]

Yeah, the one spindle is shot. Speedplay does not sell the needle bearings separately. There are some aftermarket sources and they may give you some pointers on how to remove them.

From what I see, a new complete set is what you're going to need.

I can source the needle bearing without any issues, i replaced the normal bearings without any issue as well.
I followed most of the guides i saw on how to replace the needle bearing, i just couldn't take it out .

I have been using SPD-SL for about 12 years, only switched to Speedplay last year and already broke a pedal and replaced a whole set as well, I think it's just not meant to be, I don't want to adopt myself to the equipment, considering i ride about 2500km a month, I will just get back to SPD-SL which is also a good time to replace my Shoes (I have Sidi Ergo 3 with Speedplay sole) to Fizik R3B i have been craving so much lately

Thanks

[shoemakerpom2010]

As much as I like my speedplay I had the Ti's and the needle bearings were shot at about 20,000 miles. I replaced the Ti with the stainless bodies on my Ti spindle and they are much stronger but heavier.....

[lennyk]

I used to grease my speedplays and still had bearings shell,
They use tiny bearings compared to spd-sl.

I was unable to remove the needle bearing.
Still have a dismantled light action and almost new cleats so where.

[TheKaiser]

As much as I like my speedplay I had the Ti's and the needle bearings were shot at about 20,000 miles. I replaced the Ti with the stainless bodies on my Ti spindle and they are much stronger but heavier.....

Wait...which ones did you have? You had Ti spindle Zeros, or Ti spindle Zero Nanograms?

And when you replaced the "bodies" were those the whole plastic/metal pedal body with bowties, or just the bowties themselves?

I just ask because I thought the regular Zero Ti had a ti spindle and stainless bowties already, which would mean that you replaced the old ones with the same stuff, not a stronger and heavier model.

Also, you are saying that your needle bearings were shot, but your original Ti spindles were OK to reuse? If so, that is a great testament to the durability of the spindle, because other people have been complaining about even the stainless ones wearing out!

[shoemakerpom2010]

You are correct. I thought I read somewhere that the ti had used lighter bearings but not sure where I read that. The bodies I bought from here http://www.excelsports.com/search/?q=speedplay
and mine started making annoying clicking sound on the rotation after the needle bearings seized and then I replaced them. MY spindles are fine and its cheaper then a whole new pedal. The Pave' seems to be the next pedal to get as there is no plastic to where out....

[Liggero]

A lot of people just get the cromoly speeplays, which are cheaper and stronger, and replace the spindle by ti spindles. Spare bearings are sold on ebay, also the needle bearing.

Speedplay is the best pedal system, for several reason. Of course, in durability, nothing will ever beat shimano, but in terms of performace, speedplay are way better. If you do 25000Km per year, well, I do 5000Km per year, and i grease them every 750Km... They are very easy to open and maintain, they are very light and still use 3 real bearings per pedal, and no plastic bushings. Tip: don't get offical spares from speedplay, they are overpriced. Get bearings and spindles from other sources. Also you don't need to buy the speedplay grease gun, a 50 cents syrinje will work, or the usual 15$ gun for grease tubes work flawlessly too.

If you don't mind heavy pedals, with just one side entry, no perfect angle floating setup, and you want durability, get shimano. But if you do 25000Km per year, you may need to buy 5-6 pairs of shimano cleats per year.

Using the KEEP ON KOVERS for speedplay, the cleats last for ever...

[Liggero]

the link:
http://www.keeponkovers.com/Product.html

Anyways, speedplay already show in their site their "aero" cleat, that it is also protected with rubber for walking, and it is always on:

http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuse ... kablecleat