Speedplay Zero lateral movement onset

[taina]

Speedplay Zero pedals with Ward spindles, standard Speedplay Zero cleats, Sidi Ergo 3 shoes drilled for Speedplay, all used for a while with no problems, but also with no maintenance. The ride before last, the right shoe moved laterally away from the bike when I was applying power. Not a good feeling. After a while at low power, the lateral slip went away. I adjusted float on the cleat, manually checked solidity of cleat to shoe, pedal to spindle, and spindle to crankshaft connections, rode again, and the problem was worse. I'd appreciate suggestions on where to focus troubleshooting. Thanks.

[Stolichnaya]

If you have checked those areas mentioned above thoroughly then could you be confusing lateral movement with the classic lateral rock that develops in Speedplay? The Zero has a black metal spring in the cleat that is the piece that interfaces with the bowties on the pedal body. Check if one or both of those areas are worn down - if so, replace as you will not fix the lateral rocking (where one side of the foot can rise at an angle and make it feel like the foot is sliding sideways. This is a common problem with Speedplay; the system needs tight tolerances to keep the interface flat and stable. As you mention that you have used the set for a while with little maintenance, I suspect this is the issue. You will find a lot of forum members have changed from Speedplay because of (a) this lateral rocking and/or (b) the company's senior management are DBs.

[taina]

It's not the pedals or the cleats. I got the same lateral movement on my mountain bike, and will post on the training forum to ask about what might be going on.

Meanwhile, I can pass on that when I called Speedplay about this, the person I spoke with thought it was probably a needle bearing in the pedal.

[tinozee]

If it's not the pedals or the cleats what do you think it is? Are your shoes too wide? Or do you think the pedal is moving on the spindle? If it's the latter you should be able to move it by hand. Maybe put the old spindles back in and see if it persists.

I always have to replace the cleats when the spring stretches out and it gets sloppy as all hell. The only reason I stick with these things is the low stack.

[taina]

It's my ankle. ("Ankle" because I don't have much of a clue about which muscles/tendons/ligaments are involved.) I got the same sensation of lateral movement on my mountain bike, which has platform pedals with pins. I posted about this on the training forum.

[tinozee]

Oh I see. Good luck strengthening it up!