BTP Speedplay Bowties... Fail?

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jvanv8
Posts: 945
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:37 pm
Location: Northeast USA

by jvanv8

I ordered some BTP Bowties for my Speedplay X1 pedals and well, they don't seem to fit (unless I am really missing something). The instructions say that you may need to file the bowties a little to make them fit (and tapping them into place with a soft mallet). After some filing the fit still seemed tight in some areas (center of the bowtie) and loose in others (outer parts... enough that dirt could get in) but it seemed that it might tighten up once the bolts were in place...

I reached for the bolts and... they're not even close to the original speedplay bolts. Now questioning the fabrication methods, I looked at the other bowties... 2 bowties are filed off around the edges, and 2 are not (and it looks as though they may not line up).

What is going on here? I often drool over the pricey BTP goodies and finally decided to actually buy some weenie products... and unless I'm missing something, got burned.
FWIW, I got the bowties from DuLight.fr
Here's some pics:
BTP Aluminum bolt on Left, original Speedplay bolt on right: (I'll even overlook the sketchy aluminum shard from machining)
Image

2 BTP Bowties, apparently different. (I know the lighting is weird, but you can see that the left is filed off on all 4 corners, and the right has sharp edges (which when mounted, do not appear to line up correctly... a little oversize)
Image


Any ideas?
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The Stig
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by The Stig

Those bowties will probably wear out much faster than the OEM ones. That upgrade will probably have no performance value at all....
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jvanv8
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by jvanv8

regardless, they are uninstallable... as it appears.
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mythical
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by mythical

Man, these BTP butterflies ain't cool. Sorry about it, man.

I'm still wondering... Is there a more durable tuning solution? Has anyone ever made bowties out of titanium?
“I always find it amazing that a material can actually sell a product when it’s really the engineering that creates and dictates how well that material will behave or perform.” — Chuck Teixeira

The Stig
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Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:19 am

by The Stig

jvanv8 wrote:regardless, they are uninstallable... as it appears.

hate to break it to you buddy, but that's a waste of money.....not to mention time...
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pk0r
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by pk0r

I wouldn't agree. The BTP bowties work adequately well. For sure you won't get the same life of them as with the standard steel ones, but they are easily good enough for 10-15,000kms (how often does one click in and out anyways?)
To me it seems as you have been shipped the version for Speedplay Zero pedals instead of the ones for your X-Series pedals though.

There have also already been some guys on Light-Bikes.de to have some Ti butterflies custom build - including Ti bolts these have been good for weightsavings of 18g over the stock steel/steel combo.
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Johnny Rad
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by Johnny Rad

I don't think Bernard @ BTP sells bolts with his inserts, right? I honestly can't recall. Or am I confusing them with the inserts from BC2A?!

Anyhow, my first set of BTP inserts worked great. I accept the fact they don't last forever and ordered another set. 20g savings are 20g!

My second set of brand new BTP inserts are currently missing in action - lost in my house or garage somewhere. Ugh!

My lightweight replacement bolts from Toronto Cycles are ready and waiting for the happy day that I stumble into the lost inserts.

LegalizeMyCAAD9
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:50 pm

by LegalizeMyCAAD9

Johnny Rad wrote:My lightweight replacement bolts from Toronto Cycles



I was just thinking about Toronto Cycles - they also have bowties for Speedplay - has anyone tried those? Are they good?

Johnny Rad
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by Johnny Rad

Update:

I just rec'd another Speedplay "insert" order from Bernhard at BTP. He included 5 lightweight bolts / screws with my order and four of them weighed in at 2-3g.

By comparison, the Toronto Cycles insert bolts weighted in at 5g for the four.

Also, my last set of BTP inserts wasn't actually missing in action as I mentioned above. I had installed them and totally forgotten! So, when I went looking for the package from BTP multiple times over the course of the last couple of weeks, no wonder I couldn't find it. I figured it out when I took off what I thought were the original Speedplay inserts this afternoon and was shocked by how light they felt. Oops! I guess it's not all bad to have a back-up set on hand. [With respect to the OP, it's worth mentioning that my "lost" BTP set of inserts and bolts went on without any issues.]

jvanv8
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by jvanv8

Johnny Rad wrote:Update:

I just rec'd another Speedplay "insert" order from Bernhard at BTP. He included 5 lightweight bolts / screws with my order and four of them weighed in at 2-3g.

By comparison, the Toronto Cycles insert bolts weighted in at 5g for the four.
[With respect to the OP, it's worth mentioning that my "lost" BTP set of inserts and bolts went on without any issues.]

Glad Bernhard at BTP helped you out, I didn't get a response.
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