Closest gravel pedal to speedplay?

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ccie6872
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by ccie6872

I am mainly a roady venturing into gravel. I have been riding with speedplay for many years mainly for the float offered. I have a few anatomical things going on that the free float (inward/outward) in speedplay (15 degrees) treats my body well. Is there a pedal you would recommend that provides a ton of float for gravel?

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ryanw
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by ryanw

Xpedo M-Force 8's have a LOT of float when used on their loosest setting with Shimano cleats.

Just back from using mine for the first time on my UPPER, and almost stacked in trying to unclip. Had to turn my heel out to about 45° to unclip.

Adjusted the sprint tension and now much improved for my preferred disengagement.

Really rate the pedals too (from one 40km gravel ride).
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Dat
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by Dat

Is that free float though? I use Time atac xc pedals as they provide fairly free float like speedplay.

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cerro
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by cerro

Crank Brothers, both Candy and Eggbeater has alot of float. More than Time it feels like

jrod88
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by jrod88

Try and find some frogs if you can.

The times don't have the total degrees, but it's so free it's almost like not being clipped in. They don't have have the shims eggbeaters do.
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RyanH
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by RyanH

You can buy knockoff Speedplay Paves from ebay (and Amazon apparently). I haven't tested them in the dirt but I think they'd be okay for occasional stepping into dirt. If you're going to be hiking a bike, you'll want proper MTB shoes though as they are a lot more comfortable to do that.

fourfa
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by fourfa

+1 for SPDs with broken-in cleats. I also *loved* speedplay as a roadie but combination of toxic behavior by the company, unwalkable and expensive cleats, and switching to primarily gravel and touring drove me away.

Anyway the SPDs I've used (several normal Shimano pedals, and the Xpedo pedals mentioned above) have worked for me despite wanting the same icy, wide range float with no spring recentering. The key is that they'll be too tight and friction-y when brand new. You can just wear them in, or seriously, do a little light polishing of the cleats to skip ahead. Minimal dremel, light felt pad, light rouge - don't go overboard and round out important edges. You'll know when to replace when they feel awesomely floaty but you can't stay clipped in in hard sprints any more.

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ms6073
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by ms6073

RyanH wrote:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:57 pm
haven't tested them in the dirt but I think they'd be okay for occasional stepping into dirt.
The wife originially road with Speedplay Zero's on her gravel bike for several months, but I convinced her to swap to Shimano XTR after a mildly muddy ride in which grit, grime, and microscopic pebbles got into in the springs of her cleats, making it impossible for her to un-clip unassisted!
Last edited by ms6073 on Tue Oct 26, 2021 6:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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bobrayner
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by bobrayner

fourfa wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:17 am
+1 for SPDs with broken-in cleats. I also *loved* speedplay as a roadie but combination of toxic behavior by the company, unwalkable and expensive cleats, and switching to primarily gravel and touring drove me away.

Anyway the SPDs I've used (several normal Shimano pedals, and the Xpedo pedals mentioned above) have worked for me despite wanting the same icy, wide range float with no spring recentering. The key is that they'll be too tight and friction-y when brand new. You can just wear them in, or seriously, do a little light polishing of the cleats to skip ahead. Minimal dremel, light felt pad, light rouge - don't go overboard and round out important edges. You'll know when to replace when they feel awesomely floaty but you can't stay clipped in in hard sprints any more.
fourfa is wise.
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by RyanH

ms6073 wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 4:57 pm
The wife originially road with Speedplay Zero's on her gravel bike for several months, but I convincered her to swap to Shimano XTR after a mildly muddy ride in which grit, grime, and microscopic pebbles got into in the springs of her cleats, making impossible for her to un-clip unassisted!
I'm surprised it took that long. Just one unfortunate misstep into dirt with regular speedplay and it's near impossible to clip back in. Supposedly the Pave's improve that though.

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nickf
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by nickf

I have been running the Pave pedals for a few seasons now. They have been great. I don't unclip and hike a bike so never really had an issue with them binding up.

rothwem
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by rothwem

bobrayner wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:59 pm
fourfa wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:17 am
+1 for SPDs with broken-in cleats. I also *loved* speedplay as a roadie but combination of toxic behavior by the company, unwalkable and expensive cleats, and switching to primarily gravel and touring drove me away.

Anyway the SPDs I've used (several normal Shimano pedals, and the Xpedo pedals mentioned above) have worked for me despite wanting the same icy, wide range float with no spring recentering. The key is that they'll be too tight and friction-y when brand new. You can just wear them in, or seriously, do a little light polishing of the cleats to skip ahead. Minimal dremel, light felt pad, light rouge - don't go overboard and round out important edges. You'll know when to replace when they feel awesomely floaty but you can't stay clipped in in hard sprints any more.
fourfa is wise.
Very wise indeed! I used speedplays on the road too and SPD's are just as gentle on my knees as the speedplays are, maybe even moreso.

Something to note with SPDs though is that the shoe makes a big difference to the feel of the pedal, since the rubber around the cleat is contacting the pedal body and supports a lot of the pushing forces. This means that if you've got super sticky rubber around the cleat hole, then your float is going to be friction-y. I think this is one of the reasons that Shimano used a slightly harder and slippery rubber on the RX-8 shoe, and made the pedal contact area really smooth.

Image

This also means that as your shoe sole wears, you'll get more rocking play in your pedals. This actually was good for my knees, though it makes the pedals feel less secure. It made for a bit of a transition though when I switched to new shoes, there was less freedom than I was used to.

eljamoquio
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by eljamoquio

I'm surprised there aren't more people recommending Speedplay Frogs.

I use zeros on road bikes, and frogs on CX. I might switch my road bike over to frogs.

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by CampagYOLO

eljamoquio wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:33 am
I'm surprised there aren't more people recommending Speedplay Frogs.

I use zeros on road bikes, and frogs on CX. I might switch my road bike over to frogs.
Well they're discontinued which may be why.

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OnTheRivet
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by OnTheRivet

cerro wrote:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:49 pm
Crank Brothers, both Candy and Eggbeater has alot of float. More than Time it feels like
I run Crankbrothers because of that extra float as when racing mtb I used to unclip from Shimano pedals when jumping and moving my legs. Also, almost ALL world cup Downhill racers run Crankbrothers for this reason.

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