SPEEDPLAY Pedals; The Verdict

I have been using SPEEDPLAY Pedals on all three of my bikes (road, time trial and track) for almost three months now, after having spent many years on another type of pedal. I have been using the following models:

Road and Time Trial Bike: ZERO (click)

Track Bike: AERO (click)

If you search online, you will find some talk of how difficult and tricky they are to set up. Honestly, I didn't find that at all. There are a few more steps to set up compared to other pedals, but if you follow the instructions, it is no issue at all. SPEEDPLAY make some excellent 'how to' videos which are really useful:

The one thing I was worried about when changing pedals, was the float. My previous brand had a lot of float and this always worked well for me because I have always had 'twitchy' feet and tend to move around a lot. The float in the SPEEDPLAY Pedals works very well and is extremely adjustable. This adjustment is also covered in the above video.

There is a little ongoing maintenance with SPEEDPLAY Pedals which is not the norm for other brands. Having said that, it is as simple as using a little grease now and then and the occasional squirt of dry lube on the cleats. This is covered in the below video:

Set up was very easy once the cleats were installed. Stack height on these pedals is very low and I was lucky enough to not require any seat height adjustment at all. I set my pedals up on a three bolt shoe, using the SPEEDPLAY four bolt adapter and it worked perfectly.

Without a doubt though, the best thing about these pedals (and the biggest difference when comparing to my previous pedals), is the power transmission. There is a positive and direct relationship between your foot and the pedal and it feels like no power is being lost. This is especially the case for big power efforts out of the seat both on the open road and on the velodrome.

So in summary, this change has been a positive one for me. Old habits die hard and after so many years on my previous system, I was a little stubborn about the change. No regrets at all now as I am overwhelmingly pleased with the performance of these SPEEDPLAY Pedals.

Disclaimer: I am supplied with pedals by SPEEDPLAY. 

Race Report: Queensland Road Teams Series (QRTS) Gympie, 2-3 September 2017

QRTS racing is pretty much as hard as it gets in Queensland. I was racing in a six man squad with my Toowoomba based Colliers International Racing Team. Joining me would be Jonathan Curry, Taj Jones, Jono Noble, Louis Pijpers and Trent West. A real mix of youth and experience with Jono Noble by far our strongest rider after some great performances at QRTS and NRS level this year. With three stages across two days on what looked like some brutal courses, it was always going to be a tough weekend.

Stage 1 - 123 km Road Race:

With 2,000m of climbing, this was always going to be a difficult one for me. For the first time in a long time, my legs were not great. I was literally in trouble from the start and ended up popping from the front group at the 30km mark on a steep berg. There were literally bodies strewn all over the road and I did manage to find myself in little groups from time to time. Having said that, I was on my lonesome for probably 60km or so. I ended up 66th of the ninety starters, which is probably not too bad given the amount of climbing and the quality of the field. My concern though, was my shitty legs. Not something I have experienced in a long while. 

Stage 2 - 55 minutes + 2 laps Criterium

As is so often the case with me, the second day of a weekend race brings better legs and that is exactly what happened. This one was a fast and furious affair with an average speed of a touch over 45.5 km/h. One highlight for me was cutting through a corner a touch fast and shoulder charging a giant plastic bollard, which in turn sailed onto the footpath sending spectators scattering. I was happy to spice up their Sunday morning. I finished safely in the main bunch and was very pleased with that.

Stage 3 - 31 km Team Time Trial

We returned to the road race course from the day before, albeit with a different start and finish point. We were up against it right from the start. Taj withdrew after a spill in the criterium and Jonathan succumbed to an injury very early, leaving four of us on the road. The time is taken on the fourth rider so we had to stay together no matter what. Louis was having a tough day out but he fought gallantly and we looked after him to make sure we made it to the line together. We ended up 9th of the fifteen teams which is not a bad result all things considered. The good news for me was that again my legs were feeling good and I was happy with how I rode. 

So there you have it, a very tough weekend of racing which has hopefully set me up well for the Masters Queensland Road Race Championships this coming Saturday. A huge thank you to Colliers International Racing Team and all our sponsors for making opportunities like this possible. We also had plenty of support on the sidelines from friends and family and that is also very much appreciated. Finally....credit young photographer extraordinaire, Josh Curry, for the photos. 

Race Report: Queensland Individual Time Trial Championships, 19 August 2017

This was my last crack at winning the state time trial title for 40-44 years men (I go up to the 45-49 division next year). I had previously finished 5th (2013), 3rd (2014) and 2nd (2016). The course was on North Stradbroke Island. I have some strong views about this location and course, but Cycling Queensland's Social Media Policy prevents me from making further comment. 

It was an exceptionally windy day and (like may others) I had no opportunity to ride the course before the day. It was 20km out and back with quite a few hills. Overall, I felt pretty good and managed to keep the power where it should have been. The hills were a lot steeper than I expected and this definitely knocked my time around as I needed to put a lot of watts out to prevent slowing down too much. I ended up riding 29 min 46 sec, which was good enough for second place. I was beaten by a rider from NSW (Ben Neppl) so as much as I don't have the title, I was at least the fastest Queenslander on the day. No shame in losing to Ben though, he is a good bike rider and rode an impressive 29 min 02 sec which was one of the fastest 20km times across all divisions on the day. Ben and I have raced each other on the track previously and recently shared two podiums at the Masters Track Nationals in Sydney.

So there you have it, not quite what I wanted, but happy all the same. I also managed to represent both of my registered kits on the day!