That's One Way to Do It

Even though I have been using Speedplay pedals since sometime in the 1990s, when Wahoo Fitness bought the company in 2019 I didn't give it a lot of thought. I just assumed things would go on, and on. And on, just like the pedal / cleat systems have. With all that metal they last a long time. Indeed, years have gone by with hardly as much as a glance at their condition. Well, last weekend I did just that, I gave them the once over and realized that, damn, I need some new cleats!

Now, don't judge them by the photos, they weren't that bad (I had been hacking, sawing, prying, bending and breaking the second one, before deciding the exercise might just be blogable and photo worthy), but the screws holding the face plate were so worn down that, in three of the four, there was nowhere to slot the screwdriver. To my mind, that meant one thing - it was hacksaw time. A short time later, a second pair of Speedplay cleats had given way to a serrated edge. That is a compliment, by the way, to the durability of those older (pre Wahoo) attachments. In the more than twenty-five years I have ridden with Speedplay pedals, I replaced the cleats - once! Before Speedplay became my favored pedal system, I used Look pedals; I never had the same problem with them, since the plastic cleat part would always wear down long before the screws.

The new Wahoo generation Speedplay cleats are installed and, though at first look they don't appear to be as durable, only time will tell. They've got a heck of a legacy to live up to.