I hear all good about Speedplays, and they're an easy fix for knee alignment problems, but if you ever get the chance get looked at for patellar alignment trouble. I had my knees chewed up by cycling with femoral patella syndrome that turned into bigger problems. Iliobiotal band tightness will do this too. Red LOOK cleats shouldn't be that big a problem. The Speed plays will get you years of slack, but the second you get pain back get looked at. When I say knees chewed up, I mean no more cartilage on the back of the kneecaps, and it's a *****. It hurts. You can fix these things with exercises and improve your pedal stroke too, but once the wear happens it's arthritis and you want to avoid it!
Get on the trainer in front of a good mirror and put sticky dots on your knees, or Sharpie marker, whatever, then warm up and watch the dots. They should go straight up and down, in a straight line ( watch Lance's kneecaps in the Tour). If the dots corkscrew or oscillate or do figure eights, you have a VERY common knee alignment problem. Floatier pedals will buy you time, but you want to work on the muscles that make the patella track properly. These same exercises make you look hot in mini skirts, so don't freak. Easy and well worth it.
I had to get my kneecaps released surgicly- too many orthopods are pigs who don't beleive the female athlete is possible and so I didn't get dealt with the easy way ay twenty two, so at forty two I'm facing knee replacement. Hopefully they'll invent something better before I get that bad.
My point is, Speedplays are great, keep 'em forever, but they compensate for a biomechanical problem. You need to be aware of this to keep your knees in the best possible shape at eighty, 'cos the Bicycle Nation is the only place that will still let you wear neon spandex and think you perfectly normal at that age. Seen it, looking forward to it.

missliz

Meaning to be helpfull, not alarmist.