Quote Originally Posted by Onix View Post
Wahine: About the speed play having less of a connected base to push off compared to other pedals.... I was under the impression that the bases of cycling shoes were made of hard plastic/carbon to counteract that sort of effect. I was thinking that once shoes were connected to the pedal, they almost became one piece together. If the base of the shoe collapsed around the pedal, then yes, extra pressure would come onto wherever the shoe was connected to the pedal. But, with hard based shoes, shouldn't there not be extra pressure where the speed play pedal connects with the shoe? Since the shoe base is hard? Shouldn't pressure be distributed all the way around???
That's what the manufacturers would say and in theory I wouldn't disagree with that if the interface (transition points between parts of the shoe and pedal) was perfect. But it's not. At every interface you introduce a certain amount of play. It might be very small but it's there. The more play, the more the forces at the interface can affect contact surface etc. So speedplays have a double whammy here. The have more play at the cleat/pedal interface and they have more interfaces between the pedal and the shoe - pedal to cleat, engaging part of cleat to stabilizing part of cleat, stabilized part of cleat to triangular cleat base, triangular cleat base to shoe. My Looks go pedal to cleat (which is all one piece and has less play) cleat to cleat base in shoe. I'm sure that this is a great explanation but it is the best theory I have.

So really, I'm not positive what's going on here, I've noted the difference clinically and through my coaching experience and that's the best explanation I can come up with. All I can say for sure is that my clients with forefoot issues almost always do better with a larger cleat base/pedal, especially the ultra riders I work with.


Hope that helps.