The Low-Down on Road Pedals -- gimme yer thoughts

[hulagirl]

There are a couple of instances where I think the Speedplays could be problematic, though. We don't have a paved driveway, so there's no easy way to come and go without walking through a mix of sand/dirt/grass for a short distance on a regular basis.

Totally understandable. I too do not have a paved area from my back door to the road. Again, my yard is sand with a bit of topsoil to hold what little grass we have. I have not had any problems.

I also do at least 1 race/year with a grass transition area and a few yards of running on asphalt before we can mount and after we dismount. Looking at the Speedplay cleats makes me assume that these scenarios could really cause some headaches, since the mechanical bits are on the shoe, rather than on the pedal.

I compete in triathlons so I have experienced every type of transition you could imagine. (Ok, except for gravel!) All of them take place at the beach. The longest transition I had to do was a run with our bikes for a quarter of a mile down the bike path. You could run on the paved path or run in the sand. Both were evil! I did not have any issue clipping in our out after that triathlon.

And I should note that I'm covered in salt water when I get on my bike. I do not race in socks, so the salt water is dripping down into my shoes and everything is covered in sand, dirt, leaves, sticks. That's part of triathlon.

Again, I do not think pro/elite/age group triathletes would compete in SpeedPlays if there were concerns or issues with the cleats.

There are other reasons to not try them, but cleat issues with dirt/sand just doesn't happen.