Speedplay Zero Stainless Pedal

Reduced stack height

Then there’s the riding experience… Upon testing on my indoor trainer the sensation of riding with the Speedplay pedal and its reduced stack height was immediately noticeable against the usual pedal on my other foot. It would be even more pronounced on a Speedplay specific sole (Speedplay have a great illustrative photo on their website which for some bizarre reason they refuse to share); overall though you do have this sensation of feeling more ‘connected’ to the pedals. It is a hard thing to explain but you feel ‘deeper into’ the pedals, especially initially. I can, as of yet, only speculate how good it would be on a Speedplay specific soled shoe; apparently I will have to drop my saddle height…

How big are those differences in stack height? Well with a normal shoe and pedal, it can be some 18mm or more. With Speedplay on a normal sole you reduce it to around 12mm. However, get yourself a Speedplay specific soled shoe from the likes of Lake, DMT, Gaerne, SiDi, or the new innovative system used on Northwave shoes, and you can drop that to just 8mm. That is a huge, huge difference and based on my experience with non-Speedplay soles, you will definitely notice it. One of the team will endeavour to test a Speedplay soled shoe with these pedals over the next couple of months so we can confirm this.

Close up of Speedplay cleat and stack height on a non-Speedplay sole

Float – too much of a good thing?

Whilst the stack height is a real positive, it takes a while to get used to all that float… And not so great was the immediate sensation of all that float; far too much ‘easy’ floating. I’ve heard it described as like skidding or ice skating and I’d have to agree. At first it was very odd with one Speedplay pedal attached to one foot and my usual pedal to the other. It made the skating sensation very noticeable. Uncomfortably so. When both pedals were fitted it soon becomes the norm though.

And this is where the easy set-up of the cleats comes into its own. You can dial in the amount of float so precisely that I found you can almost tune out the worst of the unwanted ‘skating’. However, interestingly after a while using the pedals I have actually added more float back into the cleats, as its something I now value over my previous ‘fixed’ position. That float not only helps your knees but I am convinced also helps your hips by recruiting more of the supporting musculature involved in the pedalling stroke, lessening the chances any overuse injuries.

Six months later I still notice the skating feeling more than with other pedal systems, but I only ever notice it when the ride or race first starts and soon forget about it. And I have not noticed any loss in performance at all. Even in full-on sprints I have felt secure and powerful…

Speedplay Zero Stainless side view showing stack height

Increased contact area

Speedplay claim to offer increased contact area, with the Zero sporting 2849.2 mm² against 2106.0 MM² for Shimano SPD-SL and 1708.5mm² for the Look Keo. As for any resultant increase in power output as a result of this, it’s almost impossible to quantify, even if trying to measure it. Any improvement would be so negligible and dependent on other external factors. Needless to say you can get the power down, even in sprints, as with most decent pedals. Judging by the pro road racers that use them such as Peter Sagan and Wiggins they must be good, and with the likes of Marty Nothstein, they’ll obviously cope with track sprints!

Speedplay Zero Stainless lollipop offers increased contact area over other systems