Speedplay Pavé Titanium Pedals and Cleats
Speedplay Pavé Titanium pedals and cleats have been designed to cope with the harshest riding conditions, clearing mud and grit, low profile, stable and lightweight these pedals are a no compromise option.
They look great to. We test this pedal and cleat pairing from Speedplay.
Photography - Andrew Clifforth
About
Speedplay pedals have always stood out from the pack with their unique design and approach. Speedplay has a long history in cycling, their products have taken some of the best riders in the world to some of their best performances.
We’ve been sent some top spec'd Speedplay Pavé Titanium Pedals and Cleats by FRF Sports. This pedal has been designed and built by the team at Speedplay to come with some of the harshest conditions in road cycling. The European Classics.
With a distinctive design, even from other Speedplay pedals, the Pavé Titanium’s are designed to allow the rider to clear mud from the cleat through cut away sections of the pedal.
The Pavé Titanium’s are dual sided, basically meaning you can clip in on either side of the pedal. Add in Speedplay’s list of benfits including high stability, micro-adjustable float and low profile to inprove cornering clearance and efficiency and these pedals promise bid things.
Quality
The Pavé pedals are perfectly crafted. From the presentation to the build quality we could not fault this top of the line offering.
The bearings are super smooth and the low profile of the pedals have been cut back to a point where there is no excess material. The cleat is made up of plastic and metal sections, with medal being used where there are any contact points with the ground or edal.
Ride
The Pavé Titanium’s have one of the most distinctive looks of all pedals I have ever seen with their cut away sections. The diminutive pedals look tiny sitting on the end of the cranks.
As Shimano, Campagnolo and Look are our the pedals I use day to day, I did find it took quite a while to get used to clipping into the Speedplay Pavé Titanium’s. Once in the feel was great. The float was great out of the box with no adjustment and the feel was really secure. No accidental clip outs.
Adjusting float is really simple. The pedal can be set for just about any setting you want from fixed through to 15 degrees. There’s fore-aft, side-to-side and rotational adjustability to help you find the perfect set up.
We took the Pavé Titanium’s out in the mud to see how they managed. The results were pleasing. They were definitely better than traditional ‘round’ speedplay pedals, and while tricky when the cleach was packed with dirt with a bit of twisting things were cleared and we were able to clip in.
One thing that we had to watch for were the angled edges of the pedal, if you miss a clip in in the wet, or when it’s muddy, or if you you are wheeling you bike along you really don’t want to catch any part of you leg on these pedals as you could receive a nasty injury.
Moving from Shimano I personally found the ability to clip in on either side of the pedal a really nice feature. It allows you to keep your eyes forward.
Off the bike the Speedplay cleats were pretty tough to walk in, we’d definitely recommend getting some Speedplay ‘coffee covers’ for both safety and to protect the cleats as they are around $75 per pair to replace.
Setup
Speedplay cleats can be quite intimidating to the untrained Speedplay user. However, following the instructions resulted in a reasonably pain free set up. We’d recommend you get your locl bike shop or bike fitter to help you set up these (or any) pedals and a poorly set up pedal and cleat can be both dangerous and cause long term injury.
If you don’t have 4-hole shoes you can still use the Pavé Titanium’s using an included plastic fitting. This dies howver add 3mm to the stack hight taking it from 8.5mm to 11.5mm and reduces some of the benefits including efficiency of power transfer, of the lower profile pedal. It also reults in an increase in weight of 48grams for the pair.
Weight
Pedals – 188 grams (pair)
3 hole shoes – Cleat 82 grams (Pair)
4 hole shoes - Cleat 130 grams (Pair)
Price
RRP $499 – Top of the line Titanium.
If you can handle an extra 25 grams per pedal the Stainless version of the Speedplay Pavé’s will set you back around $335
Where to Buy
Head to FRF Sports to find your nearest stockist.
Overall
The pedal looks like it will last an eternity with the right care. The cleats look will need to be protected though and you’ll need to be extra careful walking around.
If you want top end titanium goodness, mud clearing ability, like the dual sided feature and want to stand out from the masses and make your bike look great the Speedplay Pavé Titanium Pedals and Cleats are well worth a look
La Velocita. Real testing.
We are not paid for tests or product reviews. The views expressed by La Velocita are our opinion alone. We test by choice and are committed to sharing our thoughts.
