Wahoo speedplay zero - weird side to side movement

[ms6073]

It was a proven design that needed zero - zero - modification. But they somehow re-engineered the design and ended up with a worse product. WTF?

The original Speedplay pedals used a design in which the outer bearing was pressed in from the outboard side and the pedal assembly was held in place by the end screw. Wahoo's new design places the bearings and spacer on the spindle which is then pressed into the pedal body afterwhich the retaining bolt/screw that has been treated with industrial locktite is torqued into place. So with the new design, the internal tolerances of the channel in which the spindle has been pressed are all that prevent the pedal body from moving laterally over the bearings and even with exact tolerances, I suspect that over time and under normal use, all of these pedals will develop an issue with lateral play. Maybe someone with an appropriate cutting tool - maybe a bench top band saw -can cut a Wahoo pedal body in half to better illustrate the issue.

[Nixster]

It was a proven design that needed zero - zero - modification.

I don't think there are engineers purposely design something that will be worst. I also think it's flawed thinking to believe that. Yes, there are engineers that are idiots, but what industry does not have those people?

I have the original Speedplay pedals and their bodies wore out quickly. That needed a redesign and with the new pedals, I think that was an improvement to that problem. There are plenty of issues with the older pedal that could be redesigned to make them better.

Do I believe this newly designed pedal is better? No, which is why I am waiting for others to say the problems are fixed before I spend $1000 for a set.

I am no engineer and I find it facinating that such a simple machine can't be made reliable or can't be fixed quickly [whatever they may have done wrong]. I really hope they get some type of answer. Of course, Wahoo must believe there is a problem before they can fix it. As long as they do not believe there is a problem, there's really is no reason to fix something that is not broken. I do not know what their warranty fix rate is and I don't think anyone here does either. If it is under .5%, it's hard to believe a fix is on the fast track. I bet Wahoo has bigger fish to fry too.

I am an engineer and we design to a set of constraints.
The original design body did wear on the outside leading to rocking of the cleat on the pedals. The needle bearings needed regular greasing, which got blown up into them being a hassle to own. Wahoo fixed both of those issues, but using regular cartridge bearings and maintaining the low stack height, plus keeping production costs down, got them where they ended up.
Is there a design that hits all those targets plus bombproof reliability? Pass.
I prefer the compromises of the previous design personally but all designs have compromises. I'd like the ring replacement for the bow ties and the original bearings but that won't sell in a world where people don't like to do maintenance.

[goodboyr]

Late to this party but I wonder whether it's the same wahoo engineering team that screwed up the pulley lock key design in the version 5 kickr. That was a terrible, bad engineering design. They did not adhere to the proper engineering standards for the key and keyway, and pretty well every kickr started to develop vibration due to the pulley loosening. This sounds eerily similar.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[EdWiser]

I have two wahoo speed play pedals no issues with either set.

[beppissimo]

It was a proven design that needed zero - zero - modification. But they somehow re-engineered the design and ended up with a worse product. WTF?

The original Speedplay pedals used a design in which the outer bearing was pressed in from the outboard side and the pedal assembly was held in place by the end screw. Wahoo's new design places the bearings and spacer on the spindle which is then pressed into the pedal body afterwhich the retaining bolt/screw that has been treated with industrial locktite is torqued into place. So with the new design, the internal tolerances of the channel in which the spindle has been pressed are all that prevent the pedal body from moving laterally over the bearings and even with exact tolerances, I suspect that over time and under normal use, all of these pedals will develop an issue with lateral play. Maybe someone with an appropriate cutting tool - maybe a bench top band saw -can cut a Wahoo pedal body in half to better illustrate the issue.

the new wahoo pedal is indeed serviceable, but because the body is only accessible from the spindle side, it is a little harder to disassemble as there is just one, difficult to access, snap ring holding the bearing assembly in place (it is not pressed in!), other then the easier to access sirclip on the outboard of the original body.
this also means that the side to side movement must result from either the body bore or the spindle being out of tolerance. i now have a replacement set of third party spindles and also a new pedal body, i will test both combinations over the next months and report back which one is to blame.
for reference, just my first set of nanogram pedals i received right after the launch had the side to side issue, while the replacement, as well as my set of power pedals are flawless after 4-6k km each.
and as has been stated before, i think the redesign IS an improvement especially regarding the stainless 360° ring on the body which avoids the body to wear.

notice how the snap ring is almost invisible

bearing and almost invisible snap ring.png (366.6 KiB) Viewed 802 times

inner assembly parts

ps: i have no affilaition with wahoo/speedplay whatsoever, i'm just a fan of the product

[bikeboy1tr]

Thanks for doing this beppissimo as this gives me more confidence in being able to service these pedals if and when I decide to purchase. Looking forward to your results.

[scico]

In my opinion the problem is not servicing but the lateral play and I bet that you cn't solve it by servicing

[bikeboy1tr]

Yes but he is trying to establish what exactly is causing that lateral play and then perhaps we can address that on our own. If its the spindle we can replace it with something better as we typically do or if its poor cheap brgings we can also replace those as well but if its the body then we might be screwed unless someone is pretty handy with a 3D printer.

[ms6073]

the new wahoo pedal is indeed serviceable, but because the body is only accessible from the spindle side, it is a little harder to disassemble as there is just one, difficult to access, snap ring holding the bearing assembly in place (it is not pressed in!), other then the easier to access sirclip on the outboard of the original body.

Thanks for the clarification on the technical details as that actually adds clarification on how the lateral play develops. So since Wahoo removed the outboard circlip, wouldn't that mean that technically the assembly is pressfit in nature as it is dependent on the inner bore dimensions for the outter bearing to seat, thus preventing the bearings from going all the way though?

[beppissimo]

Thanks for the clarification on the technical details as that actually adds clarification on how the lateral play develops. So since Wahoo removed the outboard circlip, wouldn't that mean that technically the assembly is pressfit in nature as it is dependent on the inner bore dimensions for the outter bearing to seat, thus preventing the bearings from going all the way though?

the bore is not throughout, this way the circlip can be avoided as the two bearings, the distance ring and the gasket assemby buttom out. the snap ring inboard ends up holding the assemby in place without it to be pressfit. hope that helps.

[frostorama]

FYI

My Wahoo Nano's developed lateral play in both pedals after 3450km's. They are being replaced under warranty with Wahoo; hopefully the next pair will last longer!

[naavt]

The issue is so widespread it must have showed up in testing before they launched (2 years ago or more)? And surely an engineer either at Wahoo or more likely the manufacturer has designed and tested a fix. Presumably it's cheaper for them to continue on like this though ... until the reputation gets so bad they can't sell them anymore. And that might be a way off - the Wahoo branding likely introduced many new people to the pedals, most of whom aren't aware of the issue or don't ride enough to manifest it.

Zero issues so far on 2 sets: one Powrlinks and a Nano ones. Probably I'm one of the lucky guys (and expect to continue that way )

Making around 15k per year on Powrlinks and about 4K on Nanos

[JayOJonson]

I've just cooked my third set of powrlinks, quite annoying really. Lateral movement on non drive side this time

[GaBa]

Yeah, seems to still be an issue. No way am I ready to risk it with power meter speedplays. It looks like it is either Assioma or new Looks.

[EdWiser]

6000 miles no issues.