Experience with Keywin pedals

[cmbicycles]

I picked up a bike that has Keywin pedals on it... no cleats otherwise I'd just try them out myself.
I checked the website out online and they seem a decent quality pedal in person and by reading some online. I'm curious if anyone has compared them directly to speedplay x-series as that is what I currently ride. I figure I will eventually either order some cleats and try them a while or send them to ebay, but looking for impressions between these and speedplay. Thanks.

[beeemmjay]

Can't compare to Speedplay, as I tried Keywins after riding Look pedals. Tried them for part of a season, really just for a change, and also a friend had recommended them. The main reason I went back to Look was for what I experienced as an easier re-centering from stop to start: the Keywins never seemed to be right side up for me to re-engage after a stop. I did like the connection though - clicking in was definite; although it did take a little getting used to as it is different to the Look toe in, heel down. In terms of overall pedal feeling while pedaling, I can't remember there being a huge difference between the two, but again, that's comparing to Look. If you've already got the pedals, why not grab some cleats and give 'em a whirl.

[martl]

I bought 2 pairs of Keywin TI pedals in my weight wheenie days (2003) and i still use them today. They have quite an unique way of providing lateral freedom, as the whole of the pedal is connected to the pedal axle by rubber bushings, and the cleat is somewhat "fixed" to the platform.
A second unique point is that all areas that are providing fixation are "inward" and so are immune to damage to the cleat (from walking, for example).
My last pair of cleats i used several years and was only "finished" when the plastic had worn so thin that it broke (upper right hole on the pic). Function of that piece of cheese on the right was as on day 1 until the very end.



After getting used to the particular way they feel, which is unlike spring-operated pedals i've used, i loved them (figures).
They provide a solid platform without any hint of wobbliness, yet an almost resistance-free lateral freedom. (the package contained tiny parts that allowed reduction of the lateral float as well as variations of the Q-factor - never tried them, my knees love float).

Didn't cost an arm and a leg, too. There used to be all parts available as spares and they are easy to disassemble. Bearing quality might be of better quality from the looks of them, but then i never had to replace them.

On the downside, they look rather cheap with a lot of seemingly low-quality parts. But they just lasted, lasted and lasted.

Support was friendly, too.

[ultraman6970]

CM.... those pedals had been around for at least 25 years, remember their 1st iterations and since back then that i want to try them but never been able to nail a set for the right price. They changed the design to a look type of cleat maybe 10+ years ago???So far I know those things are the bomb and thats why I have them in my list of stuff to try.

One of the things I like is that since the way the cleat works is like backwards the cleat should last pretty much forever, talking about cleats, check the model you have because they have 2 different models and the cleats are not the same. I do not know if the shape or the material of the cleat is different or both.

[Veloo]

I've never ridden Speedplay but I've been riding Keywins for several years now.
I've ridden Look from the 90's to early 2000, SPD road and Time Impacts. I like the feel of the Keywins the best. I find it just has a nicer, more secure feeling than the others. I went back to the Impacts briefly (like 5 minutes) cuz those were my 2nd fav but I felt like I was sliding around too much and the smaller surface area was very noticeable after riding the Keywins for so long.
I was able to transition to the different mode of entry after just one ride. The position of the pedal during re-entry doesn't bug me. I don't really see it as a con.
The only things I wish they had are availability in an LBS vs online only (although customer service is really good) and some more left-right positioning of the cleat would be nice too. As others have said, the cleats are slippery cuz they are all plastic with no rubber sections.
I've also had to cut the cleat screws down in length but you can buy shorter screws from Keywin.
I know there are other posts on the forum with positive feedback as well. If I had extra cleats, I'd send you a pair. I do recommend you give them a try. The cleats are relatively cheap and worth the experimentation.

[ultraman6970]

Iver read that left-right positioning of the cleat is something that people talk about, always you can file the cleat a little bit to give more adjustability? Well there is a reason they have longer axles aswell, I think they could sell the pedals with an extra set of longer axles would be cool.

[martl]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Iver read that left-right positioning of the cleat is something that people talk about, always you can file the cleat a little bit to give more adjustability? Well there is a reason they have longer axles aswell, I think they could sell the pedals with an extra set of longer axles would be cool.

The pedals are offered with 5 different axle lengths. Movement btw cleat and pedal by filing the cleat would defy the principle of the pedal.

http://www.keywin.com/shop.php?ln=Pe...00067400000000

[jds108]

Love my Keywins, but they aren't pretty. Since your heel movement doesn't rely on the cleat sliding against the pedal body, the cleats don't get 'loose' in the pedal body over time. Their action is consistent. Seems that the bearings are shielded nicely as I don't have to overhaul them either.

[rustychisel]

Love my Keywins. have 5 sets and three pairs of shoes set up for them. Light, indestructible (pretty much), excellent float, excellent big 'footprint'. They're also very very secure in retention.

If you have trouble clipping in then there are easier systems, but if you learned to tap the pedal with your toe to bring it into position it's not a problem.

Keywins are one sided, and generally unbalanced so they hang nose down like Look. Like anything, you learn how to use them.

[BdaGhisallo]

There's a lot of good info on Keywin pedals in this thread over on weight weenies:

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/fo...lit=keywin+crm

[ultraman6970]

Found a set of keywin carbon, got the cleats, pedals just rock!!!

Never experienced anything like it, the interface with the pedal is as solid as you can imagine, nothing in the market like that.

Cleats as everybody says, slipery. In my opinion need to be like the time cleats, plastic rubbery type of plastic, but is true too that this is a small company and I doubt it will happen anyday soon.

I do believe the problem that people reports clipping in is because they have the cleats with the wrong angle. If your feet duck a little bit just a little bit on inclination of the cleat with do the trick. In a matter of fact if the cleat is in the right position pretty much will go in just with a little bit of pressure and the twisting movement will be minimum. As for clipping out, the twist is a little bit harder but is not something that you wont get used to it. Personally took me like 2 minutes get used to it. But again, IMO the trick is the cleat angle, if the cleats are in the wrong angle (as with very pedal) you will run out of twisting movement (and force) really quick and will feel unnatural.

Took me like 3 tiny adjustments in the left cleat to get it right, I knew I was almost ok the 1st time but I was feeling that the pedal was fighting with my foot angle a lot, needed to angle the cleat little bit more and that did the trick.

Still need to do a long range test but so far the 1st test around the neighborhood felt ok. I even felt the saddle in the low side now for some reason.

As for cleat adjustment, is insane how far back you can get this ones.

Hope tomorrow the weather is better so I can go out.

To finish, This things use bushings instead of bearings so take them appart is stupidly easy, one bolt, one washer a little pull and the things came out right away. Clean.. regreased, in some parts like the floating screw mechanism that is plastic and rubber I put silicone grease that doesnt eat any of those materials, honestly took me more to clean and regrease than put the pedal together. Disasemble this thing probably is like a minute, assemble is like 2 more... impressed by the simplicity of the design, so far got the pedals used, parts did not look worn either.

Ok, tomorrow I hope I will ride this things for over an hour at least, and I will complete the assesment of this things.

Anybody has a set of carbons for sale? :P Need another pair...

[ultraman6970]

1st long ride experience... had to readjust the angle of the cleats because still needed more, what you feel is your feet fighting with the pedal because needs more angle, other pedals have like a spring but since this ones doesnt have that what you feel is that the cleat/shoe can't go any further and you feel the pressure of the foot asking for more to the shoe, i have pronation so I need to angle those cleats a lot sometimes. The other symptom of bad cleat fitting is because you have to pull more to get the foot off the cleat.

Just like with the original time pedal, after you have the cleat in the right place the feet find their right spot right away. So if anybody tried them and found them weird maybe the reason is due to the cleats angle is wrong... in my case needed more. The saddle feels in the low side but a tiny discomfort at the inside of the knee tells me that probably is something else, q-factor but after I fixed the second cleat position the pain kind'a went away, still need to adjust stuff for sure. But the impressions are really nice about this pedal.

Platform super stable, 1st time my knees arent cracking every time I stand in the pedals, 1st time I dont feel that my feet are floating inside of the shoe aswell and Im using shoes that are tad big already. The hot spot in my left shoe is not 100% gone but after I fixed the right cleat the hot spot became more of a discomfort, at least dont bother me to the point of uncleat for a couple of seconds or even get off the bike for 5 mins to get a coke or an ice cream.

1st time in the last 2 years that I can freaking spin and change pace by just pressing the pedals (tracker here), so so far so good. I'm really impressed because I dont feel that im fighting with the darn pedals no more.

Hope this helps other people.