How are the red and blue versions different? The pedal in my photo also came with a Ludwig wooden beater- I dig that one too.

The red one has a one-piece footboard and is red (obviously...lol!), the blue one has a two-piece footboard, and the black one pre-dates both of those being a WFL instead of Ludwig. The black one is direct link drive, one piece footboard, with a different main frame with twin springs. For whatever reason, Ludwig when they changed names from WFL decided a single spring with a leather strap was better (?) than the WFL version they were making.

It must be. I purchased two off of ebay, both had repaired hinges. I combined the best of both together to make one great pedal and reassembled what was left to make another good usable pedal. LoLoLoLo.....one of those three on there is one of mine as I'm re-selling one that I purchased.....I don't need two........ :D

BTW, that pic above......thats NOT my pedal, mine isn't nearly that bad of a repair job......:p

Cool pedals! I have an old Racer pedal, too...but mine's a bit different than the one pictured earlier in this thread. Check it out:

the blue model actually says reversable on the pedal itself. but, like mentioned, the red one functions the same way. it was just a marketing change i guess. i have 2 ghosts and 3 speed kings. they get no action with the red speedmaster around. it just feels right to me.

mike

Mike. I'm gonna have to get mine out now with L-D and all the rest of your recommendations, but I think my spring is toast!! mine is the red one also!

Nice Racer there- great to see it. And so cool to know other brothers are enjoying the SpeedMaster also. I thought I had discovered such a gem when I first hooked into it.

Although I haven't been using my Speedmaster I really do like it. I know most people view heavy duty monster hardware as modern and stuff like the Speedmaster as dated, but I'm the opposite.

I think the size and weight of the Speedmaster is actually futuristic. I weigh about 170lb, and can jump on one foot (I took lessons Clapping Happy2) and the bone in my leg that's supporting me is at most 1/2" wide, and not as strong as steel. I think that the drum hardware designers need to look at that, and to look at prosthetic limbs and design stuff that matches our bodies. The Speedmaster is closer than most anything else.

It takes a long time to learn to play time and that's the basis of drumming. So for a long time I've thought that the whole thing of ultra heavy duty hardware was 99+% hype and people wanting to "buy being a drummer" as opposed to learning to play time, which takes years (or a lifetime). The choice of Manimal as the role model for drummers is so old.

I'd love to see the drum companies ditch that trend and make ultra light stuff that's elegant, if you've ever seen Capagnolo bike parts that's what I'm thinking.

Yes, exactly! Campy bike parts....lightweight, elegant, and yet so strong.... :D