Weight Weenies

merlin6014 wrote:My xpresso 6 pedals arrived in the mail today from PBK. Going for a ride soon will update later what they are like

ok cool

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So went for a 20km ride yesterday and I am sold on them - they are a revelation compared to my Shimano 105 pedals. Its not all roses though.

Here is my pros/cons.

Lets get the cons out of the way first:
1) Installation - you cant use a pedal wrench - I mean WTF. You are forced to use an allen key which is tricky and resulted in me smacking my carbon frame when it slipped - oh well no damage done but yeah why no pedal wrench Time? Also the stupid allen key installation led me to cross threading one of them but luckily once again no damage done (though I have NEVER cross threaded a pedal before using a pedal wrench). Also like most people will have to do I have to move my cable tied speed sensor off the back of the crank to be able to get to the allen key head. You can put it back on after but its gay. Then again this could be a weight saving measure I guess and if it is I could live with it to save weight - if its not then just give us back the wrench!
2) Plastic plastic plastic everywhere. It makes them look cheap and I can see them being pretty fragile and breaking if to much force is used clipping in - I mean I can see why they have done it, weight (which I will discuss). Anyway it dosnt fill me with confidence haveing read of the fragility of TIME pedals before - then again there is a 2 year warranty as a back up.
3) They do self right but not all the time - my old 105 pedals used to self right within half a second. These do sometimes, don't other times - its because they are so light there just dosn't seem to be enough weight to self right. Then again the bearing may just be tight and loosen up over time.
4) Packaging - they are supplied in a TIME box with no packing or bubblewrap or anything so breakage in the post is a real possibility.

Now the pros:
1) Ease of use - I'm not sure how they did it but these are easier to use than platform pedals. I'm not kidding you put your foot down in the vicinity of the pedal and its like this giant magnet just clicks it into the pedal. Despite riding clip ins for years I have always been a retard when it comes to clipping in - I'm the guy who holds onto a lampole of something to clip both feet in. On my 105s I was always missing the clip in, making riding unpleasureable and I could only clip in downhill, uphill was a nightmare - I know most riders dont have this issue but for those of us "clipplessly challenged" they are amazing. Anyway these make me look like Lance Armstrong (OK bad example) but seriously it is super easy to clip in very much like clipping into ski's but you dont have to "Stomp" to click them in. Getting out is also very easy in fact I found the lowest setting a little too low and cranked it up a little to the middle setting. I would actually find it easier to commute through heavy traffic in these than mtb shoes and cleats if I was so inclined.
2) Float seems good - not to much, not to little and the position on the bottom of the cleat is easily adjustable.
3) The cleats - these things are huge and provide a big solid area of attachment which should be good for efficiency and foot pain. They are also MUCH easier to walk in than the Shimano cleats and actually provide some grip. The cleats literally took 2 minutes to install - this new cleat is much much better than Shimano and the others.
4) Weight - the make the 105 pedals look like boat anchors - as I said before though its a bit of a shock as they are mostly plastic whilst the 105's are very solid and super reliable looking.

That's it for now, I can update their reliability in 6 months time.

Could someone post pics of the mounted cleats?

I think your handling skills with an 6mm allen key are just not up to the task..
No, I'm just messing with you

My boss swears by the RXS's. Somehow it is not really clear to me what the actual difference between the Iclic vs RXS vs Xpress is. Anybody?

So you messed up your crank arm threads? So the pedals are now permanent? Sounds like damage to me

brettmess24 wrote:So you messed up your crank arm threads? So the pedals are now permanent? Sounds like damage to me

Nah the thread is still all good, i have a tap and die set but didn't have to use it. Apparently look only have an allen key too weird - i am just used to shimano pedals. Torquing an allen key that close to your frame...yeah i just think wrench is safer/easier. Its all a moot point as its not a dealbreaker anyway

merlin6014 wrote:

brettmess24 wrote:So you messed up your crank arm threads? So the pedals are now permanent? Sounds like damage to me

Nah the thread is still all good, i have a tap and die set but didn't have to use it. Apparently look only have an allen key too weird - i am just used to shimano pedals. Torquing an allen key that close to your frame...yeah i just think wrench is safer/easier. Its all a moot point as its not a dealbreaker anyway

Cool good to hear, when you mentioned cross thread I thought you installed them that way. Yikes!

So with the Allen do they thread from the inside of the arm or outside?

Interested to hear how you like them and how they hold up as I have the carbon iclic 1 and 2 on both of my bikes and really like them.

brettmess24 wrote:

merlin6014 wrote:

brettmess24 wrote:So you messed up your crank arm threads? So the pedals are now permanent? Sounds like damage to me

Nah the thread is still all good, i have a tap and die set but didn't have to use it. Apparently look only have an allen key too weird - i am just used to shimano pedals. Torquing an allen key that close to your frame...yeah i just think wrench is safer/easier. Its all a moot point as its not a dealbreaker anyway

Cool good to hear, when you mentioned cross thread I thought you installed them that way. Yikes!

So with the Allen do they thread from the inside of the arm or outside?

Interested to hear how you like them and how they hold up as I have the carbon iclic 1 and 2 on both of my bikes and really like them.

The hex threads from the inside of the arm -- just like the iclic 2. Just a larger size hex (at least for the xpresso12)

merlin6014 wrote:Lets get the cons out of the way first:
1) Installation - you cant use a pedal wrench - I mean WTF. You are forced to use an allen key which is tricky and resulted in me smacking my carbon frame when it slipped - oh well no damage done but yeah why no pedal wrench Time? Also the stupid allen key installation led me to cross threading one of them but luckily once again no damage done (though I have NEVER cross threaded a pedal before using a pedal wrench). Also like most people will have to do I have to move my cable tied speed sensor off the back of the crank to be able to get to the allen key head. You can put it back on after but its gay. Then again this could be a weight saving measure I guess and if it is I could live with it to save weight - if its not then just give us back the wrench!

The lack of flats to use a wrench to install the pedals was possibly done to reduce the q-factor on pedals that have a fairly wide platform. I personally don't see how having to use an allen wrench on the installation caused you to cross thread the pedals.

with no flat on the outside and just allen key it looks much better too.

Interesting thread as I thinking of Xpresso after loving RXS for many years

Rush wrote:You really have to wonder how one of the greatest and most influential designers of cycling pedals in the last few decades has completely dropped the ball.

Maybe they are making too much money from their framesets to care?

Or the broken pedals are the result of user error.

In 20 years of using Time pedals of all iterations I have only broken one RXS Carbon and that was as a result of a crash. I also sell Time pedals and the only actual warranty issue I can remember is the issue with a batch of RXS pedals a few years back. That was fixed quickly and with zero fuss.

So I call BS on there being "issues" with Xpresso pedals.

As for the guy who can't use an allen key, take a look at virtually every top end pedal on the market. You'll see that every single one, bar Speedplay, dispenses with flats on their premium pedals. In fact even Speedplay drop them on the Nanograms.

ultimobici wrote:

Rush wrote:You really have to wonder how one of the greatest and most influential designers of cycling pedals in the last few decades has completely dropped the ball.

Maybe they are making too much money from their framesets to care?

Or the broken pedals are the result of user error.

In 20 years of using Time pedals of all iterations I have only broken one RXS Carbon and that was as a result of a crash. I also sell Time pedals and the only actual warranty issue I can remember is the issue with a batch of RXS pedals a few years back. That was fixed quickly and with zero fuss.

So I call BS on there being "issues" with Xpresso pedals.

As for the guy who can't use an allen key, take a look at virtually every top end pedal on the market. You'll see that every single one, bar Speedplay, dispenses with flats on their premium pedals. In fact even Speedplay drop them on the Nanograms.

They all do it = must be good?

Its a non issue anyway. These pedals are awesome.

I (and i'm sure many others) are looking for differences/improvement from iClic 1/2 and the xpresso. For me specifically, if the xpresso still has the "2 month cleat" then i'm out. Will buy up 50 pairs of RXS cleats and never ride another pedal again.

the rxs cleats was very good?

Just got my xpresso 12 perfect match with my 2013 CF8!!!

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