Weight Weenies

Rick wrote:All this with a penalty of a bit more weight and single-sided entry. I can clip in fairly smoothly most of the time, but I still miss the first try occasionally and have to look down & futz around a bit. Not a big deal but a minor annoyance.

Unless it happens during a timed event like a hillclimb or time trial w/o a holder. Even just once. I'm still improving on my Dura-Ace clip-in technique.

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My 7810 must have come thickly packed with grease. Basically they didn't wobble when starting, and were a dream for sightless click ins. When the grease thinned about 6 mo later it was just like every other Dura Ace pedals. My 7900 pedals came wobbly.

Loved my RXS but they were more prone to get fouled with the small volcanic gravel we have here.

Currently on KEO blades (carbon Ti) and love them. Super simple to clip in, very positive feel, good sized platform. But then again I've been on Look pedals exclusively for 20+ years.

it's seems quite simple too me:

-Look and Speedplay : good only if you are a pro (fitted and provided), otherwise not because difficult to find the right position of the cleat (too many possibilities) , risk of play and expensive too maintain

-Shimano : better (long lasting pedals and cleats, no play) but also difficult to fit right

- Time RSX: better system (no play, angular and lateral float, 2 Q-factor too chosose), long lasting pedals and cleats, easier to fit (just the fore-aft position) . Some pros sponsored by Look are/were using them (Lampre)

- Time Expresso: same but lighter , easier clip-in, aluminium plate , larger platform. Just a concern about quality and durability

-Keywin: never seen them

I've limited my interest to Look Keo Blade vs DA 7900/9000. I think I'll go with Look's as they look better with Campy SR.

@asdf123: When I built my C59 I chose to go with Look Keo Blade Ti (16N) for probably the same reason you want to go with them right now. I wanted an all "euro" build. I've always been using Dura-Ace pedals up until this point, but really wanted to try the looks and thought they just looked really sweet. Well, they do and they are fine pedals, but after only about 100 miles on the Blades, I just decided that for me the Dura Ace pedals worked better. You can walk around on the cleats easier, which is important for me, maybe not for you. Also, the Looks have two cleats, one designed to be easier to walk in which have little rubber tabs on them and the other are just hard plastic which are like walking on a skating rink. I tried both. The "walking cleats" were better for walking in but no so great for riding in as the rubber pads tended to stick a bit, an unacceptable compromise to me. So I tried the standard (non rubber tipped) cleats which were much better while actually riding etc. but useless when off the bike. The big draw of the Blades was 1) the look, and 2) the weight (very light at about 185g vs about 250g for the carbon dura ace). However, overall I like the Dura Ace more and went back to them, and stick with them on any road bikes I have. They seem bomb proof, I've never had an issue with them, and they are very well sealed with great bearings. And during both riding and walking I feel they are as good as it gets with a road pedal.
I still have those Look Ti Blade pedals, I really need to have a garage sale

I use cleat covers for my Look cleats. Of course they add weight if you take them with you on a ride, so normally I only use them to get out of/into the house while carrying the bike. However, if you are one of those people who stop during a ride and walk around (hmm, why would you do that?) then they might be useful...

RJKflyer wrote:I appreciate that you're probably not wanting to hear any SPD offers, but in case anyone IS interested, I'm using Shimano PD-A600 pedals, retrofitted with titanium axles and ceramic bearings (240g), plus Specialized MTB Expert carbon shoes.

Actually SPD is indeed the way to go. Not SPD-SL. Only problem, there isn't a well known Road shoe qualified enough for SPD. For MTB yes, but these shoes turn out to be unnecessarily heavy due to additional material in the profile of outer sole.

But in my view, SPD-SL is over-engineered and less practical than standard SPD. The A600 or XT/XTR Trails pedal have shown you can have lightness and wide platform stability in a SPD pedal to rival SPD-SL.

Horze wrote:

RJKflyer wrote:I appreciate that you're probably not wanting to hear any SPD offers, but in case anyone IS interested, I'm using Shimano PD-A600 pedals, retrofitted with titanium axles and ceramic bearings (240g), plus Specialized MTB Expert carbon shoes.

Actually SPD is indeed the way to go. Not SPD-SL. Only problem, there isn't a well known Road shoe qualified enough for SPD. For MTB yes, but these shoes turn out to be unnecessarily heavy due to additional material in the profile of outer sole.

But in my view, SPD-SL is over-engineered and less practical than standard SPD. The A600 or XT/XTR Trails pedal have shown you can have lightness and wide platform stability in a SPD pedal to rival SPD-SL.

I have XT pedals on my mountain bike and Ultegra pedals on my road bike. The Ultegra pedals are way better than my XT pedals. I have carbon soled Northwave shoes for each pedal and both are really stiff. The larger platform of the SPD-SL feels more comfortable after being clipped in for an hour. Sometimes I think about putting my road bike pedals on the mountain bike.

Which XT pedal are you referring to?

Define "better" but if you mean "Stable Feeling, then the new pedals aren't far off. It's in fact a minute difference from SPD-SL, in terms of fraction of a percent. The only thing lacking is a decent Road shoe designed to accommodate SPD with a wide platform.

The other thing, SPD could be helpful if you're a spinner. SPD-SL if you're a masher or sprinter.

I had the XT-780 but now I have the XT-785 trail. The trail is better than the 780 (the bigger platform helps), but neither come close to SPD-SL in stability and long distance comfort (more than a hour of use).

My wife had XT-780's on her bike for a while because they are easier to get in and out of. About 6 months back she bought a pair of Look Keo 2 Max pedals and she too said they feel a lot more stable and comfortable over longer rides.

^^^

Subtle variation in usage could amount to discernible differences in perception. Comfort is one of them. Carbon pedal and carbon sole would feel more comfortable.

Re. stability, this largely depends on the shoe too. In my experience I found very little, if any, difference.

Pros and Cons: Shimano MTB and Road pedal lines seem unnecessarily disparate. SPD-SL pedals are/feel somewhat heavy, certainly the non-carbon ones. But SPD-SL are stable. The new variation of SPD pedals (as discussed) are competitively light, and indeed lighter in most cases than their SPD-SL counterparts. The new SPD pedals feel "almost" as stable. But a suitable shoe is needed to verify this hypothesis. SPD is more practical than SPD-SL, easier to manage, with far longer lasting cleats.

The suggestion is for Shimano to merge their MTB and Road pedals into one line of a lighter design. The new SPD pedals are a promising prospect to take further as they have shown you can have almost all MTB/Road features in a single unit.

bombertodd wrote:I had the XT-780 but now I have the XT-785 trail. The trail is better than the 780 (the bigger platform helps), but neither come close to SPD-SL in stability and long distance comfort (more than a hour of use).

^^^
Could you tell me which SPD compatible shoe you were using in this instance?

Horze wrote:

^^^
Could you tell me which SPD compatible shoe you were using in this instance?

SPD shoe - Northwave Striker S.B.S.

SPD-SL shoe - Northwave Aerlite

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OK..!

I must admit I have little experience with Northwave shoe. But I would prefer to see the cleat recessed further inwards on Northwave shoe, like you find on Shimano or even Specialized SPD shoe. I also prefer the pontoons wider in size than what's shown here. These new Shimano SPD pedals are essentially platform pedals with SPD mechanism at center.

So to get best out of pedal/shoe design, the pedal needs to support the shoe appropriately, not mismatch pontoons with platform. Good shoes do exist, particularly MTB ones. Some Shimano Road/Tour SPD shoes require additional pontoons to make the design work whilst other models could be much improved in terms of lightness and sole stiffness.