Weight Weenies

dwaharvey, thanks for the additional clarification. Yeah, I was wondering if they had play because most of the metal on metal cleat/pedal systems I have ridden had a bit of play when shifting the direction of force being applied to the pedal (from pushing down on the downstroke, to "pulling through" at the bottom, or when pulling up in a sprint for instance). That was mostly the case with MTB spds but also Bebops and Speedplay Frogs. I can see how the interface could be made more precisely or whatnot to all but eliminate this though, particularly on a pedal which is not expected to deal with a lot of dirt.

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Oswald wrote:Just did my first 70km ride on the new PD-9000 pedals. They feel very different compared to my old 7750 pedals. They are slightly harder to clip in and out, maybe because the springs are still new compared to my old pedals. Both have the spring tension set to the minimum.

I notice the same between my 9000 pedals and 7801s. "minimum" on the 9000s is much more effort to clip in/out than the 7801s. I have had the 9000s for over a year and there's been no change in effort that I can tell.

For the price of 9000 pedal, i actually go for time xpresso 10, which is slightly lighter.

I use speedplays and have never had an issue with them. I grease them once a year and go. I do tend to go through the shoe cleats more quickly than I think I should, however I do not use cleat covers.

@rosuch, have you not found that your speedplays have developed play over time between the body and the cleat that allows your foot to rock? I haven't used any Speedplays since the X series, but with those, when comparing a new pedal to a 1 year old pedal there was a clear difference, even with new cleats. I attributed it to the plastic body wearing down. I tried Coombe because their steel "cross" design made sense to me - gives a hard surface to either side of the center and helps to clear dirt. Speedplay have copied that shape with their new Pave which suggests to me that they are aware of the shortcoming with their regular pedals.

@dwaharvey, I really like the micro-adjustable float on my Speedplay Zero's after switching from X, but I have noticed the wear on the pedal body surfaces as well, and that it does let your foot rock. I apply the recommended Speedplay dry lube frequently to try to make them last longer. EDIT: They are relatively cheap to replace though, $120 for the Chro-moly version (1/3 the price of the new stainless Pavé), then just replace the heavy spindles with the aftermarket titanium spindles from my previous pair => lower weight (160 g / pair) vs stainless Pavé (230 g/pair)

Yeah that definitely saves money and weight, especially with aftermarket spindles. But how often are you doing that? I feel like the pedals from the main manufacturers are becoming practically disposable items along with the cleats

I haven't yet - just planning ahead. My current Zero's have 3000km since I switched from X. The wear so far is minimal. We shall see how long they last.

I'm relatively new to road cycling (2 years). For the past two years I have been riding Shimano SPD's (mountain bike, not SPD-SL). They have worked well for commuting and longer weekend/charity rides, but I want to try a road pedal. I have read countless forum posts and obviously most of the major brands have strong followings so I'm not going to ask what the best pedal is. Instead, I'll share my thoughts based on my research so far along with a few weight weenie type questions:

I'm leaning toward the following:

Shimano PD-9000
Look Keo Blade 2 Ti
Speedplay Zero Ti

From what I can tell people like the Shimano because they are durable and work well, but some people suggest the weight is a disadvantage. From what I can tell, the pedal and cleat combined weight in around 286g. I think the Speedplay Zero Ti comes in at 282g combined weight and the Look Keo Blade 2 Ti at 248g pedal and cleat. Does this sound right?

It seems people like most attributes of the Look Keo Blade 2, but there seem to be quality control issues and it sounds like a lot of people have problems with them squeaking.

From what I can tell the Speedplay Zero's may be the easiest to clip into, but they don't really have a significant weight advantage over the Shimano's.

Based on what I have gathered I'm leaning toward the Shimano and Speedplay over the Look.

There is/was a separate thread for the Keo Blade 2.
I've really had no problem with either the speedplays or the Shimanos. There are just a set of personal preference trade-offs.
But the Looks drove me absolutely mental while I was trying to like them.

Being a weight weenie, I tried really hard to like them; and they look great too, But they were just too damn noisy!

If only there were aftermarket ti spindles for shimano pedals...

Several 1000 miles on my Keo Blade 2s - no probs whatsoever - YMMV

For someone with wider hips that's looking for durability: Time Xpresso.

Why? Adjustable Q-factor and lateral float.

The pedals themselves are pretty durable and have a user-replaceable blade and wear plate. You might need to replace the cleats more than Shimano pedals however.

Personally, I also think they look cool and unique and you can get different colors for the body and wear plate.

I'm looking for a pedal system to replace my 14 year old Campagnolo Pro-Fit pedals.
They still spin well but when mud or a small piece of stone is in my cleat (like today when I had to walk a part because of road works), they block. I can't clipout anymore without applying major force which makes me feel unsafe about this pedals.

I'm between the Look Keo Max at 74€ and Shimano Ultegra 6800 SPD-SL at 96€.
Shimano cleats are easier to walk on, the cleats last longer and the bearings are better compared to the Looks.
But I like the look of the Looks and my 2 bikes are fully Campagnolo equiped and it feels like blasphemy to me to put Shimano pedals on it.

And no, I'm not interested in Speedplay (too expensive, bad bearings) or Time (too much negative reviews and Time changes it pedal system too much in my opinion).

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Roel W wrote:I'm looking for a pedal system to replace my 14 year old Campagnolo Pro-Fit pedals.

I'm between the Look Keo Max at 74€ and Shimano Ultegra 6800 SPD-SL at 96€.
fully Campagnolo equiped and it feels like blasphemy to me to put Shimano pedals on it.

I use the Shimano SPD-SL pedals on some of my road bikes. Regular SPD on the others. Sort of a racing pedal/shoe and walking pedal/shoe split. The shoes and off bike activity sort of decide which bike I am going to ride. I've ridden the SPD-SL pedals many miles in all sorts of conditions. No complaints. If you are looking for a racing pedal, these work. I have four Campagnolo equipped bikes. Three of them use the SPD-SL pedals. One uses the SPD pedal. It does not bother me to use Shimano pedals on a Campagnolo bike.