Another Pedal Thread..

[guyc]

He’s also right (Cal).

[Lewn777]

Shimano Dura-ace + blue cleats + titanium cleat bolts = perfection.

[Wingnut]

I had the Dura-Ace and sold them to go back to my Time Xpresso’s...yes the Shimano’s are easily the best built pedals but the cleat float is god awful, compared to the Times. My Xpresso’s are getting some play in them after a few years of riding so I’m going to try the Xpro’s as I understand they now have bearings replacing the previous bushes. I’m not even going to mention those demented Speedplay’s...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kgt]

Nothing compares to the ergonomics and technology (float, iclic) of TIME pedals. Yes, Shimano are more durable but this is their only advantage in comparison to TIME. And TIME xpresso or Xpro are better made than RXS, no doubt about that.

[Hexsense]

Another advantage is how thin and walkable Shimano cleat is compare to Time too.
I get it, road pedal are meant to ride not to walk. But carrying bike out from 2nd floor apartment down stair to start riding feel much safer on Shimano cleats.
I don't know why Time's cleat are so tall in the back.

[mag]

Time all the time! ;-D
I too acknowledge that Shimano pedals are more robust and in some ways perhaps even convenient platform, but I'm also the one who strongly prefers the ergonomics of Time (Xpresso) pedals. I need some amount of float and it feels just right with Xpressos.

[Orbital]

I used the Mavic version of the Xpressos for a few years but ditched them because I was replacing the cleats a few times per year. I’ve been running Shimano now for roughly the same time and still on my first set of cleats.

[mag]

Yes cleats wear out faster than Shimanos. I wish Time would address it somehow, but it seems they haven't changed anything when they released Xpros which was an opportunity to make some improvements.

[wheelsONfire]

Time cleats dies fast if you walk on them. Just stop walking bring a pair of light skinners, or use mtb shoes and cleats.

[BdaGhisallo]

Yes cleats wear out faster than Shimanos. I wish Time would address it somehow, but it seems they haven't changed anything when they released Xpros which was an opportunity to make some improvements.

Time has changed the cleats that come with the Xpro pedals. They are still Iclic but the dimensions are different and the material is somewhat different. I detailed the changes a few months back. Search for the thread titled " New Time Xpro vs. Xpresso pedals" and look for my post in there.

Now I don't have any long time mileage on them since I quickly reverted back to spd-sl pedals so you will have to look to others for reports on their relative durability.

[rlanger]

I switched from Look to Speedplay and am quite happy that I did. I never really liked the Look pedals. They are quite fragile (I broke two pedals) and if I ever missed clipping in, the chances were pretty good that I would slam my ankle into the side of the peddle. Not fun.

I don't have an issue with maintaining the Speedplays. In fact, I kind of enjoy the process as I do like working on my bike. And it's not all that taxing to keep them in good working order.

I also really like how the pedals function. Double-sided, no look clipping in, adjustable float, and they are the easiest cleats I've used to walk in (in addition to Look, I've also used Shimano).

Finally, I bought some after-market titanium spindles for them for quite a reasonable price, which were a breeze to install, and now I have a WW set of pedals.

[Calnago]

Another thread where Calnago talk without trying the component, for me is the anti advicer . I was using Time RXS pedals about 70000 kms and perfect.

Normally, I'd just let an ignorant comment like the above go, especially when it's in such an old thread, but since the thread seems to have been resurrected, let me tell you about my experiences with pedals....

Time Equipe Magnesium pedals (very early 90's) were my first experience with clipless pedals. Clipless pedals were still relatively new then, with Look having introduced them in the mid eighties I believe, but I could stand correcting on that. Anyway, Time was relatively new on the scene and they hadn't even begun making actual bike frames yet. Well, the pedals were white, flashy, and with the white TIME shoes (white shoes you say?, back then? the horrors), I looked positively dorkish at the time. The shoes didn't last long, just didn't fit me that well, but I used those pedals on a road trip from Vancouver Island all the way down the West Coast of the USA to Tijuana, Mexico. Of course, riding all day, every day, there were lots of get off the bike and walk around situations. The brass cleats did not last long and were terrible to walk in. I let them get too worn before tyring to place and at one point found myself in a roadside gas station, shoes off, and using their grinder (gas stations still did mechanical work back then) to grind off the cleats so I could put some new ones on as the screw heads were way past being able to be turned. But the pedals themsleves were just fine, solid, made of magnesium and metal I suppose, and weighed about 400 grams. Wasn't even thinking about weight of things back then.

Anyway, after that I really wanted some pedals that were good for walking in as well as riding, and so I got some Shimano SPD Mountain type pedals, double sided, with the small steel cleats that would last forever since they were recessed in the soles of the shoes I got, plus made of steel. Perfect for touring, and I also used them for road. The Shimano road pedals had not been introduced yet. During this period I also had some Time Atac's but the inner bearing was so large that it interfered with my shoe and rendered the float not very useable.

Fast forward through a couple of iterations of Shimano's tiny Road spd pedals to the introduction of basically the same format pedal as we see today and I had to try a pair and have never looked back. Oh, I should say I had a pair of Campagnolo Pro-Fit pedals which you can still get today. Fantastically built, with bullet proof bearings, but the cleat, even though it looked a lot like a LOOK cleat, just seemed to allow small pebbles and grit to get jammed in enough while walking that there was a good chance I'd have to clean them out before remounting. Even still, the platform doesn't compare to Shimano's current offerings. Oh, I should also add that I tried using the rubber cleat covers on both the TIME and Campagnolo cleats but inevitably they would get lost or just chewed up in very short order. And I hated having to carry around the cleat covers in my jersey pocket all the time.

So then Shimano introduced the wider platform version of the road pedals, which basically operate the same as the ones today. The cleats were wide stance (only yellow with float back then), and had little hard rubber pads on them which, for the first time since using clipless road pedals (aside from using mtn bike shoes with recessed cleats), made walking in road bike shoes a breeze. And they made cleat covers obsolete (hooray!). And they worked perfectly. And they were super well built and never needed servicing, the bearings were very very good... with normal bearings and needle bearings which just never seemed to develop play or slop. I never looked back, althouugh I did always like to try new stuff that struck my fancy if i thought it might work just as well.

Which brings me to my C59 build back in 2011. All matte black, and I wanted an All-Euro build, just cuz (don't ask). Plus, I thought the Look Keo Ti-Blades just looked badass, so for about $500 (yes, that's how much they were back then), I got myself a pair and mounted them up. They were only 185 grams compared to the 250 grams of the shimano, but they looked cool. I first tried LOOK's "walkable" cleats, which borrowed from Shimano's idea of having little rubber pads on the edges. Trouble was, they were noticeably more difficult to ride in. So I tried their cleats without the "walkability" function and while they were better to ride in they slid all over any slick floors that you might want to walk upon. Plus, even though I didn't ride them long enough to actually wear them out, they were worn enough in the short time that I did use them that I could tell they wouldn't last worth shit. Anyway, I just preferred the Shimano functionality, so got over my "all-euro" build and put the Shimano pedals back on and I've been using them ever since.

But that's not to say I haven't experienced other pedals, just that I haven't owned them. I get to work on some really nice bikes, and get to pick and choose what I care to work on. An old girlfriend had the RXR's... so I'm familiar with them. She liked them at the time, but has since moved to Shimano. I've also got to spend quite a bit of time working with the Expresso's and they just seemed really cheaply made to me, compared to the Time's of old. But they are light. I actually worked with the Expressos enough that I got one of those pedal tools, it just allows you to screw it in to say a new build without pedals attached, so that you can set everything up and have a decent lever to turn the cranks with. But in my case, I just wanted something better to spin the cranks with other than the Time Expressos since they are just so damn pointy and sharp that it's very easy to actually cut yourself on those things. Plus the Expressos feel like they're using bushings instead of actual bearings... they just don't spin very nicely. The most recent set of Time's I installed were the Xpro 10's. Thank god they don't have those sharp edges anymore. As for use, I don't know... I haven't actually tried them, but the owner is dying to try some of my Colnagos, and I've told him that's fine, but you need some shoes with Shimano cleats. I know, sneaky, but it's just my way of encouraging him to at least try the Shimano pedals. In fairness, I will purchase some new Time Cleats and install them on a set of spare shoes so we can use each others bikes when we feel like it and not have to switch out pedals all the time.

I should also add that I've taken to really liking the fixed red cleats in the Shimano line, so float is of no concern to me. As long as the cleat position is perfect, I love them. If cleat position is not perfect I will know in short order. But I've got that dialed now.

As for Speedplays, the float is akin to doing some weirdly named figure skating stunt, like a 360 double sow cow, or whatever it's called... yes, they have float, so if that's your thing, then awesome. And they don't weigh much, since a bulk of the weight is on the cleat/shoe itself, but you'd better have shoe covers if you're walking during some sportif or something in fine gravel, etc. And yes, their sealing I guess is not the best and I can't help recall one of the guys in a group I was with in the French Alps during a heavy week of rain, where instead of having breakfast he was outside, Speedplay pedals completely apart, trying to unseize them for the day's ride. Tri people like them cuz you can indeed just slame your foot onto them and off you go.

So you see @mendiz, I am not really "advicing" people, rather in this case just relaying some of the actual experience I do have, be it from actually riding and owning the stuff I talk about, or from what I see from actually repairing, installing and working on others bikes who do have it. I'm glad you're happy with your RXR's with over 70,000km on them. You should keep using them till they fall off your bike. I don't care. But this thread is just a compilation of opinions about all kinds of pedals, no one is suggesting you made a bad choice. There's a lot of good offerings out there, but I think on balance, there's a lot of good reasons the Shimano pedals seem to be a very popular choice as well. Again, choice, whatever it is, is good.

[mag]

^ You should write a book.

[rlanger]

As for Speedplays, the float is akin to doing some weirdly named figure skating stunt, like a 360 double sow cow, or whatever it's called... yes, they have float, so if that's your thing, then awesome. And they don't weigh much, since a bulk of the weight is on the cleat/shoe itself, but you'd better have shoe covers if you're walking during some sportif or something in fine gravel, etc. And yes, their sealing I guess is not the best and I can't help recall one of the guys in a group I was with in the French Alps during a heavy week of rain, where instead of having breakfast he was outside, Speedplay pedals completely apart, trying to unseize them for the day's ride. Tri people like them cuz you can indeed just slame your foot onto them and off you go.

Not sure what you are talking about with regards to the float on Speedplays? It is adjustable on the SP Zeros that I have, which make them entirely customizable to my preference.

As for the anecdote about the guy in the group, maybe he never bothered to service them? Which is something you should realize before buying them.

Anyway, it's nice that we have choice so that there are pedals for everyone.

[dvq]

I should also add that I've taken to really liking the fixed red cleats in the Shimano line, so float is of no concern to me. As long as the cleat position is perfect, I love them. If cleat position is not perfect I will know in short order. But I've got that dialed now.

As for Speedplays, the float is akin to doing some weirdly named figure skating stunt, like a 360 double sow cow, or whatever it's called... yes, they have float, so if that's your thing, then awesome. And they don't weigh much, since a bulk of the weight is on the cleat/shoe itself, but you'd better have shoe covers if you're walking during some sportif or something in fine gravel, etc. And yes, their sealing I guess is not the best and I can't help recall one of the guys in a group I was with in the French Alps during a heavy week of rain, where instead of having breakfast he was outside, Speedplay pedals completely apart, trying to unseize them for the day's ride. Tri people like them cuz you can indeed just slame your foot onto them and off you go.

I actually agree with Calnago for once.