I have retired from this forum, not wasting any more time here.

[Juanmoretime]

I ride the Shimano 9100 on both my road bikes. Light enough and those buttery smooth bearings. Easy to clip in too. I rode Xpresso 12's for 5 years and broke cleats all the time and multiple bearing failures until the finally died. Did try the Look Keo and they would almost never flip up for easy cleat entry. I would constanstantly need to flip them with my foot then enter. I'll take a slight weight penalty to have a pedal that works great, Shimano 9100's!

[Llanberis]

I'll go with Time xPro (or similar Xpresso). As noted above, even the base pedals (I've got a pair each of xPro10 and Xpresso 7) are very light, in the ballpark of 200g (a bit more for the xPro10 than for the Xpresso); they are extremely easy to clip in and out of; the float is excellent; the cleats are relatively walkable on smooth surfaces (not gravel, though); and I've not had any durability or wear issues with them yet.

I've been a Time user dating back to the Impacts, with dalliances for SPD-SL and Speedplays, neither of which I liked as much as the Times. I used Time RXS pedals for years and years, and upgraded to the xPros about a year ago. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, I think the xPros are better than the RXS pedals.

When you say "easy to clip in" what exactly do you mean? Less effort? Or better balance than DA?
Can you do minor (grease replacement) and major (bearing replacement) service easily on them? Are bearings and axles available?

Clipping into the Time pedals with the Iclic system is easy because the pedal engagement is "pre-opened," and the retainer clicks shut when you step into it. When you unclip, the retainer "pre-opens" again, in Time/SRAM-speak. You barely have to put any weight on the system at all to clip in. The "hook" at the tip of the pedal and the corresponding point on the tip of the cleat makes them easy to locate to click in.

The bearings are sealed, but the axle can be removed for cleaning/servicing. I haven't had to do it on my xPro/Xpresso pedals, yet, but I did it a couple of times on the RXS pedals.

From my time with XPro10, I can attest to everything CyclingGiraffe said about it. I only switched to others because they don't have a PM pedal yet, but I surely miss the clip-in feeling and float of Time pedals a lot, simply quality.

[stevesbike]

The major limitation of Time pedals is the lack of adjustability of Q-factor - just a narrow and wide option. I recently switched to speedplays because I have a heel-in position and the best way to avoid heel rub is via a switch of spindle length (many aftermarket titanium spindle options) and q-factor adjustment on the pedal. It also allows fine-tuning of float with heel-in and heel-out limit screws. By far, the most adjustable pedal for someone needing a customizable setup.

[ghostinthemachine]

Do you have a number?
I still own Time Xpro 10 and Dura-ace 9000 pedals.
From my measurement on the bike. Dura-ace is lower.

From memory the time are about 13, da is 13.7...

hmm, maybe it depend on where it measure?
I measure with cleats set far back. And it's clear Time is taller than Shimano. It's noticeable when test them back to back. Also, confirmed when I measure their thickness from center of spindle to mounting surface Plus cleats thickness. It's atleast 14mm maybe 14.5
My number measured off the bike using calipers confirm your Shimano number though.

Just measured my XPro (3 pairs) and Xpresso (2 pairs) and they all come out at about 13.5, which tallies with the official figure (well, published all over the net, including on this forum and advertising for both pedals). Only fiddly bit is some of my shoes are shimmed as well. Makes it a little tricky to measure!

Cleats forward/back/whatever makes no difference, because the cleat is always in the same location WRT the axle.

[CyclingGiraffe]

By the way, I use the shimano rubber cleat cover... Not sure how to feel about it. If it is just a short walk almost not worth it - a bit hard to put on and ecspecially take off quickly. And it makes the cleat area a bit higher, which lifts the toes even higher - less slippery but also less natural to walk like that.

It has been a while since I had my dalliance with the SPD-SL system, though I don't believe that they have changed the cleat since I've used it. Unless you do a lot of walking and are worried about wearing out the yellow (or blue, or red) tabs, particularly on rough surfaces, I don't think the cleat covers make a lot of sense. Speedplays (at least before they came out with the "walkable" aero-style cleats) were downright treacherous!

[hannawald]

I like my Speedplays because of their low stack (helps me with saddle to bar drop on race geometry bikes), but tired how they squeak despite frequently spraying the cleat and pedal with proper cleat lubricant. Especially when it is wet.

[musiclover]

So, I've got a brand new Shimano DA in place of Ultegra...

They feel very empty when I rotate them out of the box compared to Ultegra. As if there is almost no grease inside. Is this normal? Or does it mean that the preload needs adjustment? Or maybe not enough grease from the factory?.. When my Ultegra feels the same I would usually repack them with fresh grease.

[tjvirden]

The R9100 pedal has less resistance [by hand] compared to previous DA pedals, but I've not compared to Ultegra. I think it's normal though, due to the different bearings. Preload should not need adjustment - it only needs enough to just remove the play in my experience. There may not be *that much* grease, but you'll only know by opening them up. I do find that the "stiffness" of the Shimano Premium grease varies with temperature noticeably, but I'm not sure if that's used in the non-DA pedals; it might well be.

[robeambro]

Sorry for resurrecting - I was browsing this thread out of sheer curiosity, shortly after having heard that, according to Look, 40% of riders at the Giro this year are using their pedals. And yet nobody mentions them as being better in any way than eg Shimano or Time. Which makes me wonder, is Look just paying boatloads of money to get their pedals in the pro peloton, or are the pros liking them more for whatever reason?

[tommyboyo]

Let's be honest Dura Ace are by far the best all round pedals going for the average rider (unless you have some pysical issues that need special attention).

Youj just stick them on the bike, set and forget.

You will kill the pedal body long before you have bearing issues.

[CyclingGiraffe]

Sorry for resurrecting - I was browsing this thread out of sheer curiosity, shortly after having heard that, according to Look, 40% of riders at the Giro this year are using their pedals. And yet nobody mentions them as being better in any way than eg Shimano or Time. Which makes me wonder, is Look just paying boatloads of money to get their pedals in the pro peloton, or are the pros liking them more for whatever reason?

What percentage use Shimano? I would guess it is close to the 60% balance of the peleton (and surely all the Shimano-sponsored teams use Shimano pedals, no?), though I don't know if the SRAM teams have switched over to Time yet.

[TobinHatesYou]

What percentage use Shimano? I would guess it is close to the 60% balance of the peleton (and surely all the Shimano-sponsored teams use Shimano pedals, no?), though I don't know if the SRAM teams have switched over to Time yet.

SD Worx is on Time. EF is on Wahoo/Speedplay.

For men’s SRAM sponsored teams, Movistar uses Look and Trek uses Shimano.

[musiclover]

How often do people do the minor service of dura aces? (Change the grease)? I do it maybe every 1000 k, grease looks terrible by the end... Getting a bit lazy to do it though...

[TobinHatesYou]

How often do people do the minor service of dura aces? (Change the grease)? I do it maybe every 1000 k, grease looks terrible by the end... Getting a bit lazy to do it though...

For the average human, I pretty much recommend never servicing D-A pedals unless they are obviously crunchy. In the process of servicing pedals that are working just fine, they'll just *f##k* up the bearing preload.

[jlok]

How often do people do the minor service of dura aces? (Change the grease)? I do it maybe every 1000 k, grease looks terrible by the end... Getting a bit lazy to do it though...

For the average human, I pretty much recommend never servicing D-A pedals unless they are obviously crunchy. In the process of servicing pedals that are working just fine, they'll just *f##k* up the bearing preload.

This.