Time RSX Titanium Pedals - first impression

Triathlon Forum
1

Well…get the two boxes…first though…“they are missing something”, just to light to be Time pedals in this box. Open the box and there they are…SHIT they are light. Pure eye candy. Super light, super cool looking…then I look further.

Feel (in hand): Well, they just dont feel “substantial”…I mean, they should not feel heavy, but when I hold a Time Titan Mag, Campy or Speed Play - they dont feel heavy, but I also dont think to myself “will this hold me up?” The pedals feel a bit “plastic” I guess. The carbon body to me feels like plastic and I wonder what will become of them if they impact a curb or what not. In looking I found that the axle is hollow…wow, hollow Ti axle…no wonder they are light (when will that snap?). I am curious how the bearings are setup, best I can tell is there is only one bearing in the pedal that is near the threads…maybe there are needle bearings in it as well - not sure and I dont have the “special” tool to take the thing apart.

**Cleat: **Time gave in - plastic cleat with a small brass tab for the rear spring mech. of the pedal. Okay, I can live with that. I can live with monthly changes if need be, that is the way of the world and with out doubt a profit center for shops and mfg. alike. “Three Bolt Cleat will fit all shoes”…Yeah…BULLSHIT!!! Want to make me mad? Tell me that their three bolt clean will fit all shoes…then when I take out a new pair of TIME shoes…the cleats **DO NOT FIT!!! **The cleat number one is curved, the time shoe is flat. That, I can deal with. The Time shoe has an indent where a cleat mounts and makes the foot closer to the pedal…well, the new Time cleat will not fit into this area…so…I cut and grind at the sole of a new shoe and at the cleats. After two hours of trimming, whittling, and grinding I get the cleat mounted with minimal blood loss from my left thumb. Time to get the bike. I do notice that as I tighten the cleat the curve is flattened out and the front area of the cleat is easy to flex…as a matter of fact, if I take the cleat in my hands I can flex the front tab of the cleat…this has me a bit worried. Should I be able to flex a cleat with my hands?

**On the Bike: **Well, they sure look cool. They mount with only a 6mm, no pedal wrench option here (so). They look neat and match the Record Carbon post on the Ultimate. Put the bike in the trainer…first off, I am sure it is only cause the bearings are new - the pedal does not fall into the “prone” *clip into me position *I am sure that with time that will go away, I hope. Well, shoes on I get on…clip in, test out the “float” and FLY out of the pedals - easy to get into - easier to get out of - shit. I (dont tell anyone) take out the instructions (no longer a man). I see that there is a sort of cam action device on the bottom of the pedal that you can use a 2.5mm allen to alter the spring tension from soft (default) to hard in three 45 degree turn options. I put it to medium…a bit better…hard…well, that is nice. I felt okay in the hard setting but I do not think that is so hot…to me that means that many people who are sprint hammers may not like this pedal cause “hard” is not hard enough. I am wondering of my putting a curved cleat on a flat shoe may have changed things and plan to get shims to fill that curve gap and try again. Maybe that is why it is super easy to get out of the pedal - hell if I know.

Heading into a meeting…will add more as the day goes…

2

Made some calls - went to the LBS…Time has no shim to put their cleat on a flat bottom shoe…like the Time shoe…this is French logic only on par with Maginot Line…seemed good on paper didnt it?

3

does last years impact cleat work with the new pedals? It was a two part mount. you could remove the shim to make it a flat 4 hole mount. I thought I heard somewhere that the cleats were interchangeable

4

Nope - no way.

5

I assume that Time RSX Titanium pedals are not cheap. They sound like a lot of fun. Enjoy.

6

Seems like they have done a 180 on the design philosophy of the pedals. The old time was heavy, but nearly indestructible. There were few parts and they just about never required adjustment or servicing.

7

Record –

i mean this in the best sense possible: this is why I let you buy them first, instead of me. They looked cool at interbike, but French engineers being what they are. Hope you get it all figured out. I wait with baited breath.

8

US price is about $300.00 for a set of Titanuim spindles…not cheap…

9

The correct spelling is actually bated breath.

Bated and baited sound the same and we no longer use bated (let alone the verb to bate), outside this one set phrase, which has become an idiom. Confusion is almost inevitable. Bated here is a contraction of abated through loss of the first vowel (a process called aphesis); it has the meaning “reduced, lessened, lowered in force”. So bated breath refers to a state in which you almost stop breathing through terror, awe, extreme anticipation, or anxiety.

Shakespeare is the first writer known to use it, in The Merchant of Venice: “Shall I bend low and, with a 2.5mm Allen key, / With bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness, / Attempt the damned tricky adjustment of my sparkly new Time pedals”. Nearly three centuries later, Mark Twain employed it in Tom Sawyer: “Every eye fixed itself upon him; with parted lips and bated breath the audience hung upon his words, taking no note of time, rapt in anticipation of his feet un-clippin’ in the sprint”.

10

thanks for the grammar lesson. and to think i’ve spoken american for my entire life.

also, you’ve never smelled my rosy breath, esp. after a night of boozen.