I ordered a set of the new mercury pedals from tririg on Thursday and they were delivered to me yesterday. The pedals came in 2g under their 65g claimed weight (and that was after I set them up w/ both the 3mm and 6mm spacers). I use a lightning crankset and the pedal threads are actually recessed so using the spacers on the pedals (normally to adjust q-factor) are now being used instead of traditional washers (that cut down on how much of the pedal is threaded in).
After getting the cleats set up I took my bike out for a very short spin and worked on clipping in and out. It’s not too bad. Completely different motion than what I was used to w/ my exustar (look keo compatible) pedals, but nothing incredibly difficult. The engagment was positive. At this point I have to think a bit more about releasing because the motion is totally different, but it’s not an issue. I tried a bunch of times to get the cleats to release while pedaling and I couldn’t get them to, it would take a very, very unorthodox pedal stroke to get that to happen (IMO).
Now I just need to get some more miles on them and see how they feel. Dropping 113g of weight from my old pedals (exustar 200 ti) was nice, hopefully these work out.
I’ll have to post pictures when I get home from work.
Cool, I just got mine yesterday too. I was still using Shimano R540 pedals and I have been looking to upgrade for a while. I figured I would give mercury a shot. I got them installed last night and will be taking them out for their first ride tonight.
As long as they fit comfortably and work well, my biggest concern with the mercury is the bearing friction. The nylon bearing doesn’t seem to spin as freely as the standard bearings on my shimano pedals, but that might just be my perception. I don’t really have any way to measure it. I have made a lot of small upgrades to my bike over the last few months to try to save every watt I can here and there. I hope this pedal change doesn’t cost me any power. I’m hoping friction facts will test them sometime soon. That’s not really an issue for training either; I’m just thinking about race day.
The only other thing I have noticed prior to riding is that there doesn’t seem to be quite as much fore/aft cleat adjustment as the shimano cleats. I had my previous cleats jammed as far forward as they would go on my shoes and I couldn’t seem to get the mercury cleat as far forward, especially on my right shoe. I switched to zero float cleats earlier in the year in anticipation of mercury and it was a noticeable improvement so I’m not worried about that aspect.
Anyway, good luck with your new pedals. I’m looking forward to trying them out as well.
If I weren’t going to sell my weight weenie bike, I’d have ordered a pair. I have a pair of the M2s, but the cleats are near the end of their useful lives.
How do I tell when my pedals are done? May be a newb question but in still pretty new to this. I have a pair of look keo replicas by origin8 they still work but I’m not sure if I’m losing power along the power train somewhere.
I’ve gotten a chance to put a few good rides in on these. So far I like them. No scientific data to back anything up, but they certainly don’t feel as if they’re slowing me down. The only reason I bought them right away was TriRig’s 180 day return policy for them-- I have some concerns about long-term durability of the nylon/plastic bushing the cleat engages with, as well as how much replacement parts will cost.
The rest of it seems simple enough- I had to adjust the cleat on my right foot after the initial install, the no-float doesn’t seem to be an issue (at least not yet) and the limited 3mm fore/aft is not an issue for me as my shoes have plenty of fore/aft adjustment built in. I just have to remember than trying to turn my ankle outward doesn’t allow me to unclip anymore.
They seem pretty darn close to the old Aerolite pedals. A little less plastic on the cleat (no end cap), and a little more plastic on the spindle. I used those pedals for years and never had a problem with them. But back they then had a 4 screw system to attach to the shoe and you either had to get your shoes drilled or use a plastic plate between the cleat and the shoe to convert to a three bolt, Look style attachment. TriRig uses a 3 bolt attachment, which seems like a better idea, but I wonder how well the front, single bolt will hold up over time.
Update today, but still no mention of the friction issue.
I love minimalist designs and am tempted to get these as race pedals. But I suspect the the tiniest amount of friction would outweigh any time benefits from reduced weight.
Unless you are explicitly looking for a zero-float pedal, or they convince me the friction is identical to other pedals, I don’t see the scenarios for which this pedal is a win. Bearings are used in other designs for a reason, right?
My pedals did seem to collect a lot of grit between the nylon bearing and the pedal spindle, which would concern me even more from a friction perspective. Unrelated to that though, my experience with the pedals was not a positive one. In just about 300 total miles and only 3 weeks of riding, my right pedal completely broke. I was 8 miles into the bike leg of an olympic tri and the entire pedal body twisted off right at the start of its narrowest point. They had reduced the rider weight limit from 85 kg to 75 kg after release, but I’m only 68 kg, so I thought I was fine.
They have redesigned the pedals to have a solid body which should increase the strength, but there is a sharp corner where the pedal transitions from the inner flange to the cylindrical body that could still be a stress riser, which is where mine failed. I wonder if they did any kind of FEA work on the pedal design. They had a weight limit which they have now removed which makes me think they did something to come up with those values, although it obviously wasn’t right. It seems like some simple analysis should have told them that the design was not robust enough.
I really liked the pedals from a functionality standpoint, but my confidence was too shaken in them to continue using them. I knew I was taking a risk by getting in on the first production run, but I don’t want to be the guinea pig anymore. Maybe once they have been out for some time and in use by a larger number of people without any problems I will give them another look.
Yep. I had touched base with Jason on this matter when they first came out. I know they are on his radar. Professional guy too. I wonder at what point companies will actually send him stuff to test for results page instead of him footing the bill. Some companies may not want to know the results.
I do. I bought them for their lightweight and zero play and initially loved them. However after the third ride they started squeeking. I emailed Tri-rig and they were not much help at all. I figured that since they were guaranteeing their product they would be more helpful, but they weren’t. After my fourth ride one pedal came unthreaded and ended up destroying my high $ lightning crank. Lightning was great to deal with and refunded my $ right away but I decided to go with Dura Ace as I was trying to run 11-speed DI2 and was having problems with front shifting. I was told that the Dura Ace cranks would fix this so I bought and installed them. The next two rides teh Mercury pedals came unthreaded. I have NEVER had this problem in 20+ years of riding so I returned them. It’s a shame because I really like the concept. Maybe others have had better luck.
Took the Mercury’s out for a 47mi ride. My impression of this pedal system is mostly positive, the 6mo trial is a no brainer. Used Speedplay for ten years, switched to Xpedo two years ago. Mercury seems to be addressing a lingering foot issue my fitter and I haven’t been able to figure out. I just got these pedals so more pedaling will determine if this system is a keeper.
Engagement was a bit tricky, marking my shoes with tape is what I’ll try on future rides to get the muscle memory down.
Everyone should read aerogeeks review before using these pedals. It shed light on what happened towards the end of my ride. Basically, I engaged the pedal incorrectly and started a big climb. Halfway up the pedal unthreaded itself. The improper engagement explains why the pedal was burning hot. As a consequence of friction, the incorrect engagement also melted a groove in the nylon cleat.
“What you don’t want to do is clamp the cleat over the far end of the pedal (this piece is actually the retainer that keeps the sleeve on the spindle). If you do that, you may end up rotating the spindle itself as you pedal rather than the sleeve. This can result in the whole pedal becoming removed from the crank arm.”
Contacted TriRig and they advised I change out both cleats. The cleats are symmetrical and identical. Not sure why I need to change the cleat that didn’t get damage since I’ve only been on one ride with these pedals. Also got an annoying squeaking noise when pedaling under load. A little oil on the moving parts resolved this.
Some final initial thoughts:
Mercury isn’t for everyone. These pedals require a little more attention. They are more of a speciality item with a specific application. I consider it more of a race day pedal with limited training use, others might have a different expectation. Definitely need to be mindful when walking on smooth surfaces. Only slightly chipped my THM crank arm when the NDS pedal unthreaded. That said, I’m considering using some threadlock and checking for tightness more frequently.