Looking to upgrade my pedals now that my racing season is over. I’m currently using the entry-level Shimano SPD-SL pedals and am looking for some hi-perfomance pedals for a good price. Am willing to switch brands as long as the new pedal’s cleats work with my Shimano shoes.
Any suggestions?
are you happy with how they function? comfortable, able to clip in and our well, no noises or problems?
fancier ones will only buy you a handful of grams of savings.
are you happy with how they function? comfortable, able to clip in and our well, no noises or problems?
fancier ones will only buy you a handful of grams of savings.
Yes, there are some noises. “Clicking” with each pedal revolution. Clipping in and out is no problem, though. I’m looking for pedals with high power-transfer efficiency.
are you happy with how they function? comfortable, able to clip in and our well, no noises or problems?
fancier ones will only buy you a handful of grams of savings.
Yes, there are some noises. “Clicking” with each pedal revolution. Clipping in and out is no problem, though. I’m looking for pedals with high power-transfer efficiency.
Then unless you have bought everything else in your life that you need thats going to cost you a few hundred pounds I’d buy that first and leave the upgrade or you will just feel a bit gutted when you don’t notice any difference. If money is no object though or there really is nothing else you want at the moment then go and get yourself any of the top of the line pedals, really they will all perform fine. Personally I’ve got the Look Carbon Blade Ti’s, very light wide platform for power transfer and honestly I cant tell the difference between them and the ones that cost me about £150 less, they are on my nice bike though so I like the fact they are expensive, if I was honest though a bit of a waste of cash.
If money is no object you may want to wait and see how the Garmin Vectors perform.
I don’t think you’ll find a pedal that will do that. If there is clicking, are you sure it’s the pedal? Have you had your LBS look at them?
In my experience r540s are quite nice for the money. I went from Shimano to Look Keos and have missed Shimano. Look’s pedals are generally lighter by quite a bit but Shimano had a better feel to me. Though Look has revamped their line since.
I found little difference between higher end Shimano pedals and 540s.
all pedals have the same power transfer efficiency assuming they have the kind of float you need to be comfortable on them.
I’m looking for pedals with high power-transfer efficiency.
I’m looking for pedals with high power-transfer efficiency.
HaHa that’s hilarious.
Either:
you made that up,
heard it mentioned by Frankie Andreu on TdF coverage,
or heard it from a bike shop employee.
I agree “high power-transfer efficiency” makes me think that you are measuring how much of your power goes into the pedal versus how much is absorbed (somewhere?). I guess if you wore really well cushioned running shoes with a very flexible sole that could happen, or perhaps flip flops. But as you are already wearing a bike specific shoe and cleats I doubt if you are loading anything. Put another way, I don’t think you’ll get any more power to the pedal by spending any amount of money on shoes.
It really comes down to fit and comfort.
Personally, I don’t like the SPD system for my road bikes but do like them for my mountain and commute bikes where I am more likely to have to get off and walk fro time to time.
Look at things like comfort, breathability, ability to stay cool in heat, proper sized foot box for your foot volume, ease of getting on and off yet snug enough to stay in place etc. Make sure you can clip in easily and can’t pull out accidentally under power (start & uphills).
Here is the route I took:
Shimano SPD-540’s
Shimano Ultegra
Shimano Dura Ace
I have to say that I could only tell the difference between the 540’s and the Dura Ace pedals. The Ultegras, I am sure, weighed less. But, I could not tell them from the 540’s.
This last winter I switched to Speedplay Zeros. I have not looked back. There was a little learning curve and they do require a bit of attention. But, they feel different from the Shimanos and my body likes that feeling.
I should note that I did not dislike the Shimanos in any way. I switched for team reasons and found that I just liked the Speedplays more. I did save a pair of the 540’s for when the wife decides to go clipless.
I went from Look Delta>Look Keo > R540>Ultegra (very recently).
Prefered the Shimano cleats over the looks for trotting in transition, but there’s no weight / performance issues that I can tell. Weght is 20g Ultegra to R540s and the only reason for the change was because I needed another pair and the Ultegras were on special. Look slightly lower profile.
As all have said above, save the cash on pedals unless you really want to spend the money and not notice any difference. Spend the money on tyres/tires, latex tubes.
I think pedals may be the one ‘upgrade’ worse than a carbon stem to replace a bog standard steel one in terms of cost/benefit 
However, shoes, is a very different issue. I beleive that there is a significant difference between cheap / expensive shoes in terms of stiffness and efficiency later in a ride. So save the money on pedals and buy the shoes.
dura ace pedals are lighter than ultegra… for sure
.Yeah I could tell the difference between the 540 to the Dura Ace. But 540 to Ultegra was only noticeable while looking down.