I am currently riding with Shimano PD A520’s, technically MTB pedals, on my TT bike and am thinking about upgrading. What would be the benefits of upgrading and what pedals do you recommend?
Look into the Keywins. I am going to give them a try.
I like my PD-R540’s.
Cheap and tough. The wider pedal area is nicer than the MTB pedals you are using now.
What is it about them that you don’t like about them?
Don’t get sucked into the “lighter is better” pedal market. It doesn’t make any discernible difference. If they feel solid and you are comfortable with them then there is no performance advantage in swapping pedals.
Chad
The A-520’s actully have a good sized platform, so I’m not worried about that, I was just ondering if there would be any performance benefits to upgrading. I agree, with the speeds I am riding I don’t think I would see much benefit from dropping a few ounces of weight. Thanks for your guys input!
I agree, with the speeds I am riding I don’t think I would see much benefit from dropping a few ounces of weight. Thanks for your guys input!
The speed you ride personally isn’t the issue. Read this: about the importance of rotational inertia and pedal weight.
It’s not null…but it’s exceedingly miniscule.
BTW, your math is still wrong. The difference in energy is 0.4847 J MINUS 0.2423 J, or basically 1/4 of a Joule. Going from 0-85 rpms in 1 second (i.e. going from coasting to pedaling) would require a measly 1/4W extra.
To put this in perspective, how many times would you have to do that sort of a cadence acceleration per hour over a course of a 5 hour ride to account for the caloric content of just one Tic-Tac? By my rough estimates ~1700X per hour…or, basically just over once every 2 seconds. That’s a might silly way to ride an IM bike leg 
So…worrying about weight is a minor concern. Worrying about rotational inertia differences is just plain silly…
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This was Tom A’s summation of a rather long argument that I started about how it was ridiculous that Look offered $500, 195 gram pedals when it just didn’t make any difference in performance. Another post-er tried to argue the rotational inertia myth and it went back and forth. Your pedals are as good as any other set from a performance standpoint.
Chad
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I have the same on my road, TT, fixie and commuter bikes. Downgraded, actually, from Ultegra road and Crank Bros. Quattro pedals a few years ago.
So I went in to ask the very same question at my favorite local LBS. Their answer? “Not much”. With a stiff sole on your shoes, maybe, maybe you’d want the pontoon-thingies to make a more stable walking platform on the road shoes, but your gains to a better system won’t be much.
So you switch to Speedplays? Now try to get the mud out of them in T1. Looks? Pretty good, but some of them squeak.