Hey guys, my first three years I competed on my cross bike with spds. This year I competed on a sweet p2-sl with help from carmel cycling (www.carmelcycling.com) and indytririp from Zipp. My pedals were a pair of look carbo pros which I love the feel of but everyone I ride with comments on the loud squeaking. so, they will be donated again. I think I have a recipient picked out.
Convince me why I should use your pedal system.
Criteria:
performance (subjective)
weight
durability (pedal and cleat)
price (pedal and cleat)
I’ve currently got specialized shoes with a three hole pattern.
I am mainly considering the times (probably rxes for price) but I’m worried about their durability and the price of the cleat. Also I’m considering the ultegra spd-sls. But I think they are quite a bit heavier.
Also if you have a used set of pedals please pm me!
Side Mount pedal.
They’re weird, different, unique and they’ll be the talk of the town.
Totally subjectively, I think you’ll be climbing faster, but that could be placebo.
I have Looks on my fixie and tandem. They do squeak when they get the slightest dirt on the cleat.
Performance - cannot pull out during hard efforts. The harder you pull up, the more locked in you are. Idiot-proof, with nothing that can go wrong.
Weight - lighter than any pedal/cleat combination out there, without a doubt.
Durability - again, there are very few things that can go wrong with this pedal because of it’s simple design. When the cleat wears down, simply buy a new $20 cleat. Super easy to service, and Crank Bros offers rebuild kits with titanium everything.
Price - Can find them as low as $45 for pedal and cleat. You can get an adapter so that the 2 hole cleat will work with 3 hole shoes.
No reason to not ride them, except maybe if you’re a “don’t think outside the box” traditionalist.
I use the SPD-SL system and have had no problems. I have the Ultegra pedals on my P2SL and the 105’s on my road and fixed bikes. Also I’m using the 6 degree float pedals (yellow ones).
Performance seems great to me (I’ve never used another system before). I could not tell the difference between the Ultegra/105’s if I was blindfolded, I suppose the only real difference is weight. I like that you can adjust the cleats to make them easier/harded to get into, this seems to adjust the float too (I think, haha).
Like I said before I think this pedal system is on the heavier side (I’m not sure what weight the Dura Ace pedals come in at, but I can’t imagine the weight difference is really worth the cash)
Durability seems great. I have over 10k at least on the cleats and still have no problems clipping in and out. The only thing that pisses me off is riding in the winter. NEVER let the cleats see snow, if you get even the smallest amount on them you’ll have to spend the next 20 minutes cleaning them off before you can clip in again. I guess this is why they make MTB pedals… Also walking around with the SPD-SL’s sucks, but that isn’t really a concern for me.
I’m not sure, I think the Ultegras put me back 150 or 160 CAD and the 105’s put me back 90-110 CAD… Both came with cleats which I can’t imagine are too expensive.
They have the easiest entry of any pedal - not one side, not two side, but 360 degree entry.
They get a lot of looks and comments.
The downside is other than the pair I have and my spare, you can’t get them anymore because the company (M2 Racer) that made them (Orb 2). Still on Ebay, though. And mind the weight limit.
Personally, I love Keywins. They’re hard to find (I think there’s only 1 dealer in the US, info via www.keywin.com) but quite sweet once you get them. Compatible w/ 3-hole patterns.
Very simple system - no moving parts in the engaging part of the pedal/cleat (clever plastic design lets you wiggle the cleat into the pedal & then swing the heel to disengage, yet its firm enough to hold you in under any sprint you can muster - well, any I can muster!). Float is also unique - the whole pedal sort of yaws around the axle; I think you can adjust the float but I’m not positive (I’ve never felt the need). Cleaning & greasing is also simple - there’s a cover on one side that snaps out to access the axle.
Since the pedal is quite light & well balanced, it doesn’t hang down like Looks, so you sometimes have to look down to spin the pedal around to engage your cleat (ie the pedal might be upside down when you try to engage the cleat). I remember Looks were virtually “no-look”; you could engage the cleat w/o thinking because the pedal naturally hung down. Keywins also have about the same contact area as Look or Time.
Pedal & cleat pair is 270g combined for titanium. I’ve noticed that most pedal systems only advertise the weight of the pedal (Time & Speedplay have pretty bulky cleats, for example) so you may not get the full weight.
Being plastic (at least my design is, its a few years old), the cleats DO wear down faster than, say, Speedplays, Shimano or Time if you walk around in them too much. Probably similar wear to Look cleats, but Keywin’s design makes its performance a little more susceptible to wear than Look’s. Otherwise, if you clean them & grease them occassionally, the pedals themselves last a VERY long time. Mine have far outlasted any Look pedal I’ve ever had.
Can’t remember - over $200 for Titanium set, I think.
Every pedal system has its pro’s & con’s but I think Keywin’s design is a winner: its light, stiff, large stable platform, and virtually unaffected by dirt/water/grease/etc.
i had the same problem with my Look 396’s (sqeaking). I switched to Time Impact Mags (found a great deal on the net for about $180). If you love the Looks, I urge you to check out the new Keo line. I believe they finally adressed the problem with a Teflon coating on the cleats to stop the sqeaking. Check it out: http://www.lookcyclesusa.com/
I took Tom D’s advice amd switched to the time pedals ( budget constraint meant rxe though)
by far the best pedal I have ever used
light,
low,
easy in/out,
plenty of holding power for sprinting/climbing
and best of all I can run through transiton in my bike shoes now
.
Tom, your review and rappstar and paulo’s recommendations are what got me thinking time. Mainly b/c they don’t need the three hole adapter shim like speedplays and the cleat seems more durable. plus the rxes are very cheap. the qbp price is ridiculous.
Dan, my 0.03 cents worth, we ride together so you have a good idea of the components I have on both my bikes. But, I use the Look KEO carbon and I have had zero problems and I feel a good solid base, especially when climbing. Oh and they are 115 gm (at least that’s what the marketing people say).
I haven’t heard one plug for Speedplay yet. Have they gone out of favor in the last year? I have ridden them for three years now, and you couldn’t pry them away from me. X’2’s and Zero’s both. I’m just sayin’
Have you ever used Eggbeaters on a road bike? If so, how’s the pedal clearance when cornering?
I use them on my tri and road bikes, and clearance is awesome. You only ever notice if pedaling strong through a corner (like in a crit race), but it’s nice to know the clearance is among the best, if not the best, of any system out there.
i had look 296’s and wanted to upgrade as i got a new bike. i now have Keo’s. One pair of classics and one pair of sprints. they are both pretty economical for a light package, i think i paid under 80 for the classics and around 100 for the sprints. the big noticable difference is the tension setting, the sprints get a lot tighter. i think the bearings might be upgraded too. On the higher end models there is a bit of weight savings, possibly even more tension, and upgraded bearings. i like the platform and the decrease in stack height from my old 296’s. they also really let you know you are clipped in.
i have a pair of eggbeaters on my MTB. i like those too, but there is no tension adjustment on mine. neat design where you flip flop the cleats to increase/decrease float. i suppose they would be fine for a road bike.