Originally Posted by
Halfast
I have used the Ventoux 2's for the last 4 years and 20k+ miles on 2 bikes. Just had one set start "clicking", so replaced them with the Z11. As Long said, the Z11s are harder to clip out of, and seem to have less float, though it might be because they are new (less than 200 miles). Also the Z11s are much prettier, polished aluminum instead of painted as the Ventoux are. The Z11s have exposed innards, while the Ventouxs are sealed, so if you ride in wet dirty conditions this may help your decision. The Z11s are only a few $$ more and more attractive, but the Ventouxs are fine.
My Z11s are the titanium version, which I got for around $50 IIRC(combination of a sale price and a 20% coupon-my inner cheapskate loves that!) just after they were introduced. They were my first set of Look style pedals and they still feel like they did when new. My only complaint is that there's no wrench flats on the axle so you have to use a hex wrench to install/remove them, but that's pretty minor in my book.
Originally Posted by
BluesDawg
Ouch! My knees hurt just from that reminder of the couple of weeks I used the black cleats (no float) before switching to red.
My knees track really straight through the pedal stroke, so I find float kind of a distraction. Of course, I'm a mere sprout of 52--I may sing a different tune in a few years. The only time my knees have ever bothered me was when I had my saddle a little too far forward--the perils of doing your own setup. Took me a couple of days to figure it out, but now I know that if the knees hurt, it's too far forward. If the back hurts, it's either a little too high or too far back.