Time Pedal Obsession
 

I have been kind of obsessing over old Time equipe & TBT pedals as of late.
They sometimes go for next to nothing on EB@y. Must not be at all popular.
Do any of you folks ride with them?

Most of my bikes just hand around and the bright colors look cool.

Time makes good pedals that work, since they started making clipless pedals shortly after Look pioneered the industry just before the mid 80's. I always wanted to try out Time pedals since then, but I always found Looks to be a much better, more efficient clipless pedal design. The Time pedals seem to always be a bit bulkier and heaver with more moving parts than the very elegantly simple and light Look pedal designs, and that is why I think, Look had always been the leader in the industry while Time seem to be always catching up with Look in term of popularity. Every time I shop for a new set of pedals for my C&V bike projects these days, I always consider trying out Time pedals, but I always end up concluding that Look pedals still give me the best value for my money, as much as they did when I bought my first pair back in 85 for my PSV.
As for old Time and Look pedals going for peanuts at eBay, It seems like pretty much all of them do (except for maybe the Campagnolos becuase of goofy reasons we are already familiar with), including Looks as you can usually get new clipless pedals at the end of the season from retailers like PBS for so cheap (I bought all my Keo Classics in the past few years from them for something like 68 bucks a set) that it does not really make sense to buy NOS at ebay, so the market for C&V/NOS does not really exist... I also consider clipless pedals like ski bindings, so I always try to go for the newest/best designs for more safety.
JMOs

I agree Look pedals are a simpler and probably better design. Lemond & Indurane used Time and I road Time back in the day. My mailbox contained a pair of Time Mag pedals this afternoon. $10 from ebay. I like the design.

Rode them back in the mid-90s. Not a bad system, but something about the "float" didn't agree with my left leg.

I rode them from about 1991 to 2009. They were awesome, but I broke one reached out to Look Keo's. They just seem more elegant and simple.

I agree, they are totally outdated. The worst part is the huge cleat. Probably the worst set up for walking ever invented. I put put them on my old bikes because they look cool and they are cheap. SPd's and shoes with a concealed cleat are my favorite these days but putting them on a classic ride is an abomination.

I just found these Time Titan Pedals w/ cleats in my parts bin. Not so sure about them but they are really light with the titanium spindles. I am guessing they are from the mid 90's?
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=408095http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=408096

Those look like the first design from 1988 to around 95?? Later the design changed to a more pointy look like what my photos show. I wish I could find more info on models or history on the net .

IIRC, Time pedals were created by some one(s) who split off from Look to try their own ideas (float?). Nothing wrong with them, but they never really caught on, particularly as Look and others came out with their own floating cleats, and Time's cleat was incompatible with other pedals.

Yeah, I couldn't find a whole lot of info on this particular model. What I did find said they were pretty rare, titanium spindles and magnesium body. My experience is they are hella hard to clip out of.

FWIW, Time was a very formidable brand in the mtb market in the late '90's, very early 2000's, with the Time ATAC's. My guess is that Time made, by far, more money selling ATAC mtb pedals than any road pedal they ever produced. ATACs rivaled Shimano SPDs in popularity at the time (and that's saying something), because they cleared mud better than anything else on the market then.....Again, FWIW. :)....ATACS are still available, but to me they seem dated now, and other brands came along with even better mud clearing capabilities, which took their market share for the most part.

I liked Time pedals and used them before switching to Speedplay. One problem they had was that you had to use a 4-bolt Time shoe or put up with a clunky adapter. The cleats were easier to walk on and lasted forever (made of brass and aluminum).

I've ran eggbeaters several times on some on-topic bikes :rolleyes:

I use SPD's sometimes. Most of my old bikes are more wall hangers at this point so looking authentic is as important as anything. Time was the most exotic pedal around for a decade after 1988.

Time ATAC , for the SPD type shoes. the Aluminum ones were well priced..

they update them lighter bodies -Carbon Composites.. but the simple spring itself holds the cleat is brilliantly simple.

The only page with any useful info appears to be this one: BikePro.com / Buyer's Guide / Archival Reviews of Time Road Pedals - Bicycle Parts at discount prices / the Buyer's Guide / Bicycle Parts at their finest! / Professional Bicycle Source / Bike Pro I agree with your time frame - I got a pair of red plastic "Criterium" pedals around 94-95 with the more pointy look.

I can only comment on the original Look pedals vs Time TBT because I've stuck with the Time since 1990 because I like them so much :) I've recently picked up some on ebay for pennies too (Titan Magnesium £180 new, 99p now on ebay!) although some have worn and clicky bearings.

The Time pedals are chunky but for me that's part of their charm. I started with Shimano PD-6401 Look pedals for a couple of years but although they're sleek, they're quite anonymous whereas the time are very distinctive, especially on an old steel framed bike with downtube shifters!

The main upside - you can move your foot how you like laterally and rotationally. The first time I rode them it felt very strange as if my foot was about to slide off but I got used to them quite quickly. There's also no way to to release accidentally. The Look pedal relies on the spring tension. The shape of the cleat provides leverage against the tension to unclip, but if you can pull the spring back, it will unclip (as happened to me a couple of times in signpost sprints with the Shimanos). With the Time pedals the cleats engage in the pedal and the red clip and the geometry won't allow accidental release, even if you could pull the spring away. The cleat needs to be rotated 20° to release, but as the spring isn't holding the cleat in place, but merely helping locate the cleat in the right place, release tension is lower.

The downsides? The plastic covers over the springs can come off and then they look naff. Also only a few shoes are compatible with the cleats so you need a plastic adapter for the look mounting which negates the much touted "bioperformance" closeness of sole to axle. However I've always used the adapter and can't say it feels any different to regular pedals. Finally there appear to be no spare parts, even on ebay, so you're facing a gamble on a set of pedals and hoping the parts you need are in those and ok. Oh and good luck working out how to get the spindles out, I still haven't worked it out!