Goriot

Its been 7yrs with my cannondale caad 9 tiagara, ive been thinking about upgrading for a while. I still love the bike so I thought id get new pedals/shoes first, ones i could then use with my eventual new bike.
Now i have a shimano cleat (triangle at front of shoe with three screws) and look pedals. Then work great and I feel like im part of the bike when im in the zone. I wonder if new pedals are even better?
Can anyone suggest some new pedals? I also have a commuter with spd which is great too. Speedplay looks sexy, shimano ultegra seem solid?
Im looking for ease of clip in/out, power transfer, quality, ease of repair
Im really looking forward to the upgrade!!

Carbon Unit

You will get a lot of different answer here on road pedals. The most common road pedals will fall into two categories: Look / SPD-SL and Speedplay. I am clearly in the Speedplay camp. Speedplay are double sided easy to clip in and out and can have adjustable float. They do require a greasing now then which Look and SPD-SL pedals don't. However, all newer road pedals will do you what you want.

fstshrk

If they work for you and you have no issues, I would not touch the pedals and the cleats. There is very little benefit to changing pedals and cleat adjustment is a pain.

MDfive21

if you go speedplay get zeros in stainless or titanium.

seymour1910

Yeah get the Titanium...they'll only cost more that what your bike is currently worth

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...23_-1___202531

Hiro11

105 SPD-SL is what you need.

bonz50

agreed. they are priced right and work great. best value pedal on the market. period. can be had all day long for ~$60 delivered.

redcon1

+2 for the 105 SPD-SL (PD-5700). They are within mere grams of the Ultegra level alloy pedal and so much cheaper.

seymour1910

correct, to some it's woth it but we're talking about 6 grams difference for an upcharge of about $50-$60....I'm not interested in paying $10 per gram to move up to the Ultegras either. Got my 105's on eBay for $57 shipped.

oh, and thanks for your service redcon1

Carbon Unit

Also, if you are 200 lbs or over, Ti will flex.

seymour1910

not to hijack thre thread, but carbon, what is the interval on greasing speedplay's? I think I asked you this before in another thread about time pedals (cleats suck) I have SPD-SL but I also have a pair of Speedplay LA in chromoly. When I start using them I know how to grease them but have no idea if there is a paritcular interval or is it depending on how I ride? Do bigger guy's need to grease more often?

Gramercy

+3. I got them I think for $55 on Nashbar, and there was free shipping. It's my first and only pedal so I don't have much to compare it to, but they work just fine.

Carbon Unit

Speedplay suggests quarterly. I do not grease that often and my LA chromoly pedals are about six years old and they are in great condition. I weighed 230 when I bought them but am around 200 now. I don't think weight is an issue with ss or chromoly but is with Ti.

ILUVUK

I agree.

longbeachgary

^^^^
It's nice to have new stuff but why mess with perfection.

decycle

Or you buy the chrome-moly Zeros for $130
and then a pair of titanium spindles from Ward for less than $63
and you have Ti Zeros for less than $200!

mprelaw

^^^^ These. I sprung for Ultegras with my new bike, and it was money wasted. I rode 105s before, and to be honest, Ultegras aren't a huge step up.

Goriot

Thanks for the responses.
105s seem to be the winners. But the clip mechanism is spd which I have on my commuter- i like them because the cleat on the shoe is recessed so its easy to walk, as opposed to the reverse high heel shoes I have now on the road bike...
No one commented if different pedals have different biogeometries/power transfer- is this something to comment on or are they all the same?
Another reason I wanted to upgrade is because i took my shoes but not pedals on a bike trip and couldnt get the right pedals for them and it really delayed the ride, so I want a cleat/pedal combo that is popular enough to find anywhere. I actually had to use an spd style and they seemed fine.


Im going to my LBS soon and might try out a couple of different ones.
Thanks for the advice!!
S

eja_ bottecchia

This!

coppercook62

Thats what i do. But i buy just the bodies from xcel boulder

msu2001la

I prefer to use MTB pedals on my road bike. Shimano XT is solid.

I like being able to walk in my bike shoes, and always found road pedals/shoes to be somewhat impractical for riding in the city. Plus, I like having one pair of shoes that I can use on both my MTB and Road bikes.

decycle

Interesting.

I see there are two pedal bodies. One for Ti zeros and another for Cromo and SS:
https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?...ajor=5&minor=6
https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?...ajor=5&minor=6
Do they have any actual differences? Will they both work the same?

The problem I see is the cartridge bearings are not included in the bodies and you have to buy them extra. So bodies+bearings=$128
Is it worth it? You only save $2. New Cromo Zeros are $130. What am I missing here?

coppercook62

I get bearing too its still less tan 200

coppercook62

Also i may note the ti spindles i get are rated at 230 pounds. I see your point. I just dont have use for the spindles.