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| The pedals are not showing many signs of wear after 700km. |
The Time Xpresso 4s are Time's mid/low range pedals. I've had them since April now so I think it's about
time I wrote a review (no pun intended).
Before buying the 4s I actually purchased a set of the Xpresso 8 pedals, which are a higher end model. However upon arriving home, I quickly realised that buying white pedals may not have been such a good idea. So I held of using them and returned to the shop two days later to exchange the 8s for the 4s. The difference between the two models is negligible in my opinion. I think the weight difference is something in the region of 12g, so unless your bike is made of feathers it's not really going to be noticeable. The only other difference, is the size of the bearing, apparently bigger is better.
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| Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the cleats. |
The 4s go for around £50, and considering they're made from precious, precious carbon, that's not bad at all. I've only done about 700km on them so far but they've been great. The biggest difference I've noticed in the upgrade from the Shimano SPDs to the Time Xpressos is the fact that the Time Xpressos hold my feet much tighter and give them less room to shift around. This is one of the biggest factors that convinced me to upgrade. The only issue I have experienced is that, the cleats, despite the fact I do very little walking in my cycling shoes, have almost worn out completely. In the year and a half that I had the SPDs I never once replaced the cleats, but I expect I'll have to replace these ones before long. As you can see from the photos the rubber on the cleats has worn out fairly rapidly, leaving the bare plastic exposed.
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| The rubber has worn away quickly, exposing the plastic |
The open design with the Time Xpressos is great, I thought this might weaken them somewhat and shorten their life span, but so far there are no signs of the pedals themselves wearing out. It means it's quick and easy to engage them, particularly useful when pulling away from a busy junction. There's no tension adjustment with these pedals as they work much like a mouse trap however this hasn't proved to be a problem.
Overall I'm very happy with the Time Xpresso 4s and I can certainly recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade and take the step up from entry level SPDs. I'll keep you posted on the cleat-front, so we'll see how long they actually last
I'd be interested to hear your opinion if you have tried Time pedals, and particularly how the measure up to other brands.
I too have these exact same pedals. I have been using them since the spring and find the cleats do wear down relatively quickly. I use SPD-SL's on my other bike and having used the yellow standard cleat and then moved to the blue with no float and less rotation these were much more confidence inspiring.
ReplyDeletethe Time pedals don't feel sloppy and have never popped out without my say so. having said that, the open design does mean the pedal grabs the cleat sometimes without fully engaging. like you said, they are easy to clip in as they rest in a convenient position when setting off from lights and are easy to get used to.
the only problem I have had with them is when I dropped my bike, the spiky bit on the side took a bit of a bruising rather than SL's with a round side which wouldn't have damaged as badly.
Yeah, those spiky bits have taken skin of my calf several times as well.
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