aluminium pedals and cleats?

MajorPayne

Heya guys,

Am I crazy? Looking to lighten some minor parts of the bike before I move on to other more expensive areas such as carbon rims and such.

The reason I mention carbon rims is I man handled a pair of a friends he was cleaning and putting into storage, a whopping £1K odd I might add.. I'm not looking for anything that costly being so new to the sport and was hoping to move onto other things.

So aluminium pedals and cleats? Do they exist I'm currently on eBay looking for a good second-hand pair but no-one is really listing the materials their made from.. Am I barking up the wrong tree to be asking for aluminium pedals and cleats or are they generally made from stainless steels and the such.

All help and advice would be welcome and most helpful on this subject as I'm currently running with the standard cage style pedals, which I've kind of got used to but are very much hindering my performance and self esteem in starting off from red-lights in bad traffic. In fact I find myself slowing down other drivers which could either could put them into a panic because they think I'm pulling off faster then it really looks also I've found if I can't get my feet in first time to carry on riding but they seem to drag along the tarmac which is just damaging them and could again cause me to crash or trash a passing vehicle.

Kind regards,
MajorPayne

I think I'm just lucky so far as you can't miss a skinny pale white guy with eminem bleach blond hair and funkyly unshaven for the last week on a bright red racing bike!

STEFANOS4784

The weight savings there are going to be nominal. I'd save me cash and get the best wheels i could if i were you!

Just get some Shimano m520's or something like that and some cheap-ish shoes until you are used to being attached to the bike. That is my opinion, someone may be along shortly to crush me...........

pianoman

There's nothing wrong with "metal" pedals - I use Wellgo RC715's (like a lighter version of SPD's - NO SHIMANO PLEEZE on my Campag-equipped bike) :P

They're single-sided and the cleats seem to be made from the same material as the Shimano MTB pedals.

And with SIDI shoes, they're making me pedal more efficient than when I used Look Keo Sprints with Diadora road shoes! Though I think most of that was because the Diadora shoes didn't support the high arch in my foot very well, so I was always pedalling with just the outside of my foot.

softlad

the majority of clipless pedals are made from cast aluminium, or cast resin. cleats are usually either plastic or brass. SPD cleats are steel...

so, what you are asking for already exists and is widely available...

redddraggon

SPD-SL pedals are Aluminium and the cleats polymer. How much lighter do you want?

Speedplay pedals are some of the "lightest", but they cheap and put the springs and stuff on the shoes in the cleat.

pianoman

Because polymer cleats flex when they are wearing down - not good for big gear pushers like myself - and then they SNAP.

NOT good.

That said, I know many people who love them Looks and Times etc.

You pays your money, you takes your choice

softlad

PianoMan wrote:

Because polymer cleats flex when they are wearing down - not good for big gear pushers like myself - and then they SNAP.

how many pairs have you snapped. ..??

I have been on plastic cleats since the early 90s and have never managed to snap a single pair - I don't know anybody else that has either...

Obviously they wear - like anything else. The trick is to change them before they wear beyond their service limits.....

pianoman

How many did you have to change then?

softlad

PianoMan wrote:

How many did you have to change then?

over the years - I can't remember...I never kept score...

I probably got through maybe a couple of sets a year.

pianoman

Hmm.....are those the sets that now cost £18 a pair thanks to the weak pound? Thought so.

Also, I think the Keo cleats are thinner than the old Delta ones, that's partly to try and reduce the stack height I think.

So they are now more disposable for us, and more efficient for Alberto Contador and Co who probably get new ones put on for every stage.

softlad

PianoMan wrote:

Hmm.....are those the sets that now cost £18 a pair thanks to the weak pound? Thought so.

Back then I was on Look delta - cleats were about £12 per set back then, so £24 per year did not exactly put me into debt.

These days I'm on Time RXS - cleats are about £18 a set. £36 a year maybe. In the great scheme of things, that is fck all to worry about.....

pianoman

Well, I used to own Shimano MTB pedals, and in three years of using them I never once had to replace a cleat. Not bad eh?

So I thought, as my shoes were looking a bit battered and I really wanted some SIDI's anyway, I thought I would pick something Shimano-esque without the dreaded Shimano logo that would have ruined the look of a Campag-equipped bike.

The Wellgo pedals have been just fine so far.

BTW I like the avatar, softlad!

softlad

PianoMan wrote:

BTW I like the avatar, softlad!

so you know what it is then...??

mister biscuit

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

The weight savings there are going to be nominal. I'd save me cash and get the best wheels i could if i were you!

Just get some Shimano m520's or something like that and some cheap-ish shoes until you are used to being attached to the bike. That is my opinion, someone may be along shortly to crush me...........

Yeah, I'd go along with that. the shoes are walkable in, easy to release on the loosest setting and not expensive. the cleats last a bit longer too. double sided engagement is a nice to have as well.

but, the weight you'd save is going to be close to sod all. wheels are probably the best (and most noticable in terms of ride) upgrade you can do on a bike. (and really the first you should apart from contact points)

MajorPayne

As always since joining this forum and again you've all given me some very good sound advice and something to think upon when buying products for my road bike

I am quite new to all this and as long as you don't mind me asking stupid questions about parts I'm more then welcome to hear out all the good and bad points about kit even if you think I'm being stupid just mention it.

Always been told if you've got a question no matter how silly, it's best to always ask around. And I'd rather know something useful then not-know anything at all

I think I'm going to go for something in the region of the £40~60 mark along with the double-sided clippable version? & maybe the MTB style, also I'm going to look for some shoes which will allow me to walk a little bit rather then buying the super flat version of shoe as I would like to be able to walk a little and they might stand the test of time more then the proper hard-core slippery surface soles version.

*I've been informed of a URL online called wiggle, and that's a good place to start where I can find out more information about varied products and then maybe finding a second-hand pair on ebay if I can't afford the up-front shop costs.

Thanks again all, for all the wicked comments and information to help me along.
MajorPayne

P.S: seen a que of about 30~40 road riders sprinting through traffic yesterday but as I was in a car coming the other way I could not get to tag one and ask if I could join along sometime. So if any of you was going through Northampton on the 19/06/09 in the afternoon let me know if I can tag along sometime and slow you all down.

pianoman

I know some people who can go under the hour for a 25 who use "MTB" pedals, as long as you pick very stiff shoes that also fit your foot contour (which is why I got the SIDI Dominators - perfectly stiff enough) you should be fine.

And no, you're not being stupid at all, the stupid ones are those of us who have frittered away our hard-earned money thanks to poorly informed decisions. I'm onto my third set of bottle cages because the modern Tortec ones stretch way too much! (try the Elite Guissi gel cages - there's another bit of buying advice).

Happy riding