tl;drExcellent pedals after a few tweaks, and the Time Xpresso 12 option is lightest road clipless pedals+cleat combo AFAIK at 248g total for pedals + cleats + hardware, undercutting even the Xpedo Sonik. Replace the bushings with 3x MR138-ZZ bearings, and replace the cleat bolts with M5 8mm bolts.
The experimentI've been experimenting with some fake Time road pedals from AliExpress and wanted to share my experience in case anyone else finds it useful. I had never used Time pedals previously, and my motivations were:
- Saving weight. Result: I saved 106g!
- Feeding my never-ending desire to tinker. Result:
My current favorite road pedals are the Exustar E-PR4ST with the Look Keo-style E-ARCR2 cleats. Inexpensive, stable and durable cleats, excellent bearings, perfectly weighted for easy clip-in, and with spring tension adjustable all the way from "easiest road pedal clip-out ever" to "welded-in like a Shimano SPD-SL at max tension". However at 354g total for pedals, cleats, and hardware, they're not the lightest option on the market.
PedalsI was in a weight weenie mood one day and ordered these pedals from AliExpress, both are knock-offs of discontinued Time pedals:
The Xpresso 12 pedals are identical to the Costelo pedals featured on Trace Velo (video title: "Chinese Cost Cutting Masterclass - Costelo vs Time Xpresso pedals"), except that the sticker on the leaf spring has the Time logo.
The XPRO 15 pedals have a fairing at the bottom, which makes them slightly heavier (+21g), marginally more aero (really??), and more importantly provides better protection for the leaf spring when you accidentally stomp down on the wrong side of the pedal.
Both sets of pedals have titanium axles, so if you can sprint at 2000 W, you should probably look elsewhere.
Bearings and bushingsBoth sets of pedals have a 6801-ZZ shielded bearing near the crank arm, and a bushing at the other end. The Xpresso 12 pedals have a plastic bushing measuring 16.2mm length, 12.9mm OD (forgot to measure ID). The XPRO 15 pedals have a metal (aluminium probably?) bushing measuring 7.5mm length, 12.5mm OD, 8.2mm ID.
At first I tried replacing the bushings with MR128 bearings, and then with HK0810 needle roller bearings, but in both cases the result was far too much play in the pedals. The bore seems to be wider than the original pedals, so the 12mm OD of those bearings was too small, and adding grease didn't fix the problem.
With the XPRO 15 pedals, I put the metal bushings back, and then tweaked the amount of grease (regular lithium grease) until the pedals spun smoothly but not too freely, and without excessive play. After some trial-and-error, I got them to a point where I'm very happy with them. After unclipping, they return to a vertical position for easy clip-in, and there's just enough resistance that a failed clip-in doesn't send them into a never-ending spin.
With the Xpresso 12 pedals, I couldn't get them to spin as I wanted with the included plastic bushings no matter what I tried, so I replaced the bushings with three MR138-ZZ bearings per pedal. Note MR1
38,
not MR1
28. Combined with a small dab of grease (not too much!), and the result is excellent - no play, and smooth spin, just like the XPRO 15s. I tried four bearings per pedal too, but that ended up being too restrictive.
I also tried replacing the larger 6801-ZZ shielded bearings with some cheap 6801-2RS sealed bearings, but this resulted in way too much drag. Possibly because my replacement bearings were poor quality. For now, I'm sticking with the shielded bearings, but if they fail, I'll invest in some better low-contact seal bearings. I rarely ride in the rain, so I hope the bearings will last a while. I added some grease between the end cap and the bearing for a little extra protection.
CleatsBoth pedal sets came with identical fake Time iClic cleats with float. The included cleat bolts have heads that are too narrow, so I replaced those with some M5 8mm bolts from AliExpress.
Original Time iClic float cleats are left-right specific, and each cleat is marked with an
L or
R. If installed as specified, you get a Q-factor of 51.7mm, but if you swap them (left cleat on right shoe, and right cleat on left shoe), you get a Q-factor of 54.3mm.
The fake iClic cleats are not marked as left or right,
but they are in fact also left-right specific, just like the originals. You can identify which is which by looking at the asymmetrical hook near the rear of the cleat. There's a notch on the hook to help align the cleat, and the sides of the hook are chamfered at different angles. On the right cleat, the right side is chamfered closer to 45 degrees, while the left side is closer to 90 degrees. You can tell quite easily in this picture:
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/image-hierarchy/sram-product-root-images/pedals/pedal-cleats/pd-iclc-cleats-a1/productassets_pd-iclc-clts-a1_fg/am-pd-cleat-r-mob-bk-xpresso-xpro-a5-c-top-s.png?w=1000In the attached photos of the cleats below, the cleat on the left is genuine Time, and the cleat on the right is fake.
Ride experienceI like the pedals, and I use both pairs on two different bikes! Clipping in and out is no different to Look Keo or Shimano SPD-SL pedals. The float pivots at the center of the cleat, rather than at the front, so in that sense it's similar to the yellow Shimano SPD-SL cleats. The cleats self-center, though I don't really notice while riding, unless I'm specifically paying attention to it.
Genuine vs fake cleats: With the XPRO 15 pedals, I can't feel any difference at all between the genuine and fake cleats. Same force required to clip in and out, and same float. Although I've never used a genuine Time pedal, I suspect that the iClic mechanism isn't as smooth as they should be on these pedals. Lots of reviews of Time iClic praise the ease of clipping in, with the common mousetrap analogy. These pedals don't give me that feeling, they require a little more force to clip in than my Exustar Keo-style pedals, with both set at the lowest tension.
With the Xpresso 12 pedals though, I've found that I need to use the fake cleats. The genuine cleats will either trigger a "click" but fail to actually clip in, or they will - with some force - clip in
really tight, with barely any float, and requiring quite a bit more force to unclip. No issues at all with the fake cleats.
Other points to note- If you remove the circlip that holds the larger 6801 bearing in place, and the circlip deforms, replace it with an M12 external circlip. This is important, as the circlip is what keeps the pedal body attached to the axle!
- Unlike original Time pedals, there is no washer/seal between the end cap and the 6801 bearing. I added a bit of grease here for protection. Be careful to not add too much, otherwise the pedals won't spin well.
- The end caps on both left and right pedals unthread the same way. There are arrows on the end caps that guide you - follow them. Trace Velo also pointed this out in his video.
- The fake iClic cleats don't have a marker for where the middle of the pedal axle sits. I made my own marks by aligning the fake cleats with a set of genuine cleats.
- I have not tried the fake iClic cleats with genuine Time pedals.
- There's a tool available on AliExpress for removing the end caps from the pedals. My end caps wear the scars of my repeated disassembly and reassembly, so I've ordered it now. Should've ordered it earlier!
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