MTB pedals?

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Jean
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MTB pedals?

Postby Jean » Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:42 pm

Hi,

Anyone using Time MTB pedals (particularly a ROC ATAC variant)? I've been using SPDs for nearly two years and while I can't fault the pedals for reliability etc, I'm beginning to think the small platform is contributing to hot spot/numbness issues. I'm a Time user on the road these days and the ROC ATAC MTB pedals seem to offer more contact area etc. So I'm wondering if anyone uses them and how they find them in general.

Cheers

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trailgumby
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby trailgumby » Thu Dec 15, 2011 12:12 pm

The course leader on the MTB skills clinic I did earlier in the year had them on his bike and had good things to say.

The only downside is you will be on your own... they're uncommon. One of the things we do from time to time at the end of group rides that's rather fun is swap bikes around and see what each other's rides are like. Having an incompatible pedal makes it hard to get comfortable riding over obstacles, or even on fire trail.

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Jean
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Jean » Thu Dec 15, 2011 1:59 pm

trailgumby wrote:The only downside is you will be on your own... they're uncommon. One of the things we do from time to time at the end of group rides that's rather fun is swap bikes around and see what each other's rides are like. Having an incompatible pedal makes it hard to get comfortable riding over obstacles, or even on fire trail.
Not a big worry for me, and ultimately I want to be more comfortable on my own bike rather than worry about what it would be like on someone elses. I've had to ride someone else's bike durimg an event once (a 24hr) when my frame cracked, but I could swap pedals easily enough if I had to do that again.

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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Nobody » Thu Dec 15, 2011 3:22 pm

I've heard of a lot of frames cracking during 24 hour events. You guys need to get some steel for these events. :P

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fringe_dweller
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby fringe_dweller » Thu Dec 15, 2011 3:48 pm

Oxford wrote:I have these, plus Time Aliums. Time MTB pedals are brilliant, almost everyone I know who went to Times has not looked back or gone back. I have one set of Times that are now 8 years old and still going without issue and they have not been serviced or touched in any way. as for platform size they are as good as if not better than the SPDs IMO.
+1. Had my Time ATACs almost from the day I started on the MTB. Still going strong without any issues. No regrets, and bought my wife a pair. Haven't had any troubles engaging them in wet, muddy conditions either.

Grant
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Mulger bill
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Mulger bill » Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:25 pm

Jean wrote:
trailgumby wrote:The only downside is you will be on your own... they're uncommon. One of the things we do from time to time at the end of group rides that's rather fun is swap bikes around and see what each other's rides are like. Having an incompatible pedal makes it hard to get comfortable riding over obstacles, or even on fire trail.
Not a big worry for me, and ultimately I want to be more comfortable on my own bike rather than worry about what it would be like on someone elses. I've had to ride someone else's bike durimg an event once (a 24hr) when my frame cracked, but I could swap pedals easily enough if I had to do that again.
You don't carry a 6mm hex key TG?

Checking out other riders bikes might just teach a bloke something he didn't think about when it comes to fitting out and setting up his own bike, right down to tyre choice for the area.
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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trailgumby
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby trailgumby » Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:39 pm

Some of them are 8mm, and it depends on how tight some are. I've learned not to over-torque mine, you really don't need to do them up all that tight, but some bike shops have a *really* annoying habit of applying in excess of 50Nm which makes it impssible to get off them without a big-assed Park Tools shop wrench. :x

One mate had to bring his cranks around to put the arm in my bench vice to get the Ritchey SPD pedals off - the shop that fitted them had done them up so tight he had rounded off the flats so his adnd my pedal wrench was no use, and had almost rounded out the hex and we were almost at the point of pulling out the dremel and cut-off wheel! He'd reached the point of being prepared to sacrifice the pedals to save the cranks, so I ground some flats in the pedal axles and managed to get them off with a pair of Stilsons.

So while a hex key should work, sometimes it gets a bit 'ard :oops:

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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby gcouyant » Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:42 pm

Jean wrote:Hi,

Anyone using Time MTB pedals (particularly a ROC ATAC variant)? I've been using SPDs for nearly two years and while I can't fault the pedals for reliability etc, I'm beginning to think the small platform is contributing to hot spot/numbness issues. I'm a Time user on the road these days and the ROC ATAC MTB pedals seem to offer more contact area etc. So I'm wondering if anyone uses them and how they find them in general.

Cheers
Jean I'll have a bit of a brag moment here because I have the titanium ATAC pedals on all of my bikes. There, now I feel like a total trinket turd but I love those pedals because they have allowed me to continue riding for hours at a time. I came from a lifetime of SPD xtr pedals and suffered from knee pain as old age crept up.

They allow more float of course and do shed thick mud with course particles better. Engagement is different in that you must kick forward into the cleats as opposed to stomping on the SPDs. The down side is that they lack that precise engagement and disengagement of the xtr pedals. It's also easier to jump on a pedal without clicking in when you have to take off up a hill.

They do however have a little nylon bush and only one small bearing. The bush wears and develops play over time. What is it with the French and nylon bushes? Is it some perverse payback for all of those anti French protests in the 70s over Mururoa Atoll?
George from iSi Advanced Bicycle Carrier Systems

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sparkyscott
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby sparkyscott » Sat May 12, 2012 12:29 am

The XT trail pedals give that much more platform support than the "racing" models.

The Time pedals sound interesting though...

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Rob74
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Rob74 » Fri May 25, 2012 10:31 pm

Last 2yrs running TIME ATC XS, great pedal. Ran TIME ATAC Alum on previous MTB for 4yrs. (Also run TIME ATAC XS on my road bike.) Shimano M183 MTB Shoes used for both my MTB & Road Bike, just replace the front studs for blanking plugs shoes have stiff sole. The lateral float is good for my knees. The TIME “Brass cleat” being a soft metal wears sacrificially, so purchase a spare set of cleats when you purchase your pedals.

Both have simple design, the Alum has round cleat engagement spring bars, while the XS has “square-ish” cleat engagement spring bars with the advantage of adjustable tension for release.

The “square-ish” cleat engagement spring bars on the XS will eventually wear a grove in sole of the shoe at the front of the cleat. It eventually cuts the cabon fibre of the sole plate.

Note that ROC’s have round cleat engagement spring bars.

Get the TIMEs you won’t go back to SPD.

Rob

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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Crittski » Fri May 25, 2012 11:45 pm

XTR Trail pedal with the larger platform is going for $122 at this link is broken
Santa Cruz Blur TRc XTR
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baabaa
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby baabaa » Sat May 26, 2012 4:45 pm

Give them a try and doubt you will go back. Pedals are a bit like saddles, find what works and don’t change.
Four bikes now with various ATAC models and never had a problem apart from the cleats do seem high in price.
Even ditched the Ultegra SPD-SL pedals for the "fancy" XS Absalon model on the sportive bike so I don’t need to change shoes.

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trailgumby
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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby trailgumby » Sat May 26, 2012 6:54 pm

The only hassle with going out on your own with unusual pedals is it makes it hard to try out other guys bikes.

Last weekend AUBicycles, myself, and a mate had a bit of fun trying out each others bikes ... That would have been rather uncomfortable without being properly secured at the pedals if we'd been using incompatible systems. We all learned a quite a bit from the experience.

Some folks worry about being trapped in their pedals and unable to get out - I'm the opposite. The prospect of a foot coming loose over technical terrain is what scares me :P

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MTB pedals?

Postby Kenzo » Sat May 26, 2012 8:05 pm

trailgumby wrote:The only hassle with going out on your own with unusual pedals is it makes it hard to try out other guys bikes.

Last weekend AUBicycles, myself, and a mate had a bit of fun trying out each others bikes ... That would have been rather uncomfortable without being properly secured at the pedals if we'd been using incompatible systems. We all learned a quite a bit from the experience.

Some folks worry about being trapped in their pedals and unable to get out - I'm the opposite. The prospect of a foot coming loose over technical terrain is what scares me :P
If I'm not mistaken, you can use Time ATAC cleats in Crank Bros and vice versa. So in that respect, you'd be fine. In the group rides I've been on, there's always been a mix of pedals anyway, nowadays it is not as likely to all be on the same pedal type.

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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby trailgumby » Sat May 26, 2012 8:39 pm

Don't see CB stuff around as nearly much as I used to. Becoming less popular? Dunno. I've been tempted to go that way for awhile due to the light weight, but the widely reported poor bearing life has become a turnoff. Their hydraulic seatposts are rubbish for service life, including the new Kronolog, and their mtb wheels are regarded by a few mechanics I know as a truing PITA.

A triumph of style over useful life? A pity, because their products do have a *lot* of style.

Shimano pedals by comparison are bombproof, they just keep going. The cleats last well, and they are reasonably good with mud. Could be better, though. Would be nice if they had the mud-clearing properties of CB.

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Re: MTB pedals?

Postby Mulger bill » Sat May 26, 2012 8:45 pm

Their Cobalt and Iodine bars and stems do the job nicely but there aint much to wear out there. :wink:
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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