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TECH NEWS

Just In: Time Xpresso 15 pedals

With carbon bodies, hollow titanium axles and CeramicSpeed bearings, these pedals weigh just 140g for the pair; guess the price

The Time Xpresso 15 pedals are the lightest we’ve ever reviewed here at road.cc, weighing in at just 140g. For the pair!

“Hey, road.cc, why are you doing a Just In on pedals? Don’t you usually do Just Ins on expensive stuff?”

That’s what you’re asking, right? Yeah, well, these little fellas retail at £399.99.

Sorry, was that the sound of you choking on your cup of tea?

Now, we know what you’re thinking: You could buy a whole bike for that. Correct. A quick look through our reviews archive confirms that as well as being the lightest pedals we’ve ever had in for testing, these are the most expensive (unless you count Garmin’s Vector power meter pedals, which we don’t).

We’ve actually reviewed Time Xpresso pedals before, but the Xpresso 2 version, now priced at £44.99, and the Xpresso 8, now priced at £129.99. They both look pretty similar to the Xpresso 15 model that we have here. In fact, to the untrained eye they look almost identical, just in different colours, so what the hell do the Xpresso 15 pedals do to earn their mighty price tag?

Well, weight weenies will be impressed by the Xpresso 15’s lightness. 140g is really, really, really light (Time actually claim 133g).

How come they’re so feathery? The body of the pedal is made from carbon with just a small aluminium plate across the centre to add extra durability, and the axle is hollow titanium.

The other key feature is the bearing system. Time use ceramic bearings from CeramicSpeed here www.ceramicspeed.com.

“CeramicSpeed manufacture the cycling industry’s leading, most sought-after ceramic bearings, delivering exceptional product quality, unmatched bearing lifetime and the all-important friction saving property, free speed,” say CeramicSpeed themselves.

Those are the claims. When they say “free speed” they mean free in terms of your energy expenditure, obviously. Four hundred quid isn’t free by any stretch of the imagination.

If you’re not familiar with the Xpresso design, Time’s I-Clic cleat engagement mechanism sits open when you’re not clipped in. That means that it takes virtually no pressure to engage. You just put the cleat in place and the engagement mechanism snaps shut, a carbon blade rather than a traditional metal spring providing the tension. Okay, clipping into most other pedals isn’t exactly difficult, but it’s even easier here.

As well as providing angular float (foot movement) of 5° in each direction, Xpresso pedals offer 2.5mm of lateral float. In layman’s terms, that means you can shift your feet in and out a bit as well as point them slightly off centre.

Anyway, we’ll go over all that in our review. Speaking of which, the sun’s shining, we’d better get out there and chalk up some miles.

For more info on the Time Xpresso 15s go to www.time-sport.com or www.extrauk.co.uk.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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15 comments

Avatar
Quince | 9 years ago
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I use these as door-knobs for my shed. They're great. They turn really smoothly, and are very light. Recommended.

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SundanceUK | 9 years ago
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Picked up some Xpresso 12s on Fleabay for £85. Yeeeeeah!  36

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Mrmiik replied to SundanceUK | 9 years ago
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SundanceUK wrote:

Picked up some Xpresso 12s on Fleabay for £85. Yeeeeeah!  36

Nice! Did they have any more?  105

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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Quick, someone call a medic ... my wallet has collapsed !

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Tin Pony | 9 years ago
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I'm a style on a budget kind of cycle buyer. Not sure these are for me but respect the tech and know how.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1080284708/tin-pony-cycle-jersey-cu...

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number9dream | 9 years ago
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Bit of an issue with the MAMIL crowd who could most afford them, I reckon - usually titanium spindles have a weight limit.  20

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2 Wheeled Idiot | 9 years ago
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I know its a ridiculous price and I will never buy them

But...I would quite like a pair for the simple bling factor  16

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peted76 | 9 years ago
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How much, I didn't quite catch that, I thought you said four hundred pounds... NNGGGG !

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alg | 9 years ago
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I run Time RSX carbons - just a little older and heavier but half decent and quite a lot cheaper. I wouldn't even dream of parting with that much for a set of pedals - I don't know of anyone who would

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Chasseur Patate replied to alg | 9 years ago
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I've held a set of these in my hand and they're crazy, crazy light and look fantastic. The tens are good enough for my number one bike though.

Charles_Hunter wrote:

Are they serviceable?

Yes, I've serviced the bearings on an Iclic pedal and had some Xpressos apart out of curiosity. Simple process.

alg wrote:

I run Time RSX carbons - just a little older and heavier but half decent and quite a lot cheaper. I wouldn't even dream of parting with that much for a set of pedals - I don't know of anyone who would

I do, there are people out there who will want the very best on their dream builds / super lightweight hill climbers. For most of us the rest of the range will do but there IS a market for these.

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Charles_Hunter | 9 years ago
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Are they serviceable?

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Mrmiik | 9 years ago
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Xpresso 2 and 6 rider here. The Xpresso 6 are seriously nice - the only benefit that draws me in are those bearings...

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Having had 2 pairs of time pedals snap on me, I certainly won't be trusting them on something even lighter.

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RobD | 9 years ago
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Yeah I've gotta agree about the price, that is hugely expensive. I've got the Expresso 4, which are a little more robust and have the steel plate that the 2s don't, I think they're great pedals, and already pretty light, I don't think I've ever really been riding along and thought 'ooh I wish these were a little bit lighter'
Then again, if you've got the money to spend, why not I suppose, it'd need to be a seriously exotic bike to justify them though.

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Bez | 9 years ago
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220g for £45 or 140g for £400. Well let me think about that for just a THE CHEAP ONES OBVIOUSLY ARE YOU FRICKIN' *NUTS*?!

*spends £355 on coffee and carrot cake*

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