July 27/11 13:05 pm - Time Iclic Carbon Road Pedal

Posted by Editoress on 07/27/11
 

Time Iclic Carbon Road Pedal - Review by Mike Badyk

Back in the day, Time road pedals were always among my favourites. Unlike many of the other clipless pedals available at the time (late ‘80’s), Time had a floating cleat that helped lots of people who had developed knee problems due to being locked into a position. I never had any knee issues myself, but they were a good pedal and they were comfortable. I actually still have a pair of them on a now long retired road bike. I remember I stopped using them because I wore out the cleats and couldn’t find any replacements. This was a long time ago in the pre-internet world. The pedals show some wear but the bearings are still very smooth even though they are over 20 years old.

left to right: Time Iclic Carbon Road pedal and an original Time pedal

Like all things, bicycle technology advances. This brings us to the Time Iclic Carbon Road pedals. Never would I have considered that you could make a spring out of carbon. Actually, a lot of things made out of carbon today I couldn’t have conceived of even ten years ago. The body of the pedal is a carbon composite, which isn't all that unusual, but on the Iclic the engagement spring is a carbon plate that flexes downwards with the back of the pedal to allow the cleat to engage. The carbon spring in the Iclic cuts out huge amounts of weight, producing one of the lightest pedals on the market. A pair of Iclic’s weighs a svelte 225 grams. By comparison, one of my old original Time pedals weighs 245 grams! That is a pretty phenomenal achievement. You can even go lighter to 175 grams a pair with the Iclic Titan Carbon, which boasts a titanium axle instead of the hollow steel axle on our test pedals. However, there is a rider weight limit of 90kg for that model which, tragically, I exceed. A pair of cleats, without the mounting hardware, weighs 80 grams. Again, for anyone trying to be conscious of the weight of their bike these are pedals to consider.

Time Iclic Carbon Road pedals

Installation was very straight forward. The cleats have nice, simple guides to get things aligned. You can set the cleats up to five degrees in or out. There is only one thing to adjust on the pedals themselves and that is "Sensation Adjustment". There are three positions to "vary the elasticity of the angular float". In other words, the float can be light or stiff. I didn't like the light setting. The stiff setting was fine, but the normal was the one I used the most. As with all Time pedals, there is about five degrees of angular float, as well as 2.5 mm of lateral float.

Getting into and out of the pedals was not an issue. I didn't really have to think about it at all. They are like other brands of pedals in that respect. I know it's not much of a comment but I didn't have to really consider that I was riding a new brand of pedal. They worked without issue. You also certainly know when you have clicked in. I suppose this is the source of the model name "Iclic". However it is more of a loud "clack". It is a very different sound than other clipless pedals that I have used. You hear that sound and you know you're in.

I haven’t got much to report about riding with them. They are a good smooth pedal and have a large enough platform to support the feet well. Even though they are new they are like an old friend. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them while racing.

Cleat

If I have anything to say to the negative it is perhaps the need to keep an eye on the cleat. They are really light and they have three prongs that look like they might be prone to breakage if they were hit the wrong way. So far, so good, in that respect. However, thinking back to my original Time pedals, the reason the cleats wore out is walking in them. Try as you might, you will have to walk a little from time to time in your road shoes. I am already seeing some signs of wear on the back part of the cleat and I haven't honestly walked more than a few metres in them. Time was nice enough to include a second set of cleats with these pedals. Again, limit your walking and keep an eye on them.

At a suggested retail price of $269 the Time Iclic Carbon Pedals are competitive with other high end road racing/triathlon pedals. The one advantage is that they are extremely light. So far I've liked them a lot. Time pedals are distributed in Canada by ARG Sports - www.arg-sports.com . You can view all of the Time products at www.time-sport.com .