Specialized S-works Road Shoe 2013, £240 from Geoffrey Butler Cycles
Exustar Pro carbon Ti (E-PR200CKTI) pedals, £199 eBay
OK, so this dual purchase is a big splash for me. A few years ago I went SPD-only on all my bikes, but for this season I am returning to a dual economy, with Shimano MTB/SPD dual sided pedals on Cross bike, winter bikes; and the Exustar/Specialized combo reviewed here for time trialling and road racing.
The point of this review is partly to point out that on a spend-per-gram-lost basis, tackling shoes and pedals is far cheaper than splashing big sums on wheels. OK - wheels are important for other reasons and can completely transform how the bike feels and climbs. But all money spent saving weight on rotating mass, which of course includes pedals and shoes, is money well spent.
And yet we all get caught up on the bike, which is typically supplied with no pedals and of course no shoes. So we look at the weight of the bike and forget the rest.
Actual weights of products reviewed here:
Shoes, size 45: 230g each
Cleats: 30 g each; mounting hardware per shoe 20g
Pedals: 90g each (versus 88g claimed)
Total shoes and pedals and cleats, for a pair: 740g
This is a Pro-level set-up.
For a fast comparison, my normal Shimano PD-M520 SPD pedals weigh 190g each. The shoes and cleats weigh 450g each (these are ancient, velcro-strapped Shimano road shoes but with SPD bolt drillings). Total 1.280 kgs. I use this set-up for all training and do not consider it heavy - but check out the difference with the upgrade! 520grams saved for 'extra' expenditure of around £300 (the cost of the Exustar/S-Works combo minus a nominal £130 for the training combo).
You would be extremely hard-pressed to get a similar weight-saving for similar expenditure on wheels. On Planet Mavic it's gonna cost you about £1,000; and on Planet Shimano this sort of upgrade (from entry level road wheels like RS20 to Dura-Ace CL-24) is going to be £5-600 depending on web discount.
Finally the review (lots of others on the web so I'll stay brief):
These unknown, non-main-stream-brand Exustar Pro pedals, made in Taiwan, are fantastic and have a growing list of followers, the only niggle being that clip-in and clip-out are not quite as finessed as the much more expensive Keo/Time/Look equivalents. That's barely a real niggle. These 90g pedals are superbly built and feel absolutely fantastic on the road, with a wide platform. Much, much lighter than Dura-Ace.
The shoes hardly need a review. They're pro-light and fit beautifully with double boa and one velcro. The only 'difference' with conventional set-ups is that the stack height is so low that Specialized supply short bolts to replace the longer ones that will come with your cleats. They come coated with a loctite substance to prevent them falling out, but this makes it difficult to trial the cleats in different positions before tightening them up.
* The only other comment on Specialized is that they have supply problems. I paid for these shoes at Evans on Nov. 16, 2012. Delivery kept being put back and is now 'estimated' to be mid-March. This for a shoe launched to the public last July. That's very poor. So I cancelled the order and scanned the web. I had to settle for 45s whereas I'd originally ordered 44.5s, a new half size that is simply not available. And the black colour. You can't find them anywhere. Maybe Germany has them all. I was surprised to find these. I bought them on the spot.
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| Stunningly light, look beyond the label - a bargain |
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| Bling shoes and fair value for a pro-level product |
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| Short bolts (top) supplied for the Specialized S-Works Road Shoes |
