Lighter than Dura-Ace! Incredible Shimano Pedals from AliExpress

[@ZhanVenelinov]

I believe that when measuring the weight of the pedals, the weight of the cleats should also be measured because sometimes the difference in the weight of the pedals is compensated by the weight of the cleats

[@adambrickley1119]

Speed play springs to mind. No pun intended.

[@tomcruz3774]

QUICK SUMMON BAGUETTE 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖

[@MrKOenigma]

🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖

[@yukkionna1747]

I see Trace Velo video notif, I open youtube, press like, and enjoy the show. 🥖🥖🥖

[@YTOnlineReviews]

Amazing Show .

[@kwakeham]

One of the other potential issues is Needle bearings on Titanium. Titanium can be nitrided but that axle looks anodized and my initial research said that was insufficient for bearing surface. Get some more miles on it and open it and examine the surface.

[@seraph4581]

For the flat pedal gang, there's a pair of lightweight titanium alloy pedals by Litepro that weights in 170g while costing $20.

[@baconbreadwithbacon]

Flat pedal with a foot strap. All the benefits of a clip pedal but far easier to use and can use any type of footwear. Around 997km on a pair, so far, perfect. Weight is 205g for both pedals with strap. Team foot strap.

[@jawaddb8061]

Do you have a link to buy them please ?

[@andrewlcs542]

I'm still using a pair of AEST, titanium spindle with magnesium body pedals at 158 gm a pair.

[@jimsonjohnson3761]

Foot straps are the worst. They offer not much in that nice connected feeling, bad for hard efforts and a way more unnatural movement to get you foot free (pulling back and out)

[@baconbreadwithbacon]

​@@jimsonjohnson3761 Tens of thousands of fixie user have no issues putting the power down. Neither do they complain of unnatural movement. You either had a shit experience or don't know how to use them.

[@Dreamweaver94]

Two tips regarding Shimano pedals: 1) Shimano makes cleat covers that, when used consistently, can easily double or triple how long they last. 2) There seems to be a lot of barely used pedals for sale around me, I bought my Dura Ace 9100 pedals for $125 and they hardly had a scratch on them. (Not that it matters, good luck preserving pedals you clip into all the time).

[@SirBrass]

I LOVE my cleat covers. If I'm going on a ride where I know I'm stopping to eat, I take them with me. Otherwise they get taken off and tossed in the garage before I get on the bike, and get put back on immediately when I return. Makes walking around in my road shoes much easier.

[@Dreamweaver94]

@@SirBrass Oh yeah, pretty much exactly my same use case too. Good point about being easier to walk, I didn't mention that but they make a great difference there too.

[@Tom-hp4bq]

I got my ultegra 8000 pedals like-new off eBay for £40. I guess lots of people try clipless and don’t like it

[@Dreamweaver94]

@@Tom-hp4bq I get that impression too, there are a lot of sets available for sale second hand in the US also.

[@randy3907]

@@Tom-hp4bq So many counterfeit pedals on Ebay.....Just sent a pair back for a refund. I knew , but the price was too tempting.

[@Nozes..]

My Xpedo Thrust 7 were 35€,weight 235gr and spin on 3 bearings per side,no bushings,chromoly axle,magnesium body. Working great for 5 years now.

[@mat-johan]

Really looking forward to the Wheeltop vs. L-TWOO video! 🤩 Thank you once again Luke!

[@YTOnlineReviews]

Amazing.

[@rolandovera5935]

Dude. Totally love your channel. I wish you’d apply this same format to mountain biking!!! I’ve posted this comment in the past but my life will be complete if you started doing mtb content. 🥖🥖🥖

[@TESTA-CC]

I Prefer Look Pedals, But at £40 you can't complain 👍👍

[@stinkybeam]

Orinii's bottom brackets are pretty good too, I have one, build quality very good and it's cheap

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

The vast majority of road cyclists i ride with use SPD pedals as they ride MTB/Gravel as well. Add that SPD shoes don't leave you dancing on tile or wood floors. They own one set of shoes.

[@Ja5onB0urn3]

I'm still having a full-on bromance with my speedplay pedals! Pretty much eliminated pain in one of my knees overnight! Just taken delivery of a pair of titanium axles for them from AliExpress. 😊 The pedals you feature look insane for the price. Hope you get better soon mate. 👍 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖

[@johnbertram]

Re: geartrain noise. I swapped a Sunrace cassette for a SRAM cassette and totally eliminated the noise I had. Went from crunchy to silent... So cassettes do make a difference! 🥖

[@Agiyi]

It's always a good day when Trace Velo uploads :)

[@YTOnlineReviews]

Love to see his videos.

[@leedorney]

I've came realise the Costello's are the best around imo. I recently pulled out the axle spacer deep inside the pedal (use a rear q/r to pull it) & replaced with a HK 0810 bearing and they're additionally fine now 👌- I've 3 sets of these!

[@adambrickley1119]

I tempted to get these just not to ware out my DA.

[@CriticaStudio]

yes, i do find aliexpress aftermarket cassettes noiser than using a pure shimano cassette+shimano chain. i tried many different cassette brands, (zrace, sunshine"bad", ztto), with KMC hollow chains, they are just a little bit less smooth than shimano or sram. def higher quality machining done by shimano. shifting is also clunkier on certain sprockets

[@jefflabianco4459]

Was getting ready to buy pedals today when I got the notification for this video!

[@peterpan4780]

I love your videos but i always have to calculate to € is it possible to add € prices? Thanks from all of Europe :)

[@_NoName...]

Recomendation of Luke? A pair direct to my aliexpress basket. Great show, as always. Thank you 🥖🥖

[@PeterSteward]

They look quite good

[@chrisvoyer1857]

I have those on my 2 bikes and they are pretty solid at 207grams. Good positive engagement, feel secure. Nothing wrong for the price, A ok!

[@trooperV]

That is a nice pedal, will wait for an update on that wheeltop of yours.

[@richiejames928]

Thanks for bringing these to my attention Luke. my trusty 105 pedals are coming to the end of their usable life.. they have been flawless in fairness. serviced once a year or so…..just the carbon itself on the left pedal. My favoured side to unclip at traffic lights. has worn to the point of feeling sloppy… shame really as the right sides still as good as new! il give these Chinese wonders a blast! cheers pal.

[@cynic777]

Thank you! Great to have options and understand the tradeoffs! Knowing I could completely rebuild the pedal if desired (repairability) and durability are important but so is initial cost and of course weight! 🥖

[@nikaiwolf]

Would love to see a full aero aluminum alloy and/or titanium build. I’m on a budget and would like to start making my domane al4 more aero

[@zhuyufan1186]

Luke, the wheeltop's group at this moment needs parts with very fine tolerance. The front chainset needs to have the least side to side wobble to get avoid chain rub when the rear gearing is around 5-6 gear and the front is on the large chainring. At low gear range, chain rub is unavoidable unless you sacrifice gears in the middle of the cassette (I don't see the point of doing so as most of us riding use middle gears). Same thing for the rear mech, I use a 105 Cassette with this groupset, which only needs me to setup the initial position screw (early production rear mech don't have this screw, so using the app to set the initial position is the only option), both high and low limit screws to get smooth and quite shifting. Most Chinese cassettes does not have very fine tolerance like shimano's so setting them up with Wheeltop's rear mech needs a lot of fine tuning.

[@tomcruz3774]

The spring clip prongs(?) look pretty similar to what I see on look keo pedals which just expose the springs. Kinda prefer it to be covered but that's just me pretty sure the design is fine.

[@PhilJohn1980]

I reckon almost half of that 203g weight is in the grease alone!

[@juanpabloespinomunguia9654]

I also have that Riro cassette, at the beginning it was really very noisy, and I even thought it was defective, but it had the chain from my previous cassette, at least with 6,000 km on it, so I put a new chain from the kmc brand and as if it were magic the sound went away, and it works wonderfully.

[@SR20DEWhitebird]

I come for the new Trace Velo content, I stay for the Bonus Clip Time, dodiladodo

[@hengliang4344]

I used to buy an ORINii rim brake and it works well, less than 1/3 of a Shimano R7000 brake and performs 80% of that, really great value. Worth mentioning that ORINii is actually not a factory brand, they find the factory that makes those products and rebrand it.

[@DNGR369]

80% capacity but when it fails it could be severe. Don't cheap out on brakes!

[@hengliang4344]

@@DNGR369 Yeah I know, but Shimano rim brake prices are so stunning. I'm talking about 600 RMB(previously 300 RMB), that's so ridiculous.

[@dperreno]

Spring (prong) construction on the Shimano pedals is the same as on these - steel springs pressing against the carbon composite pedal body. Retention clip composition - I agree, it might wear faster than the Shimano, time will tell. One big improvement over Shimano is that the retention clip appears to be attached to the pedal body with a couple of bolts. Shimano uses a pressed-in steel pin, both of which have worked their way loose on my 105 pedals, multiple times. I finally epoxied them back in place last night, hopefully this will solve it for me.

[@ivarbrouwer197]

The problem with Shimano Carbon pedals for me is the wear on the front lip, it lasts me 15000 km, quite expensive. With these seeing the pedal as a ‘consumable’ is easier to stomach.

[@leedorney]

Thats VERY true, you end up using lesser float cleats been there on 2 sets of pedals.

[@ilikewasabe]

Damn pretty look decent and easily serviceable! Still running SPD’s, have cycling shoes that can mount both spd and road cleats. With this price would definitely gnna try! Thanks Luke!

[@richardtracy358]

The issue with titanium axles is not rider weight limit but force applied to the pedal. A 70kg rider in a stand sprint will apply much more force than a 90kg who is casually cruising. There are a few parts on a bike where structural integrity comes at an absolute premium, and pedals are one of them.

[@pmcmpc]

Ti is fine, depending on axle design. It's not fine without a major redesign for Shimano's pedals. This axle design looks fine for Ti ... But obviously can't comment on quality of Ti or machining.

[@patrickparisienne1917]

Then you have a 125kg person like me who stands up and sprints!!!

[@barriobarranco]

No problem with Shimano cranks, they'll go first like a derailleur hanger and save your pedals no matter how cheap lol

[@richardtracy358]

@@patrickparisienne1917 my man 🤣

[@S9999Frank]

Strange comment, are you indicating that 70 kilo riders are more likely to apply lots of torque to a pedal than 90 kilo riders ? The heavier the rider, the more force, you can be pretty sure of that. Now as to titanium being strong enough, I have no idea, but cannot say I have seen stories online of pedals breaking. Crankarms and hollowtech though....

[@abedfo88]

I used the zeray mtb pedals for xc. They were pretty much shagged after one winter

[@gielmoons967]

The zeray p-110 pedals are verry good too i used them for years and i am never going to change them. They are so good.

[@JoakimPekkari]

My trusty old Shimano PD-R540 started clicking after 6 years of duty, surprised they held out that long to be honset. Anyways, i ordered these Onirii now to replace them after seeing this video! :)

[@leg_snapper]

I've been running these pedals for a roughly a month now and I'm quite happy so far. My biggest gripe is the not specified weight limit of the titanium spindle. I'm 80kg and the xpedo sonik pedals have a weight limit of 85kg for instance and I would not be comfortable with those margins (and some speedplay spindles have an even lower limit). Nonetheless I took them out yesterday for my first ride outside, after giving them a beating for around 1000 km (lots of sprints, all out efforts to the point that I felt safe using them). Besides that I wish that the bearings would spin faster. If you mess up clipping in, it takes quite a lot more time than the dura aces pedals to get back to the 12 o'clock position. This wasn't an issue indoors, but I definitely felt it yesterday on my ride outside.

[@Dreamweaver94]

85kg limit? Dang, that seems scary low, no? I'm 6'3" and I could easily exceed that weight while still maintaining a healthy BMI, I'd actually have to be rather slim to remain under. I guess it'd be fine if you're 5'4" or something.

[@lbgstzockt8493]

@@Dreamweaver94 I guess they are made for the chinese market, the average asian is simply noticably lighter and shorter than the average european or american.

[@RylHango]

@@Dreamweaver94 this comment seems really spiteful, I'm also your height and I'm hovering around 72 kg, I think as an American you're more likely to judge someone for being underweight?

[@Dreamweaver94]

@@RylHango lol as an American I couldn't care less how you feel about my comment. I wasn't talking about you.

[@mattkavanaugh5623]

The stickiness of pedal bearings could just be heavy grease that may thin and therefore spin easier over time

[@stefanohbellote9948]

Always with nice findings, Luke!

[@hangoverdrive5660]

A new video? It's in the Bag(guette)!

[@cornishcat11]

boo lol

[@SAnderson77]

Think you should be reviewing either the Lexon or RockBros, Cybrei crank knock offs

[@shrv-pro]

About wheeltop. The rear derailleur cannot be indexed properly because it stops in different places on the sprocket depending on whether you shift down or shift up to this gear. I think that may cause your issues. Hope they will fix that bug.

[@zero85ZEN]

Yup. This is what I’ve discovered after many hours of fiddling with it.

[@ChristopherPronger]

Yeah, Shimano components are bomb proof. A 90's groupset still works. My SPD pedals from 2009 are still flawless. I don't have the same confidence with these Chinese parts, even though I enjoy buying Aliexpress parts here and there.

[@YogeshPatel9]

You reaaaally need to throw the wheel top on a different frame. The groupset worked beautifully with mine. Mine went on just by nailing the initial calibration. I didn't have to fine tune any cogs after to make smooth shifts. Lastly the b screw tension has to be adjusted to leave about 5-6mm to be smooth on the larger gears. I found that I had to shorten my chain a little coming from the sensah 12s derailleur. My only annoyance with it now is that the gears are reversed on my karoo headset. Apparently they programmed it in reverse to other name brands so the readout on any ant+ device will be in reverse. It's been a great way to get electronic shifting on my rim brake bike :) 🥖

[@Kw.Daniel]

Take a look at these pedals, from Xpedo, Thrust SL model. They weigh 168g in the Ti version

[@MacNeilR]

Regarding the clip wear through abrasion, perhaps try applying a small bit of vinyl frame protector over the area? That should stop the wear and you could always replace the frame protector cover at a later date.

[@danielhertercasagrande1686]

I am an old guy, and I am sceptical about TI axels at pedals - there was a time Campa made a Super Record pedal with TI axe Laurent Fignon had this on Paris Tour he was solo in front at a small hill he went out of the saddle and … he sat on the road Shimano’s engineers know what they are doing

[@owenanstey436]

I ran a Sunrace cassette 11 to 36 11 speed, on a Sram force one by set up which was also a bit noisy in operation. Changed to a shimano ultegra 11 to 40 for the lower gearing which turned out to be very quiet and gear changes were even slicker. Regards o

[@kaseycarpenter73]

Gonna have to pick up a pair of those Costellos for when I'm off the rough stuff and can get a bit lighter than my XTR SPDs... Thanks again for the videos! Also picked up some Elite 650b x40mm wheels from ali for ~400US and they are amazing. 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖

[@oSirSniffleso]

Any pedals w/ ti axels usually have a rider weight limit of 190lbs/85 kilos.

[@andersnyberg4034]

Might give them a try. Have 3 broken Shimano pedals at home, which broke while trying to service them. So tired of that brand. Even chopped one pedal up to send to them and show what was wrong.. they didn't even own it up then.

[@leslierogneschumacher9612]

@TraceVelo, have you compared the spindles on these to the ones used in the real Dura Ace ones (or probably the Ultegra and 105 too, i.e. in terms of shape)? I'm curious about using the bodies for some Assioma Shimano spindles.

[@stickmenkissarmy6907]

Nice job, iam a true love of look ,old school real like the the stuff 👌

[@fortis143]

those are awesome pedals, I actually have them on my wishlist, btw luke, do you have any plans on reviewing the Hygge or Onirii frames? really love how they look.

[@austinwinstel8964]

I just serviced some old pd-9000s and doing the loose bearings and tensioning the cup and cones is sort of a nightmare. Cartridges would he so nice

[@andrewmurgatroyd9214]

My Riro cassette is also loud.i got same/similar pedals from LFZ 213gr not doing bad but don't go into position as nicely as yours. Maybe grease is thiker.

[@dietbruboy]

Hi Luke, did you ever finish your review of those budget Ali Express tyres you picked up and mentioned in a Bonus Clip a while back? (CST Czar and Innova Pro wasn’t it?). Apologies if I’ve missed it!!!

[@TheMsk96]

Try some cassette spacers for the groupset. It solved a similar issue I had with chain rub on my turbo trainer🤞🏾

[@NicolasCharretier]

Considering Titanium is at least as strong as Steel for a fraction of the price, I can't imagine any good reason why Steel Axles would stand more weight than titanium ones if the parts have the exact same dimensions... or maybe that titanium alloy is made of "much chewing gum-ium" and a very small part actual Titanium

[@FantaconeBoxWorksCBG]

The spring retaining clips on my dura-ace PD-R9100 are basically the same. I would have saved some money.....

[@julianhummel6118]

Hey Trace Velo, nice video! I actually have the exact same issue with a quite noisy rear of the bike. I’m also running a light weight cassette from Ali together with a Dura Ace Di2. The tolerances seem to be problematic. What do you think?

[@edymarkonthego4096]

Looks quality.

[@charlesmansplaining]

Thanks for the review and the link to ONIRII. I just placed an order. If they don't work out over time I won't cry about it since they are only $32 US, and I'll have my Dura-Ace pedals to fall back on. I didn't need pedals but I'm up for saving a few grams. Have you ever used cassettes from Presta Cycle? Just wondering how it plays with Di2 11 speed.

[@JanGoh-jb5ge]

Is there anywhere that I can see a quick list of all the stuff that you've reviewed? (Other than scrolling through the video list.)

[@RaboGiantRider]

Actually I think that theese pedals are worthy than my keo carbon ahahaha. Can you do some builds with campagnolo old groupsets? Like chorus from 2015

[@YTOnlineReviews]

Best shimano Pedals from Aliexpress.

[@davidkirkby5218]

All sold out in the short axle version..🥖🥖🥖

[@RichardGate-UK]

My biggest issue with current shimano spd-sl is how quickly the pedal body wears out at the toe. I’ve switched to spd for this reason.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Aliexpress has some insanely nice pedals, it was one of the first thing china started pushing. Magnesium & titanium pedals for cheap.

[@Crafftyyy]

yup been using the speedplay knock offs for a couple of years now.

[@madduckuk]

Probably get a "blind bearing puller" of the appropriate size added to your next aliexpress order.

[@sinuosalice-1434]

I have been usinh some double mtb pedals from aliexpress (one side is flat one is spd) and they are so good, a bit heavier (20grams) than the xtr that i had (someone stole them.......) but nice and easy to maintain.

[@kenblair2538]

Great video , Liuke. Any recommendations s for us Look users ? Thanks. KB

[@primozberlec8759]

Favero (assioma) could learn something from them!

[@travispyle2905]

Nice pedals. How is the crank doing?

[@6872elpado]

I'm sure many in audience don't know what Lemsip is 🥖🥖😂

[@tsinkchi]

Will you try Promend Pedals? Cheaper and also super light

[@Kactusdog]

Luke, what are those socks you showed off at 4:37?? Would love to get a pair of those.

[@TaichoCyclist]

One idea came to mind. Which of these Aliexpress Shimano compatible pedals can fit the Favero Assioma Duo-Shi powermeters? That will be a delight to find one.

[@seanyates2073]

🥖 Hey Luke great video as always! I'm interested in your opinion on the Costello pedals Vs the lollipop speedplay ones you reviewed and used for a while. Also Wheel top have just announced their gravel electronic groupset would be interested on your thoughts on it when it arrives!

[@stevenbell482]

@Tracevelo i really love your videos, and enjoy your character a lot. I have a question, like what is your weight and power output? Because i am like 192cm ca. 97-100 Kg and my max output is like a 520Watts. I just wonder how some of your products would do if i would test them :-) Greets from Germany

[@cornelhughes]

I like that brand, My experience is they go out of their way to produce quality products

[@Liofa73]

The carbon Ultegra are £89.

[@martinshepherd6756]

These sound really good except that as you say Shimano are bomb proof. I've never serviced any of mine in all the years I have used them. 🥖🥖

[@madrodeo425]

I dunno anything about weight in fact. I'm always riding with loads esp when carrying tools and parts.. ride full naked if weight is really that issues.

[@KNURKonesur]

Would you recommend an SPD (not SL) replacement/knockoff?

[@Gixer750pilot]

The axle is longer length too !!! I kid extra if the Ultegra version

[@ivanteo1973]

gold color titanium? why is it gold?

[@NeoPayneHK]

about the cassette noise did you also recheck the hanger straight or not?

[@kimwarner6050]

I need a look version

[@darrenconstantinou6010]

The link you provided can’t be shipped to South Africa and the prices are higher when doing a search 😩

[@SzwedunioWiesz]

Any other link for the Costelo legit pedals? The one in description is not working

[@laurinweisser4967]

Which ones would you recommend these ones or the replica from the time pedals you recently spoke about ?

[@shindi2222]

Any good cheaper alternative for mtb pedals?

[@pmcmpc]

Maybe i missed it, but what's the pedal stack?

[@carl2614]

is it safe to use for a fixedgear rider? or ill stick with 105s

[@steveindorset]

Dude them pedals are niiiiiice! 🥖🥖🥖…I’ve been in bed for four days with probably with the same thing! 🥵😰 hope you’re feeling better soon. 🙏🏻😎👍🏻

[@rodcosta2345]

Baguette Brigade reporting for duty! 🥖🥖🥖