I’m going to replace my Shimano r500 pedals. They have like 5 years or more.
It’s worth upgrading to r7000 o r8000 pedals?
I’m an amateur, social rides, I train 4-5 times per week and do around 7000-8000 km per year.
Depends on what your definition of “worth it” is. But I’d say you’d be hard pressed to find any functional or performance differences.
One guy I met bought a beautiful, expensive new BMC road bike, but he put his ratty 12±year old 105 pedals on it. It was hideous. When I asked him, he merely said “They still work perfectly fine, why replace them?” I couldn’t do that.
So if your pedals work fine, you don’t have to replace them. But you still could.
Maybe I’m just too much of a cheapskate, but I’ve gotten so close to replacing my ratty 12 yr old 105 pedals and I just can’t. They still spin fantastically, I think serviced once in that time, and I feel like it’s $100 that’s just lit on fire.
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If I had a nickel every time I asked myself this question re: cycling gear…
In 20 years of road cycling I can count the number of road pedals I’ve had.
One pair of Wellgos I broke when I was 15
One pair of Look Deltas that took me through Junior and Espoir.
One pair of Look Keo’s that took me through a decade at least and are still used in the winter.
One pair of Look Keo Carbon Blades I’m using now that I bought because I was feeling fancy and needed a second pair.
Firmly in the “if it ain’t broke…” column for me.
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But the only time you see the pedals is
When they’re not actually being used. Otherwise the a shoe is over them
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The only thing I’ve found wearing on Shimano pedals is the tongue, where the front of the cleat engages. Proper high milers can get a bit worn from unclipping, especially if you do a lot of city / stop start riding.
Servicing the bearings on 105 and up pedals takes literally seconds. Disassemble, spray with your favourite degreaser, bung full of grease (I like the blue marine stuff) and reassemble,
The last metal-bodied dura aces were great. I suspect they stopped making them that way as he things were made to last so long they’d cut into their sales…mind you, I have a set of the carbon 5700 105s which must be well north of the 60k mark by now…
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