Time ATAC pedals

then tried some Time Speciale 8s which you can read about here: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/time-speciale-8-atac-pedal-review-pretty-much-perfect/

Weirdly as a long time ATAC user (I’d ridden pretty much everything from the original design onward) the Speciale were the first ones I really didn’t like. Expensive, no appreciable platform over he MX and the bars seemed harder to clip into and to have restricted float (I couldn’t get my right leg comfortable). Best looking pedals by far though – especially in the orange…

I switched to Time over 20 years ago, and have them on 4 bikes. Only 1 pair of MTB ones were new, and a recent pair of “link ATAC” with the reflectors (for the road bike used mostly at night). The other 3 pairs were all second-hand and lord knows what sort of use they’d had.

The cleats do wear, they are intended as a bit of a sacrificial part, to maintain the pedals.  I’ve never had a pedal fail on me, and I weigh c100KG.

I swapped because I found that with SPD’s when riding technical terrain I’d unclip inwards as the bike moved beneath me.  This doesn’t happen with Time’s as they have more float.   Also back in Bristol in the claggey mud, Shimano’s clogged up frequently.

I’ve never bent any of the pedal bars, I’m wondering if this is a combined function of local terrain and the move to ever lower BB’s and more suspension travel on bikes (my main MTB is a 100mm travel XC susser from 2006).

I remember “when i were a Lad” that MTB reviews heavily criticised bikes with low BB’s due to pedal strikes.  Personally, if you are smacking into rocks with your pedals hard enough to break them, you’re not looking where you’re going well enough,  and/or picking bad lines (probably because a modern bike is more capable and lets you get away with it).

Well I’ve got a modern ebike with a very low BB and lots of travel. I usually smack my pedals when climbing when I’m daydreaming so guilty as charged on that!

@Sandwich,

Mine were literally 2 rides old at that point from memory. Pretty poor when Shimano got it so right, can’t honestly remember the last time I replaced Shimano cleats. Or had any issue with them being blocked or unable to release. 6 weeks sounds like they wear out faster than tyres.

I for one will never go back to them. Shame as nice and light. Other than that I really don’t like anything about them.

That was 6 weeks commuting though wasn’t it so imagine replacement time wise will be a fair bit longer on an MTB you ride a couple of times a week?

The Times and Crank Bros sound to be very marmite, glad I can borrow a set to try

@keithb I’d say the bar breakages have more to do with Time changing to forged bars on the newer models than with the lower BBs. I don’t really hear of bent bars on the models with the wire bars

@daver27 I never got on with Shimano for off-road here mainly due to the winter clay. The Time pedals are great in that respect as they work well with the pedal filling stuff we have here.

I’ve no doubt Shimano will work ok where the local soil doesn’t settle in the pedal recess and refuse to move even when 80-odd kilos of mountain-biker applies maximum force. One winter of off-road commuting put me off using Shimano though hey worked well in the dry and dusty conditions (life is too short to change pedals every season).

Could the Shimano mud performance be shoe related? With AM702 shoes I have zero issues with mud, even when it’s frozen. They have this huge channel where the cleat seats, might be related with that

Put the mallets on, Shimano ME7 shoes with the cleat spacer installed, 15 degrees of float. Feel OK clipping in but unclipping you don’t even know you’ve done it, feels bizarre and makes me wonder if you could do it on the trail and not realise until you hit a feature or whatnot. If you rotate your foot very slowly you can just feel the point where they release but with any speed, nothing. Is this how they are or could this be a symptom of worn cleats? Mate reckons he only used them about 3 times and the pedals certainly look almost new. Might try the 20 degree cleat mounting to move the vague release point a bit further away and make it less likely to happen accidentally. I really couldn’t say yet if I’m going to get on with them or not. Support wise they feel no different from the Saints

That is exactly what I was getting at with the Time pedals. I find Crank Bros the same, Vague vague vague, I cant trust them riding as you are really never sure if you are about to unclip, are unclipped or about to slip a pedal. It’s not a nice feeling. Even with new cleats it’s (to me at least) a very unnerving feel. Sort of makes a mockery of the amount of float as you can never be sure where you are in relation to an unclipped moment.

Hmmm, they can’t be that bad in practise though surely, given how many of the DH pros run them?

Not mud zezaskar, premium London clay (the village is called Claydon!) it’s an absolute bastard to ride through (Dirty Dans just about coped) and the minute you put a foot down and dab the clay fills the pedal at the next clip in. The next attempt at engagement then becomes quite interesting.

Very long time user of Time ATAC’s due to having shonky knees and therefore need something with a lot of float and don’t get on with flats or SPD’s. With the exception of one early pair of XC4’s where one of the springs snapped (known manufacturing fault on the early batches so it seemed) , I can’t fault them.
The brass cleats need to be changed every 18 months-2years as they do wear out but this aside, the pedals seem to be pretty much bombproof and work when caked in mud. In my experience, snow seems to be the only thing that can really clog them up.

even know you’ve done it, feels bizarre and makes me wonder if you could do it on the trail and not realise until you hit a feature or whatnot.

That’s just how they release, there’s no definite limit as there is with shimano pedals. Time are the same based on experience with some ancient atac pedals. It’s just a spring that gradually opens. There’s a definite adjustment period if you’ve been using shimano pedals as it’s a very different release mechanism. Also ime the pedals don’t get worn, the cleat is a sacrificial part. You can tell when the cleat is worn as it almost rattles in the pedal.

Re accidental release, it’s a non issue although I can appreciate how it may feel that way coming from shimano.

Support – have you checked the shoe is sitting on the pedal body as opposed to hovering above it. You may not need the shim. Also isn’t the ME7 a pretty stiff shoe. There’s a noticeable difference in feel between some Lake xc shoes I have with a carbon sole and my fiveten shoes, mainly in the former I can’t feel the pedal.

Also, I have my pedal pins wound all the way in as I didn’t like the feeling of them disrupting the release. Thought I was just being a fairy but then noticed Brook MacDonald does the same.

When covid naffs off I need to get down your way for a ride.

Love my Atacs wouldn’t be without them, the only other pedals I’ve enjoyed to use as much were Speedplay Frogs, its a shame they seem to have stopped doing them.
The SPDs I tried ended up in the bin, hateful things.

Slight tangent alert, but I can’t fathom out why the bicycle clipless engagement design never migrated back to ski/ snowboard bindings.

The last time I thought about buying a snowboard, I had one look at binding mechanism and freaked! The sheer force with which your legs are clamped in seemed like a recipe for all kinds of injuries.

I’d say the bar breakages have more to do with Time changing to forged bars on the newer models than with the lower BBs. I don’t really hear of bent bars on the models with the wire bars

Bent bars on tricky very rocky climbs, where pedalling up and the pedal drags across across a rock. Pretty sure I’ve done two pedals in the same place on the Hondaribbia to San Sebastian coastal path! Not the fault of the pedal really but enough to make me stop.

Bent an axle hitting something with the outside pedal on a fast descent. *&&ing jarred my foot but didn’t clip out and or lose any speed which is pretty good sign of how tough they are otherwise

@Gotama – first ride on them last night, hosed it down all day so was absolutely filthy but fun. Generally liked them, as I thought the release point wasn’t an issue for the most part but I did hit one slightly hipped jump not in complete control (as usual) and my right foot came unclipped which was a bit disconcerting. Might have happened on SPDs though, think I will swap the cleats for more float to move the release point further out. Might remove the spacer and see if they will engage but the sole is contacting the pedal so suspect not. Pins wound in. Other than that engagement is good, quite liking the additional float. I don’t find them night and day different to SPDs so far to be honest. Got some Giro Chambers to try as well but at the moment they are new and shiny and just for looking at!

And yeah you should come down here, some great trails to ride. Not the variety of Surrey obvs but plenty for a day or two and I never get bored of them. Need to get up there more too, think I’ve only been half a dozen times since I got the ebike and that was nearly 3 years ago!

@b33k34 see, that’s why I don’t get with Time pedals. I can bash SPDs hard enough to make my ankles hurt, up and downhill, and I’m yet to ever even damage a retention mechanism. I doubt you know much people who ever managed to achieve that.
But when talking to Time users, it’s more of a “yeah it happens sometimes”.

I really like my pedals to be fit and forget

I’d say the bar breakages have more to do with Time changing to forged bars on the newer models than with the lower BBs. I don’t really hear of bent bars on the models with the wire bars

Yeah, I broke a bar on some cheap XC2s. You could see the bars had been cut/stamped as they had sharp corners, but the warranty replacements (and subsequent XC4s that I’ve bought) are more rounded and smooth. Not sure of the difference in process (I’d thought forging would be smoother and stronger) but the problem hasn’t happened again despite some fairly hard use.

I bought Time Atacs when building up my Cross bike as they’re meant to be better in the mud. Can’t say that they’re any better than Shimano. If I was buying again I’d have gone with Shimano, mostly because they’re cheaper, the cleats are also cheaper, more readily available and last longer than Time ones.

Thread resurrection here.
Does anyone have experience to compare the Time DH4 with the newer Speciales? Do the DH4 have better resistance to impacts?

Just getting used to Speciale 8 pedals. The clip in is much more positive (sometimes obstructive almost) and improved by having the cleats the correct way around on the shoe (d’oh, operator error on one pair of NW CF soled off-road shoes).

I’m using MX2 pedals cheap, easy to get into and surprisingly light. wouldn’t buy the speciale 8 pedals or any of the more expensive MX class (also have MX8s)

I’ve moved from MX2s to speciales as over time the plastic on MX2s gets bashed by the springs/arms and the release gets easier and easier. You can often see where bits of plastic have been bashed where it supports the spring. Running 2 different pairs of MXs made it really obvious when one was bashed. I found the MXs easier to clip into but less obvious when clipped in though I think they maybe break in a little and get easier. The speciales have better retention for sure if thats what you want. Price differential is huge though so lots of MX2s for the same money. MX2s are almost as cheap as some replacement cleats!

How are the Speciale holding on pedal strikes? Any issues with bent bars?

So far on my Speciale 8 the bent bars have survived straightening few times. On XC4s I have completely sheared the bar off by hitting pedal on fast descent, luckily I was only 10km from the car

Are you guys using the pins on the Speciale 8?

No issues with bent bars yet (pedals arrived only recently and have done 3 or 4 rides only). Pedal strikes, have you ridden in Suffolk? It will be a rare day if I manage that 🙂

I have the pins fitted but don’t use flats normally.

(Watch the thread for me coming back to report on pedal strike having offered up a hostage to fate).

I don’t see the benefits of the pins in this pedal type as I have proper flat pedals and shoes too.

I recently got the speciale 8. Much more noticeable clip in/out. Tighter hold on the cleats. What isn’t mentioned in any reviews is they’ve changed the way the spring is retained which I think will eliminate one wear mechanism. I think the pedals I’m replacing are dh4 or similar and as well as the bars wearing the end of the spring has worked at the pedal body and the tension has backed off. TBF  estimate they’ve done at least 12,000km and I’ve never needed to do anything to them.

I’m using the pins as additional support rather than for grip.

What about Time cleats, do they wear any better than the Crank Brothers ones?

Difficult to give an objective answer as I moved away from CB many years ago now and I also have a few different sets of riding footwear. I don’t see cleat wear as a major expense/faff. I’ve left cleats on shoes long enough for them to be difficult to remove despite always using grease on them if that’s any guide.