New to land in the office this week are a couple of Time’s 2010 products which go rather well together. Although we are still waiting on a couple of lines from their ranges to arrive it’s given us a nice taste of what’s to come.
First up is Time’s 2010 range of road shoes. A whole host of technology and some very nice user friendly features make Time’s range of shoes worth a much closer look. Time haven’t just gone all out aiming for the high end of the market, they have a full range at price points to suit all budgets.
[rating:4] The model that grabbed my attention is the Ulteam RS Carbon at £189.99. This is quite an expensive shoe, but the big performance on offer makes the price a lot easier to justify.
The key feature is the Thermo Moulding Membrane integrated into the Ulteam RS (also available in the Ulteam Tri and MXS). The concept behind heat moulding footwear is not a new one, most ski and snowboard boots have been using some form of it for quite a while now. Shimano and Lake also offer similar systems and as an owner of the Shimano heat mouldable shoes I know how comfortable they are to wear as well as offering amazing power transfer to the pedals. The beauty of the Time’s system is the ease of being able to do the heat moulding by yourself very easily and with the only assistance coming from a hair dryer. With Shimano and Lake’s system you need either a shop with the right equipment or the d.i.y choice is putting your carbon shoes in the oven; carbon in the oven!?
The carbon sole on the Ulteam RS is Time’s Vibraser technology which is the same carbon they use in their frames. The Vibraser concept is designed to improve comfort as well as energy transmission, by being highly shock absorbent. This helps massively on long distance rides and at the same time being super stiff to help get the power down.
Two nice velcro straps and an oversized top strap with a very positive ratchet buckle keeps the shoe securely attached to your feet and once you get them heat moulded they feel great on. The weight’s not bad at a claimed 658g (size 42) and with compatibility for all the usual road pedals out there, Time has a great shoe to add to their range.
Click here for the PBK’s range of Time Shoes
[rating:5] Next are Time’s new range of road pedals 
which are set to eliminate the current RXS’s only real weakness of sometimes being difficult to clip in.
The iClic range are set to change all that, with a very clever entry system that retains the Time trademark of security, but now makes that security all the easier to get into.
This is all down to Time’s pre-opening automatic engagement (Time patent), which is a “trigger” that holds the rear section of the pedal partially open. When you go to clip in, instead of having to wrestle against a spring and force your way in, you use the same motion as you are used to, but this time there is barely any resistance to work against. You push down on the “trigger” and the pedal locks (“clic’s”) into place. With an engagement that is instantaneous and without friction, this pedal is the easiest system currently available to clip into and is no harder than a normal Time pedal to disengage from.
The second feature to mention is that Time has done away with the traditional metal spring with the iClic’s system, instead they have used a carbon blade (on all models except the entry level where they have used a composite material). This reduces the weight throughout the whole iClic pedal range as well as improving fatigue resistance.
The pedals retain Time’s lateral and rotational float and they have even reduced the weight of the iClic’s cleats from the RXS models. With the starting price £82.99 for the basic model and up to £247.99 for the top of the range could this be the new standard for pedals?
