Ritchey WCS Carbon Echelon Pedals

Ritchey's WCS Carbon Echelon pedals have been updated with, as the name suggests, a carbon body and claw to make them über-light. There's a huge range of tension which is easily adjustable, different cleats are available and they offer a wide base for both comfort and power transfer. They'd have to come down in price to tempt me, though.

The composite body and claw really help to keep the weight down. At only 218g for the pair, they come in 2g lighter than the Look Blade Carbons that I am currently using (and 2g lighter than Ritchey claims). Shimano's Ultegra 6800 are 40g heavier but will save your pocket about £45 at RRP (and about £25 online – they're currently around £88, the Echelons around £113).

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The stainless steel cleat plate does a very good job of protecting the pedal body from wear. It's replaceable via two T-10 screws should you experience excessive wear. In my two months of winter riding, I've not seen anything other than superficial wear.

Sealed cartridge bearings have kept the pedals turning very smoothly. The rotation is quite slow. They will stay in one position, unlike my Shimano Ultegra 6800 or Look Keo Blade pedals, which will stop with the heaviest part at the bottom. It doesn't affect riding, so it's not an issue at all.

The bearings have also stood up to washing very well. I get quite careless with high pressured water, but these resisted very well, with no signs of water ingress.

The adjustable tension range is really wide. The low end tension is great for easy unclipping and the extra-strong springs really clamp the cleat for powerful riders. Tensioning the pedals is done via a 3mm Allen bolt at the back of the pedal. At the lower end, I was able to slide my foot out easily, which was great for commuting, but they also felt secure with no accidental unclipping when I wanted to put a bit more power down.

The option to use either Ritchey or Look Keo cleats is very useful for those wanting to fine-tune their fit with different float ranges. The Ritchey cleats supplied are 7°, so I switched them to my preferred 0° fixed Look Keos to get my setup spot on.

I did, however, find that there is cleat rocking when at the lower tension range with Keo cleats. Ritchey sells both 0 and 7-degree replacement cleats, so I would stick with them if you intend to use the pedals with low tension. With the pedals tensioned above the midpoint, there were no issues. Ritchey told me that the issues with the Keo cleats seems to be the small rubber oval in the centre of the cleat. It protrudes, giving just enough space with a low tension setting to allow for the rocking. It suggests you could easily file this down, or just wait for it to wear itself down.

The pedals are very comfortable to use. The wide body allows pressure to be spread evenly, meaning no hotspots under the ball of your foot. Out on the road, they are also very consistent; even with road muck and a good amount of grit in them, they continued to engage and release smoothly.

> Buyer's Guide: The best clipless pedals

In terms of value, they sit between the top end Shimano Dura-Ace/titanium axle Look Keo Blades and the more middle range Ultegra/chromoly axle Keo Blades. With an RRP of £165, they should represent a performance benefit over the Ultegras (£119) and the Keo Blades (£139). I couldn't see any improvement; if there is one, it's small. Yes, they provide a comfortable and stiff pedalling platform, but if it was my money I'd choose the Ultegra 6800s. As well as being cheaper, they have more cleat float options.

To sum up, these are very light, comfortable pedals with a huge range of release tensions. The bearings feel as smooth as new, after some horrendous riding conditions and less than careful washing. The price is still a sticking point for me, though. I just can't feel the £45 difference between these and an Ultegra pedal.

Verdict

Smooth and sturdy bearings and a huge tension range; the price reflects a top-end pedal, but it may be a little too high