Reviews

Shimano 105

Mid-range Shimano pedals provide top performance at an affordable price

Of all the parts of the bike, you’ll really struggle to get anywhere without pedals. Unless you live at the top of a hill and can roll a long way, that is. But even then, it’s a long walk home.

When Shimano redesigned their 105 groupset, they made everything slicker. Ten-speed became 11-speed, the five-arm crankset became a four-arm and the pedals took a significant step up in the world too.

While 105 has alway been arguably the best value groupset on the market, the 5800 edition was when it added style to the substance.

If it’s a solid, reliable pedal you’re after, at an affordable price, from a world-renowned manufacturer, then you can’t go far wrong with Shimano’s 105

And if you want to talk about value, the 105 pedals are very impressive indeed. They sit third in Shimano’s pedal range behind Ultegra and Dura-Ace but if you’ll bare with us through a little bit of maths, we’ll show you why we reckon they’re the pick of the bunch.

Our test set of 105 pedals we had last year weigh in at 276g with a £79.99 RRP. The Ultegra pedals, on the other hand, weigh in at 259g for a pair but cost £119.99. That’s £40 more for a saving of just 17g.

And Dura-Ace? Well they’re £179.99 for a set of 248g pedals. If you’re a weight weenie, you might fancy that as a deal but if you want to ride Shimano pedals at a sensible price, then the 105s look like a very good deal indeed.

Price: £79.99
Website: Shimano
UK distributor: Madison

On top of that, they look great too. One of the main differences between these 5800 pedals and their 5700 predecessors is the pedal body is now carbon rather than aluminium.

To keep it all safe, though, there’s a steel contact plate on the top so your cleats don’t rub on the carbon. That plate’s replaceable, too, so you can buy another one when it starts to wear down.

If you want super-lightweight you’ll need to look higher up the Shimano range – or maybe even, elsewhere: see Time’s Xpresso or Speedplay’s Zero Aero.

But if it’s a solid, reliable pedal you’re after, at an affordable price, from a world-renowned manufacturer, then you can’t go far wrong with Shimano’s 105.