Review: Shimano Ultegra R8000 Pedals

(2020) The world of road cycling pedals is as varied as the bikes they attach to. At what is now viewed as a basic level, road cycling pedals are made by Time, Look, Shimano, and Speedplay to name a few. Then there are the newcomers to the platform: power pedals made by Saris and Garmin. It felt the wrong time to have to replace pedals out of necessity, but a drastic change occurred and we passed along the review. To switch from Look Keo pedals over to Shimano Ultegra R8000s meant much more than threading them onto the crank arms. 

As a lifelong Look Keo user, it was standard practice to run each pedal set into the ground before buying the latest and greatest on the market. Looks are great but suffer from a bit of maintenance envy. Much of the pedal cannot be maintained, and what can be serviced is hardly the front runner to longevity. Shimano pedals offer more serviceability meaning longer life. But that whole issue about swapping every bike in the garage to Shimano deterred the transition.

Over the past few months we have been pounding Bucks County roads atop the Shimano Ultegra R8000 pedal. We have found the price point - between 105 and Dura Ace - to be appealing. There was no intention of purchasing a pedal-based power meter so that ruled out Saris and Garmin. Yet the most appealing part of Shimano is the slightly larger cleat and pedal body. The smaller platform of Look had us wondering if some outside of the foot issues were a result of the compact Look cleat. 

Speaking of cleats, Shimano grabbed our attention. Their tiered cleat float of yellow (six degrees), blue (two degrees), and red (zero degrees) meant more realistic disengagement points than Looks. (Look cleats offer nine, 4.5, and zero-degree floats, respectively.) Look cleats always felt similar to ice skating on account of the float discrepancy. Shimano pedals come with yellow cleats to gear up for a sportier engagement than the competitor.

The pedals offer a glimpse into rocket power. The wide chromoly steel spindle offers a wider stance, engaging natural comfort. The composite body allow ease of entry. The pedals hardly spin around like our old Looks; clipping into Shimano pedals is a simple procedure. Gone are the guessing games of a spinning pedal in hopes the proper part is facing up. When not clipped in, the Shimano R8000s pedal front faces the sky. And the clip in part is a reassuring snap. 

The pedal body itself is the biggest on the market. At a modest 255 grams, the Ultegra pedal offers a wide contact patch for uniform power transfer. With a carbon composite body, there is minimal flexing to absorb heavy efforts. The wide body was scrutinized because of foot pain over longer rides on the Look platform. An overwhelming sense of fatigue would gather along the outside of the right foot after dozens of miles. As of this writing there has been no outer foot fatigue in the new Shimano pedals.

With the combination of larger cleat, larger contact surface, and comfortable float, the Shimano Ultegra R8000 pedal has us looking forward to getting on the bike. The entry is adjustable as they are on all Shimano pedals. A looser setting allows commuters to consider Ultegra pedals while a tighter tension speaks to crit and track racers. The lower stack height allows a more attractive clearance height for high speed turns. 

Shimano technology trickles down in all of their cycling technology. It is often stated that 105 is ten years ago Tour technology, but that’s what allows Shimano tech to work. Shimano Ultegra R8000 pedals could be considered Dura Ace technology from a short time ago, and it shows. Ultegra quality and price point are perfect for the weekend rig that rolls up to the local crit once in a while. 

As pedals move into the power meter game it is a wonder where Shimano will take the Dura Ace technology. In the meantime, Ultegra pedals are just what we wanted. The price point for a carbon platform is manageable and the comfort level has us eying up the next bike to convert to Shimano. It may have been viewed as an inconvenience to swap pedal companies but the next step is the important re-fitting. Switching over to Shimano may be the small change up needed to spice up the ride experience. If our ride comfort has anything to do with it, that swap will be a welcome upgrade.