Seemingly without a whole lot of fanfare, Shimano’s newest SPD-SL pedal is about to make its debut. By now, most people are aware that there is a carbon version of the Ultegra 6700 pedal that’s been in the works, yet there hasn’t been much press – possibly because it’s tough to beat on price when compared to Dura Ace.
It’s light, it’s wide, and it’s carbon for a whole lot less.
See how the DA stacks up after the break!
I think it’s safe to say that Shimano has taken the concept of trickle down engineering to heart. Lately it’s been the new XT kit borrowing heavily from XTR, then it was Ultegra Di2’s improved wiring setting it apart from Dura Ace Di2, and now, the Carbon Ultegra 6700-c certainly resembles it’s Dura Ace sibling.
On the weight side, there is only a surprisingly low 10 gram difference between the two for a complete pair. Some of that weight difference is likely from the bearing systems, although the 6700-c pedal now has all metal hardware for the bearings rather than plastic. The Ultegra model does lack the billet aluminum sleeve that is bonded to the pedal exterior of the Dura Ace model and the triple bearing set up, so it’s likely that the DA pedal will still spin better, for longer.
Visually the pedals are quite different and I was told this was due to the Ultegra being molded from short-fiber carbon as opposed the the Dura Ace’s long-fiber carbon body. Theoretically, this should make the Dura Ace pedal stronger, but how much so is anyone’s guess.
The only other real difference between the two is that the Dura Ace pedal supposedly has a slightly narrower Q-factor than the Ultegra. Stacked side by side it was really hard to tell, but I’ll take the Shimano Rep’s word for it.
While the Dura Ace pedal is still technically superior, the new Ultegra 6700-c boasts a lot of features for the price. At a retail of $299 for the Carbon Utegras, I have a feeling the Ultegras might just give the Dura Ace pedals a run for their money.
