TIME Clipless Pedal Lineup
Stated Weight per Pedal:
- SPECIALE 10: 197 g (Small), 202 g (Large)
- SPECIALE 12: 175 g (Small), 180 g (Large)
- ATAC XC 6: 150 g
- ATAC XC 10: 140 g
- ATAC XC 12: 120 g
- MX4: 192 g
- MX6: 190 g
MSRP:
- SPECIALE 10: $180 USD
- SPECIALE 12: $350 USD
- ATAC XC 6: $90 USD
- ATAC XC 10: $150 USD
- ATAC XC 12: $295 USD
- MX4: $65 USD
- MX6: $95 USD
Intro
TIME has been a major player in the clipless pedal game for decades, earning itself a lot of fans on the mountain bike side of cycling for its unique clipless mechanism that clears mud while offering more float than other systems. The French brand was acquired by SRAM back in 2021, but their existing lineup stayed largely the same — until now.
TIME doesn’t appear to have strayed too far from its tried-and-true designs and features for the most part, but there are some interesting changes that should make it easier than ever to find the right balance of features and price. Dig into the details of the full range below.
Design
All of TIME’s mountain bike pedals still feature the brand’s ATAC mechanism and its dedicated cleat. The design allows for +/- 5° of angular float (free flotation before the mechanism begins to resist your foot’s motion) and +/- 2.5 mm of lateral float (the cleat’s ability to shift laterally along the axle). That’s a good bit more float than other brands and is part of what makes TIME a uniquely appealing option to folks with knee issues or who generally prefer a less locked-in feel compared to other systems.
TIME’s ATAC cleat system offers some options to further dial in the pedal feel. The standard cleats that ship with any pair of pedals can be flipped to swap between 13° and 17° release angles (for reference, standard Shimano SPD cleats have a stated 13° release angle), or their Easy 10° cleat can be purchased separately to tighten up that release angle a bit.
With that context out of the way, let’s get into the pedals themselves:
SPECIALE 10 and SPECIALE 12
The SPECIALE range keeps a familiar design, with the SPECIALE 12 remaining in the lineup and the new SPECIALE 10 replacing the SPECIALE 8. Intended for Downhill, Enduro, and Trail riding, the SPECIALE range now gets two platform sizes available across both models — Large, which has a 69 x 90 mm platform, and Small, which has a 64 x 80 mm platform. Previously, the SPECIALE 12 featured the larger platform size at a much higher price than the smaller SPECIALE 8, so it’s great to see both platform sizes available across the range.
Both the SPECIALE 10 and SPECIALE 12 get the same longstanding ATAC clipless mechanism and a machined aluminum platform, with the SPECIALE 10 getting a few anodized color options while the SPECIALE 12 comes in a black and gold colorway. Where the two diverge is the spindle material, with the fancier SPECIALE 12 getting a titanium spindle while the 10 gets a hollow steel one. The difference in material drives the SPECIALE 12’s weight down to 175 grams per pedal for the size Small and 180 grams for the size Large. That’s about 20 grams lighter per pedal than the SPECIALE 10, but those grams cost a pretty penny, with the SPECIALE 12 ringing in at $350 USD per pair — $170 more than the $180 SPECIALE 10.
ATAC XC 6, ATAC XC 10 and ATAC XC 12
The ATAC XC range is, as the name implies, primarily aimed at Cross Country riding and racing. I can also personally vouch for the ATAC XC being a great option for gravel and cyclocross as well. With a major focus on weight savings, the ATAC XC pedals all get a diminutive pedal body and feature the same ATAC clipless mechanism common across TIME’s mountain bike pedals.
At the bottom of the range, the ATAC XC 6 gets a solid steel spindle and injected glass-fiber composite pedal body at a weight of 150 grams per pedal. The ATAC XC 8 steps up the materials a bit to an injected carbon-fiber composite body and oversized hollow steel spindle, which drops 10 grams of weight from each pedal. At the top step of the range, the ATAC XC 12 drops a full 20 grams of weight per pedal by keeping the injected carbon-fiber composite body, but stepping up to an oversized hollow titanium spindle.
As with the SPECIALE range, the ATAC XC range sees some sizeable price gaps depending on the model. The ATAC XC 6 costs $90, the ATAC XC 10 costs $150, and the titanium spindle-equipped ATAC XC 12 jumps to $295 USD.
MX4 and MX6
The final model in the TIME MTB lineup, the MX series is intended as an all-around Trail pedal. Blockier in shape than the SPECIALE series, the MX4 and MX6 both get the same 71 x 80 mm injected glass-fiber composite body; the differentiator between the models being the solid steel spindle on the MX4 and hollow steel spindle on the MX6. That difference in spindle only nets a stated 2-gram weight difference between the two, with the MX4 weighing 192 grams and the MX6 weighing 190 grams. Interestingly, the MX4 breaks with the rest of the TIME lineup by coming with the Easy 10° cleat rather than the 13° / 17° cleat, that earlier release angle perhaps hinting at its intentions as a more entry-level pedal for folks who are still getting comfortable with clipless pedals.
The MX series has historically hit a lower price point than the SPECIALE or ATAC XC pedals, and that remains true here — the MX4 costs just $65 USD, and the MX6 costs $95 USD.
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) How much of a difference in feel does the SPECIALE’s Large platform bring relative to the Small platform?
(2) How easy is it for a home mechanic to service the various models in the new range?
(3) In a sea of different cleat and mechanism options from Shimano SPD to Crank Brothers and HT to Hope, where does TIME stack up in terms of on-trail performance?
Bottom Line (For Now)
TIME has refined its lineup to keep familiar pedal designs while reworking differentiators between different steps within each pedal series. With the addition of multiple platform sizes to the SPECIALE range as well as some more exotic titanium axles on its top-tier models, TIME offers quite a broad range of pedals that should appeal to a lot of folks who get along with the additional float of the ATAC clipless system. We’ll be getting on some of the new Time pedals soon, and will report back with a Full Review once we’ve been able to log a whole lot of miles on them.
Time makes such lovely pedals. The lovely feel of Crank Brothers with the reliability and longevity of Shimano.
For a variety of reasons, I’ve ended up on XT SPDs across too many bikes to change, but if I were starting from scratch, it would be Time, without a doubt.