2019 Shimano ME7 Trail/Enduro Mountain Bike Shoe Review | Bike Self Locking Pedals

The sky was grey, thick with low hanging clouds, rain was a virtual certainty. Normally I am one to beg off at the slightest hint of rain, find something else to do, preferably indoors. But it was the last day of a brief visit in the Italian Dolomites and no one wanted to waste it hanging around the hotel, not even me. So I stuffed the Idro jacket in my jersey, clipped in and set off. Sure enough, fat droplets started falling not 10mins into the ride, and stayed that way for the next three hours, as did the Idro on my back. Having owned plenty of rain jackets, all of which promise to be waterproof and breathable, but none of which quite delivered, I girded mentally to being soaked and chilled. But as we rode, a surprising thing happened, I stayed dry and comfortable. I didn’t need to take the Idro off on climbs and put it back on for the descents. It kept the rain from coming in and let my sweat out. I actually enjoyed myself, rather than suffering through what would have been misery. To me that’s the magic of the Idro and its Gore Shake Dry fabric, letting me ride when I otherwise couldn’t or wouldn’t. Sure, it’s eye wateringly expensive, but how much would you pay for extra ride days? Read the full review.

Compared to the smaller racing pedals though, the big platforms on these pedals are designed to provide more support when used with more flexible footwear. And with the addition of textured bodies and adjustable pins, the platform is supposed to increase traction between shoe and pedal.

Well, now you can recoup all the time the bike has stolen from you by giving the gift of a skateboard! Yes, no fit person over 40 can resist the allure of a skateboard, nor can they stand on one without sustaining an injury just bad enough to keep them off the bike for awhile and force them to appreciate you! Just find a reissue deck from the halcyon days of their youth, sit back, and let physics and nostalgia do the rest: “Whoa, a Rob Roskopp! I used to have one just like this! You know, I used to be pretty good…” [Stands on skateboard, immediately breaks coccyx.] You’ll be enjoying that romantic anniversary dinner in no time—though your partner may be sitting on a doughnut.

Five Ten Freerider The celebrated Freerider has a one-piece molded cup sole. Claimed weight 345g. $100 USD.

Took to them right out of the box mate: had a decent LBS on standby back then, but never needed them – set cleats’ tension and position on the sole to ‘middling’ and was happy straight off.

No. I was confident with them on the first time I took them onto the road. When I said I hated them for a few weeks I simply meant that the first few times I stuck them on the trainer to play around with them the spring was stiff. Nothing more, nothing less. I was exaggerating anyway, I didn’t actually hate them. Confidence however will vary with any pedal system depending on the person, so it’s irrational to try and argue that ‘it takes a long time before you can use them with confidence’. My confidence on the road has increased since I bought them – my final bugbear on the bike was being able to clip in and out without thought, as hard or as fast as I wanted. And I’ve solved that, for 80 quid. 

Dan Bendiksen rides his e-bike along the Columbia River as part of his commute from his Salmon Creek-neighborhood home to his job at HTG Inc. in Vancouver. Photos by Nathan Howard/The Columbian var objLink = new myC_Remote.BuyLink(); objLink.LinkContent = "<span" class="btn btn-warning btn-xs pull-right btn-buyphoto">Buy this photo"; objLink.IsAboveImage = false; objLink.LinkTarget = "_blank"; objLink.Render();

Some folks find pedals like the M520s a bit small. The PD-M424 pedals are an excellent alternative. Intended for mountain biking, they have a tough plastic platform around the pedal mechanism that supports more of the shoe. This works really well with shoes that have more flexible soles and are therefore easier to walk in.

The trails here are quite different to where I usually ride, though. Leafy, wooded undulating chalk land is pretty scarce in the corner of the Pennines I call home. I’m more used to wide open moorland, liberally strewn with rocks. Calderdale in Yorkshire has woods, sure, but mostly precipitously steep ones, with weirdly grippy Millstone Grit under tyre and sardonic Yorkshiremen in flat caps eating chips cooked in dripping commenting impenetrably as I inevitably hurtle over something foolish. There are steps. There is weather. All of the weather. Frequently, all of the weather at once. My local riding has incrementally become something of a gnar-fest. Granted, my enthusiasm usually outweighs my competence, but riding for any length of time in Calderdale gently massages you down a greasy chute of tech. Of course, there’s plenty of non-technical riding too, but a ride’s not a *proper* ride unless there are liberal helpings of thrutch, a couple of ‘oof’s and (usually) more than one whimper.

thanks for the info. I don’t think I will be going far up 25% and/or pedalling 90rpm for hours but, when I have eventually ground my way to the top, I want to be able to go hell for leather back down hence my "need" for the wide range that a triple setup provides. My current tourer has xtr 3×9 – 44/32/22 and 11-32 in an aluminium frame. I have a carbon frame road bike and had a steel one years ago. I have got it into my head that I should try a titanium frame before it is too late (bucket list) but, as discussed, I need the triple set up and J.Laverack, for example, don’t have a triple solution in their offering.

GCN tested this in the lab in a recent YouTube video and found that clipless did not increase power – they seemed a bit shocked that the common precept that clipless are better for power and efficiency could was not proven in testing.

Granted, I wear a big shoe with a long toe box, so I suppose not everyone will experience this. Also, not everyone unclips the same way; I tend to rotate my heel out, but I know Leah rotates hers in, so she probably wouldn’t experience this issue. My solution is to unclip in the 12 o’clock position which places the crankarm out of the way. Still, I’ve had many close calls when I found myself unable to quickly unclip in my usual manner.