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

I run Time ATAC pedals on both hardtail and FS bikes, as I have for many years. I find they clear well in my local Cotswold mud. I wear stiff shoes with these: Sidi Dominators & Northwave GTX for winter.

Asymmetric cleats allow you to tailor things even further, with a 13- or 17-degree release angle (though I found the latter a little hard on the knees).

You also win on battery life. In 3 years with EPS, I charged only every  2000 miles, & it wasn’t screaming to be charged even then. I’m currently running Di2 & you need to be much more vigilant as to the charge level. I get about 800 miles before I lose the front mech, which is my reminder!

Shimano’s PD-A600 SPD road pedals have never managed to be much more than a niche product, but the rise in gravel riding is making them more relevant than ever.

The release on both systems is distinct, and neither leads to unwanted exit. Due to its Iclic system, once the Time releases, it doesn’t feel like it wants to pull you back in if you are unclipping slow before a stop. The Look, on the other hand, always wants to maintain its closed position.

This was on a cold day and he said he should have worn gloves and earmuffs, and brought tissues. And then there was one other problem.

At 45, I recently started using cleats (having used old-style clips as a teenager) and have ended up with exactly the solution suggested here – double-sided pedals and multi-release cleats.  Fabulous combo – works really well for me.

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That said – definitely not a beginnner setup. Tightening the cleat screws even .5nm too much and you can compress part of the housing enough to give you issues with the spring. Breaking in the spring must be a hell of a time for a light rider, and if the missus moves on to them (I have bought her some, but after realising the initial learning curve she lost interest), I’ll have to break the spring in for her. Also actually finding the pedal isn’t just step down and go – you have a few cm wide circle under you foot that you need to mount so like Keo’s etc, you still need to develop muscle memory.

If sheer performance is more of a priority, then a three-bolt system is the way to go. The larger cleat spreads the pedalling load over more of the sole, which is more comfortable and efficient, and three-bolt shoes are lighter because there’s no extra rubber around the cleat to make them walkable.

One of the biggest motivations for sticking with a traditional three-bolt road pedal system is the larger contact surface area it provides. Under harder pedaling efforts — and especially on longer rides — this helps distribute the load over a greater portion of the shoe (and thus, your foot) for greater comfort as the kilometers tick away.

I own four bikes but do not own a car. I ride my commuter bike at least five days a week, my road bike whenever I can, and my mountain bike rarely. Revelations in bicycling seem to be incremental. Riding a 29er — a mountain bike with large wheel diameter — was a nice surprise. Same goes for some suspension systems.