Best women’s cycling shoes for 2018 | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

The soft padding in the Maltese Falcon makes for a comfortable shoe—more so than a lot of flat-style models—without sacrificing performance. When clipped in to smaller pedals, the sole is stiff enough that it doesn’t flex uncomfortably, and there’s still good power transfer. And on wider, platform pedals, you get the feel of a sticky sole, even in the wet, with the added bonus of being clipped in. Off the bike, the Maltese Falcon has enough flex and grip to walk safely on steep and slippery terrain. In addition to being comfortable, the mesh padding also holds the foot in place to provide a sense of security. The leather upper keeps water and mud out, and the mesh tongue and side panels won’t pinch your foot.

Time’s Xpresso pedal offers the lightest system weight and the most generous float. It’s also known to be an exceptionally easy system to get in and out of.

So again, calm down and accept that I, and several others on this thread now, bought Speedplay pedals and love them. 

That said, Di2 is customisable. You could reconfigure the system and make the button that’s hidden at the top of each hood perform upshifts, for example, to sidestep any problem.

Shimano’s existing Trail pedals are already one of our favourite clip-in pedals, and the Saints build on that with a broader body and adjustable pins that favour aggressive riding. They’re short of being the grippiest on test, but the familiar SPD mechanism provides smooth and positive engagement that is usefully audible and secure while riding down noisy descents. Along with that wider platform, there are no doubts that the Saints are some of the most reassuring pedals we’ve ever used.

So again, calm down and accept that I, and several others on this thread now, bought Speedplay pedals and love them. 

Ostensibly, this allows riders to engage more naturally, pushing the foot forward with the pedal stroke and engaging at the same time.

Unlike Shimano’s old Saint and DX flat pedals though, the pins used on the XT body don’t thread in from the back. Instead, Shimano uses steel grub screws that thread directly into the pedal body. This presents an issue if you grind a pin against a rock, as you’re also grinding away the surface that you would insert a 2mm hex key into for installing or removing the pins. Once this happens, it’s a case of getting out the ‘negotiator’ (pliers) to remove those busted pins.

While the shoes and cleats were new, I also removed the pins to begin with to limit interference. As everything settled in though, I added the pins to increase traction.

Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He’s been road.cc technical editor for eight years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.

In that context, the Shimano A600 offers a tough-to-beat package that combines a sleek appearance, relatively low weight, outstanding bearing durability, and a very approachable price point.

Really I’d only recommend them to riders who will find that learning curve worth the touch of extra speed off the lights or side of the road. To me it was.