Buyer’s guide to mountain bike pedals | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

661 Filter Asymmetrical construction with raised inner ankle protection prevents the ankle from hitting the crank arm and chainstay. $109 USD.

For someone who rides different bikes for testing and heads to cool locales, sometimes, to test them, the pedals are a great, portable away to capture the power I put out on every ride. They definitely help to appease the number geek in me. Also, these pedals have gotten better throughout the year. At the start of summer, Garmin shipped out new “doors,” the screw-in caps the hold the two batteries at each pedal. These new doors have greatly improved battery life. The accuracy of these power meters is very good, a bit “spike-y” when compared with the Shimano power meter, but consistent. And when you pair the pedals with an Edge 1030 head unit, man, you get tons of data.

Shimano classifies the XC5 as a mixed-terrain shoe, pointing toward gravel, cyclocross, cross country mountain biking and commuting. And while I agree with much of that, I’d add in touring (aka bikepacking, for the new-age crowd) to the mix, too.

Specialized 2FO Flat 2.0 Air mesh on the tongue and uppers provides protection, while most of the stitching on the shoe is hidden beneath a protective layer of rubber. Claimed weight 347g in size 42. $150 USD.

In short: The Pitbull pedals and cleats will immediately conjure visions of the AeroLites. While Lohmeyer and his partner have worked to address issues those pedals faced, it’s still the same principle. But these pedals lived up to their hype — near instant engagement, strong grip, and ease of use. It may not be for the Tour de France, but the Pitbull Pedal system provides a simple, reliable option new riders and weekend warriors.

Also into my third year but with EPS. Haven’t regretted it for a second. Effortless and trouble free gear changing especially when braking. I’m thinking of replacing my touring bike and I hope I can get it fitted with triple electronic shifting.

When pedaling, both offer a great platform with lots of support. The bearings are smooth, and during our testing we have had zero issues with either. The Look uses a needle bearing under the platform of the pedal, and from our experience this leads to very little service or maintenance.

I don’t notice any difference in power transfer with road pedals, but they are just more annoying to clip in / out and for walking. Having the same pedals on all type of bicycles is also an advantage.

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.

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.

Another option for shoe manufactures is to use Velcro straps, sometimes in combination with a ratchet strap or a Boa dial (see below) as on these Fizik M6B Donna shoes. There are usually two or three Velcro straps and these can be placed in an offset design to reduce pressure over the foot. Velcro is quick and easy to use and they hold the shoe firmly in place, but it is easy to overdo tightening one and end up feeling like part of your foot has been clamped, we found it hard to adjust the Velcro on the Giro Manta shoes we reviewed recently but this isn’t always the case, the Fizik shoe design worked well.

This may blow your mind, but lots of people work really hard to make cycling better for the rest of us, and despite what you may have heard they’re not all underwritten by George Soros. Does your mountain biker support IMBA? Is your bike commuter a member of the local advocacy group? If not, make a modest donation on their behalf, or buy an item that benefits them. Bikes Not Bombs, World Bicycle Relief, Star Track, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association…there are all sorts of two-wheeled organizations dong all kinds of good work who need your support.