Five mountain biking myths that just aren’t true | Carbon Fahrrad Umwerfer Installationssatz

Add in the relatively low price, widespread availability, and decent durability of the large plastic cleat, and Shimano also set the benchmark for running costs. The cleat’s generously wide platform and softer co-molded contact points even make it far better to walk in than you’d expect, even decent to walk in, even on those dreaded tiled cafe floors. Other makes have sought to catch up in this regard, but SPD-SL still remains the best option in that respect.

Would be great to see size ranges listed too. I wear 14EE so bike shoes are always a pain (literally).

The shoes below have a decided emphasis on aesthetics, often with functional elements below the surface.

The North Downs are long, long way from Yorkshire. It’s long way down an ever-darkening motorway, with headlights on and rain blasting onto the windscreen, the wiper blades flick flacking a beat to the music on the stereo. In time, drifting out of time, in time, out of time. Eventually, the music ends, and I’m listening to the water on the road blasting up inside the wheel arches; trying desperately to find any inlet into the dry and the warm of the cabin. Motorway gives way to A-road gives way to B-road gives way to winding lane which snakes through infinite trees, and which seems impossibly remote, considering I must be something like half an hour’s (traffic-free) drive from London. And then, I turn a corner, down a long drive to an enormous old hotel. This, it seems, is home for the night. Crikey.

Shimano shoes are generally quite generous with who they fit, and the XC5’s relaxed nature only adds to this reputation. With a more open heel design, a forgiving upper and a pliable sole, there’s certainly more leeway here than with a race shoe. However, a lack of width choices is perhaps as much a sign of the price as it is of demand. If your foot shape is at one extreme of the bell-curve, you’ll likely want to pursue something with additional width options.

There are two types of cleat spacers/shims that come in the box with the HT X2 pedals. There are thin metal shims, and slightly thicker plastic shims. I can’t quite remember exactly what configuration I setup the AM9 shoes with, but I definitely had the thin metal shim, and possibly the plastic shim too.

Strangely enough I’ve found that the Atacs, which I bought back in 2008 & 9, have shrugged of all sorts of soggy muddy crap.

While this isn’t the most recent Shimano XTR model, we reckon you can’t go wrong with this top of the line item. That high performance is reflected in the price, but we’ve found discounts to make the purchase a little more palatable.

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.

Selling for £89 for the pair, the XT flat pedals can be had in two platform sizes to suit different shoe sizes. I’ve been testing a set of the Large size for the past three months, which come in at 491g as tested.

I installed the tyres the same way I install tubeless mountain bike tyres: install one bead fully and then the second one most of the way around. This leaves a small gap into which the sealant can be poured without having to squeeze it through the valve stem (with the valve removed). I am glad I did it this way because the Mavic sealant is aggressive at blocking leakages. I couldn’t get much sealant out of the bottle before the sealant sealed the bottle. With around 30ml of sealant in the tyre, I carefully installed the remaining bead – which is much easier without a tube inside.

These offer the same knee-friendly rotation that the Xpresso 6 pedals do but with a lighter body they become perfect for any competitive racers for whom every gram counts.