Guide to Clip-In Bike Shoes: Do I Need These? | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

All of the above. SPD SL pedals on the road bike. XT trail SPDs and Shimano shoes on the short travel FS Bike which tends to get used for mile munching rather than very tech rides. DMR Vault flats for the big bike and DH riding. I like the efficiency of being clipped in but think I descend better on flats which I much prefer for more technical trails. I believe that’s down to foot and heel position which try as I might I can’t seem to quite reproduce on SPDs.

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Even with cleats, the Hellcats work pretty well with flat pedals, thanks to the deep cleat recess in the sole.  I had some concern about the cleat catching on the pedal, but didn’t find this to be an issue in limited testing. This is probably off-label use anyway, so take this with a grain of salt.

The low weight is achieved by the use of every lightweight material you can think of: carbon-reinforced thermoplastic bodies; ceramic bearings; titanium axles; titanium bolts; and aluminium top plates. The cleats have been lightened too with carbon fiber replacing the plastic and aluminium fasteners instead of steel. They’re bonkers expensive, but you have to admire the fanaticism.

The SPD mechanism is the same as you’ll find on many of Shimano’s other pedals, with a good range of tension adjustment and enough float for most knees. The cage is nice and grippy and performs well in the wet as well as the dry.

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Rode it from Innertkirchen in June, having first done the Grimsel pass in freezing rain & fog. It’s a long old climb, but never feels overly…

& my fashion tips: Shoes are best closed-toe and flat –

The pedal body is machined from one piece of 6061-T6 aluminium billet. Time reckons that makes it seriously durable on the trail. It’s certainly beautifully finished.

Two-bolt pedals are usually double-sided. This makes entry very easy; after a very small amount of practice you learn to just stomp on the pedal and away you go.

“Taiwanese company Wellgo tend not to be the first name off someone’s lips when you ask a mountain biker about pedals, but they are in fact the worlds largest manufacturer of them. Of course, much of that is through OEM sales, but they also have a large array of budget, after market components. The rather unromantically named B144 flat pedals…” Read the full review here.

With the tension adjustment left untouched for my first couple of rides, I found unclipping tricky. Even with the tension screw backed off completely, things still felt quite tight. Thankfully, after a few more days on the trails, the mechanism bedded in, things loosened up and clipping in and out became easier.