Love Mud Distortion pedals – a mid-price pedal that’s not too budget, not too bling | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

Time’s retention system is courtesy of a carbon blade as opposed to a spring as found in most clipless pedals, and this has three adjustment settings to alter the tension. The cleat has a standard three-bolt formation, and Time told me at the launch that it’s been toughened up after some reports of the previous versions wearing out a little too fast. I’d concur with this: after a long test period, they’re still pretty much intact after lots of heavy use and inadvisable, awkward cleat-walking. Speaking of which, they’re not even that awkward to walk in because the surface area of the cleat is pretty large, so they’re quite cafe stop friendly. They’re left/right-specific, but switching them around actually gives you a slightly wider stance, if you prefer some extra Q factor (the width between your pedals).

Without question, the laces are the defining feature and are a contrast from what’s expected of the Japanese manufacturer. These laces flow in a traditional orientation from the knuckle of your toes through to the top of the shoe’s tongue. At the forefoot, the laces deviate through short loops connected directly to the shoe’s upper, the goal being to help tension and wrap the upper more snugly around the curviest part of your foot.

For mountain bikers, Shimano pedals also represent a solid investment. In our opinion, they provide basically the gold standard compromise of weight, durability and performance — and typically for Shimano can be found at very reasonable prices.

"I am an amateur bike rider and was pretty nervous about riding in the street," she said. "There aren’t dedicated bike lanes in this part of town and people do not respect riders, so I took the sidewalk almost the entire way."

If you prefer the Shimano ‘Trail’ design, the M530 pedal is the budget option for you. The cage design provides some impact protection whilst riding, as well as offering a little more support for your shoes when clipped in, or for those loose moments when you have to unclip.

For that, you get a relatively lightweight pedal that’s very easy to use, works reliably, and offers quick off-the-line engagement compared to other road options. And it will definitely receive looks and questions from fellow cyclists.

We’re big fans of electronic shifting here at road.cc and we don’t know of many people who’ve used it regularly wanting to switch back to mechanical shifting, but it’s not without its downsides. Here are some of the little annoyances that we’ve experienced and heard about over the past few years.

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There is a vast choice of mountain bike clipless pedals available to buy, some are good for all-round trail riding, some are more suited to cross-country riding whilst others are aimed squarely at gravity, enduro or downhill riding. Between us at off.road.cc we’ve tested quite a variety and have listed the best in test here. 

We won’t touch on these shoes too much, suffice to say they are a ‘clip in’ shoe with a three bolt mount to fit road style cleats to. They are usually very stiff to offer good power transfer, they are hard to walk in and wouldn’t be used on a mountain or gravel bike. For more on road shoes, including the best ones to buy, head over to road.cc here and read their buyer’s guide to road shoes.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Perry Vandell, a public safety reporter at the Republic, summarized those thoughts well while simultaneously giving a nod to Valley Metro’s "Respect the Ride," campaign, which encourages riders to follow its code of conduct.