New Shimano XTR M9100 – Options, options, options | Carbon Fahrrad Umwerfer Installationssatz

One company, Speedplay, has bucked the consensus. Its pedals are double-sided, the mechanism is part of the cleat and that cleat has a four-bolt mounting. A three-bolt adapter is included with them, as few shoemakers have a suitable shoe in their line. More about Speedplay below.

Compared to Shimano’s popular XTR Trail pedals, the Saint uses a more robust forged alloy body that measures 78.1mm wide and 91mm long. This adds weight, with the pair of pedals coming in at 535g (sans cleats). Q-factor is the same at 55mm, but there’s more usable surface area on each side of the SPD mechanism, making the Saint feel bigger underfoot with less rocking and wiggle. The flatter overall shape doesn’t quite cup your shoes like the concave platform of the Nukeproof, HT and Crank Brothers pedals, but the flip side is greater compatibility with different shoes and tread designs.

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“These were the shiniest pedals in the grouptest, both literally and metaphorically, as they were polished to a mirror finish and loaded down with almost all of the features you’d expect from a high end flat pedal.They run fully on bearings with no bushings. The crank end contains two…” Read the full review here.

Disagree with the Speedplay comments above. I moved to them this year and yes I hated them for a few weeks and was considering eBaying them.

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.

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I also tried the Hellcats, sans cleats, with a set of platform pedals and they worked even better. In fact, this worked so well I thought I might like to just run the Hellcats without cleats. Unfortunately the backer plate inside the sole tends to move around when it’s not secured by a cleat. So to be clear, with the Hellcats, cleats are required.

In case you’re wondering why they’re called clipless pedals, it’s because pedals used to have metal cages, called toe clips, and leather straps to hold the shoe in place. Racing shoes had cleats that were slotted to fit the cage of the pedal. To get out, you had to loosen the strap. Falling over at traffic lights behind a busload of schoolkids was not unknown.

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.

Rachael is happiest on two wheels, she’s been riding bikes for a good few years now after horses got too expensive! Partial to a race or two Rachael also likes getting out into the hills with a big bunch of mates. She’s been writing for a long as she’s been riding and is equally happy getting stuck into a kit review as she is creating stories.