Review: Shimano Saint PD-MX80 Flat Pedals | Spd Pedals

Eventually, tired, muddy and happy, we roll down to Peaslake Stores – a place famed hereabouts by the  welcome extended to the *ahem* less than spotlessly attired as much for excellent coffee, cake and sausage rolls. The shopkeeper even lets me use the loo. You don’t get that sort of service in Gregg’s. 

Aside from the bent pins, the XT pedals have largely been trouble-free. The bearings have spun nice and smooth throughout testing, though more recently I did notice a small amount of play between the body and the axle, so I got my hands on Shimano’s plastic TL40 tool to pull the pedals apart and take a gander at the insides.

The speed I can clip in now off the lights is wicked. Actually feels a bit show-offy it’s that smooth and fast. I also rub a little lube on the cleat spring every weekend, that makes it super smooth to clip in too now.

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i was interested till i saw the price.. google says £96 delivered. think i’ll stick to the M520 £20 delivered. the bearings seems to last forever on the shimano too..

The main reason people will tell you that you need foot retention while riding is that it provides maximum power transfer between your legs and the bicycle’s transmission. See, when you’re putzing along in sneakers you’re merely pushing down on the pedals and hemorrhaging valuable energy through the flexy soles of your Vans. However, when you’re clipped in, you’re both pushing and pulling the pedals and sending power from your magical ruby slippers to your cranks for the entire 360 degrees of the pedal stroke, thereby extracting the full potential of your high-performance carbon fiber bicycle.

Been running these for a while. They are really nicely made but if your shoes are remotely stiff then the pins are pretty pointless. I’ve replaced mine with longer M4 screws.

But I admit to liking the casual style and all-day comfort they offer, and they’re nice for sightseeing, gravel riding, commuting and the occasional play on the mountain bike, too. The XC5’s long laces (on the smaller sizes) are my biggest complaint of these shoes and, frankly, a simple oversight on Shimano’s part. Assuming the XC5s tick the boxes of what you’re after, they’re cheap enough to allow room in the budget for new laces.

The XC5s are available in either black (as tested) or a lighter grey/orange option. Additional laces are provided, with our black sample supplied with both orange and grey laces. The shoes span a size range of EU38-50, all in a single width option. A women’s-specific version is available too, spanning sizes EU36-44 and in a black/magenta colourway.

On the flip side, when we discussed this in the road.cc office, one member of the team said he finds it simpler to operate a Di2 shifter than a mechanical shifter with frozen hands. A tap on the button is slightly easier than sweeping a lever when your fingers are dead.Due to the different ways in which shifts are performed, this isn’t an issue with either Campagnolo EPS or SRAM Red eTap.

There isn’t quite such a firm ‘snap’ as you get when clipping into a Shimano pedal (the sound is a bit more subtle, like I perceive most Look-compatible pedals to be), but I think it’s easier to ‘find’ the Time pedal without having to really look down. This is helped by the improved pedal surface area compared with the Xpro’s predecessor, now a nice and wide 725mm2.

They need to be plugged in and recharged every 35 to 100 miles. Also, they’re heavier than a regular bike. The battery and all the technology add about 20 pounds.