The Essential Enduro Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

But the pedals aren’t entirely different from other road options. Unclipping was the same as any other system I’ve used: A quick flick of the heel released my foot.

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.

Reach reporter Jen Fifield at 602-444-8763 or jen.fifield@azcentral.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JenAFifield.

This flat and grippy shoe with cleats is ideal for bike parks, flowy singletrack, and steep climbs. If you want the comfort of a flat shoe with the performance advantages of clipless pedals, the Maltese Falcon offers the best of both worlds.

I have SPDs on the full suss and flats on the hardtail, but I ride the susser more frequently so answered clips.

So it’s important not to get your left and right pedals mixed up. With many clipless pedal systems, such as those from Shimano and Look, it’s pretty obvious which way round they go as the pedal has a definite front and rear.

As the inventor of the off-road clip-in pedal, Shimano is also responsible for the whole platform pedal movement. Most pedals in our group test feature designs that are barely a year or two old, but Shimano has been at it since 1996 when it released the iconic red DX M636 – a pedal that many mountain bikers still remember fondly today.

The A600 pedals even manage to impress on the scales. Actual weight for a pair is just 292g, plus another 51g for the cleats. For comparison, a set of current Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 pedals and cleats weighs in at 305g — a saving of just 38g with a huge increase in cost.

Time is known primarily for its road pedals but its new, seriously pricey Speciale clips are designed to meet the high demands of trail riding and enduro racing.

Flats for everything. My first mountain bike (1988 Raleigh Dune dancer) came with toe clips which caused me all sorts of problems after being used to flat BMX pedals. Never felt the need to try and clip in since.

“At some point a couple years ago, Look sent over a bunch of pairs and now I have so many it’s easy to keep them on whatever test bikes I have in. Previously my pick was Shimano because they’re bombproof. I have broken a couple of Keos, but I usually break them by groading too hard and smashing the blades on rocks. Basically, I killed them because I’m dumb.”

"Nobody wants to get stuck with product that is no longer viable," said Jason Kilroy at Ciclista-America, the distributor of Sidi shoes in the U.S. Although Sidi doesn’t make BMX-specific shoe models, it does make its mountain bike shoes available in small sizes that are used by many BMXers. Kilroy said it is a very small part of the company’s business.