Watch: How to service your Shimano SPD SL pedals | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

Ostensibly, this allows riders to engage more naturally, pushing the foot forward with the pedal stroke and engaging at the same time.

HT’s T1 clipless pedal is aimed at the trail and enduro ride, providing easy engagement with a positive action. They come in a wide choice of colours and there’s a lighter titanium spindle version if you’re feeling flush. The chromoly version here is lighter than Shimano’s XT Trail pedal, but they are more expensive even at discounted prices. There is good ground clearance but the cage doesn’t offer much support. The cleat mechanism takes some getting used to but they are a robust light pedal, that should last quite a while.

Now I couldn’t use anything else. They are just pheneomenal compared to the various Looks I usually use. They need broken in first of all as the spring is super stiff, but once done then it only takes a little force to clip in. Actually finding the insert point is a few weeks of muscle memory (I stuck them on the indoor trainer first which sped this process up).

Shimano’s SPD-SL system has remained fundamentally unchanged for many years. Each new generation of pedals typically only receives minor improvements, often to slightly reduce weight.

“Designed with Sam Hill and knocking around since late 2015, Nukeproof Horizon flats come in a plethora of options, ranging from very wallet-friendly plastic bodied editions in bright colours, to the ultra fancy Horizon Pro Ti edition with machined surfaces and lightweight axles (shedding almost 70 grams from the weight of the standard pair, which is 430g). We reviewed the mid-range Horizon Pro, with metal…” Read the full review here.

It’s all about freedom and control. Crankbrothers took the opportunity to release its Stamp pedals at Interbike 2018, in large part because they make a lot of sense for beginner and intermediate riders. For starters, it’s easier to pull a foot off the pedals in a high-speed corner when the rider isn’t clipped in. And flat pedals are now a lot lighter than they used to be. When compared to clipless pedals, flat pedals also tend to be far less expensive, or at least they can be.

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The Michelin tread does an impressive job at providing traction from clean tile floors to wet roots. The mid-foot of the sole is covered in rubber, with four lugs protruding from the heel to give a stable stance. Traction at the toes is a little limited in stock form, and you’ll want to buy some toe spikes if you’re planning on running anywhere. Like most mountain bike shoes, none of the lugs are replaceable and to date, durability hasn’t been an issue.

Nukeproof’s Horizon CS pedal is a solid and reliable clipless pedal providing more support than a lollipop cross-country pedal and is available in a range of fetching colours to complement your bike. It’s compatible with Shimano SPD cleats if you’re already familiar with, or using that system already, so switching is easy. If these are your first clipless pedals, they are easy to use and have a very shallow learning curve. Choosing these over a Shimano alternative won’t leave you wanting, they’re a good choice at a great price. 

My understanding of current thinking is that you should not be trying to pull up (damaging to knees being the reason) only "getting your feet out of the way" during the up stroke. You should still be actively kicking forward at the top of the stroke and pulling your foot back at the bottom – these would be sensible reasons why a cleat would seem to be an advantage over flat pedals. Having said that good flat pedals with decent raised grips (the little bolt style ones especially) used with flat rubber-soled shoes are nearly as good for kicking  forward and pulling back.

The shoes feel plenty efficient, and only minimal heel slip is felt when making a specific effort to seek it. Where a race shoe’s complete stiffness means your foot naturally wants to pull away from the board-like sole, the XC5’s sole allows some flex to retain the foot.

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