Impressive durability, adjustibility, reliable SPD mechanism
Disadvantages:
Mud clearing not as good as other brands
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Why would you want a pair?
Clip-in pedals originally developed for road bikes, have found their way onto cross country mountain bikes. A metal plate called a cleat is bolted to a specially adapted shoe. The cleat engages in a sprung loaded clip on the pedal, holding the foot in the most efficient position. You disengage the clip by rotating the shoe. They also enable you to pull on the up-stroke improving power, although the power benefits are relatively modest.
The major advantage of clip-in pedals is that it enables you to perfect a smooth circular pedal stroke. Next time you're out on a flat piece of road/track, drop a gear, unclip one side and try pedalling with one leg. If you're anything like me when I tried this you'll get an amusing jerky pogo like action. Perfecting a circular rather than up and down motion will increase power transfer from your legs, and most importantly will smooth out power transfer to the back wheel. Smoother power means less likelihood of the rear wheel breaking away in loose terrain. Clips also give the advantage that over rough terrain your feet remain firmly planted on the pedals.
The major disadvantage of clips is that they increase your risk of injury in an accident. Most clips are made not to accidentally disengage, meaning that when you fall you can drag the bike with you. Being struck by 12-15kg of metal is not funny. Also being unable to clip out in time to get a foot to the ground can cause quite a few accidents - it's happened to me on more than one occasion. Particularly so in very technical sections where the ability to dab a foot down quickly is essential. The other issue is that the mechanism can get clogged by mud, making either clipping in or clipping out more tricky.
If you do choose to buy a set of clips, then practice, practice, practice clipping in and out until the process becomes second nature. I can slip my foot out of its clip almost as fast as I can off a flat pedal without evening thinking about it.
What about the PD-M520's?
These are Shimano's entry level SPD's. They can be picked up for as little as £15, sometimes even less on auction sites, at which price they are an absolute steal.
Shimano redesigned the pedal to make the pedal body and clip mechanism more open so that it shed mud better - I don't know if this makes any difference, but the mechanism is generally reliable throughout a ride. Normally difficulty clipping in and out is caused when you get off the bike and get mud and stones jammed in the shoe cleat.
On the pedal mechanism there is a screw with marker arrows, so you can adjust the clip tension. Shimano also sell multi-release cleats, but you don't need them. A standard cleat is supposed to only release when you twist your heel outwards on the pedal, whereas the multi release cleats will also release if you rotate your foot. However you can achieve a similar effect by carefully adjusting the tension. Mine is set loose so that it will hold the shoe in under normal pedalling pressure, but if I pull up hard then the cleat will disengage. The downside is that there is now some play between the cleat and the clip, however I have always separated from my bike in any of the spills that I have had. And this safety benefit alone more than outweighs the slight clicking that I occasionally get on the upstroke.
It is relatively easy to clip into the pedal, and it does so with a reasonably firm click, but you do have to position you foot correctly and this only comes with practice. If the pedal/cleat is clogged with mud then this can feel a bit soggy, but a quick pull up on the pedal is enough to confirm your foot is clipped in. Clipping out is fast and hassle free, as long as your practice sliding out of the pedal heel first.
How long will they last?
Mountain biking subjects your moving components to an extremely harsh environment - mud, water, and sand are the worst culprits. Mud is the most effective degreaser known to mankind, and then there are the inevitable impacts with rocks and tree roots
I have had these pedals now for nearly 2 years, and they have been used almost exclusively off-road. They have been bashed against rocks, gouged into ruts, regularly bathed in mud, and washed in rivers, and they are still going strong. I did strip them and replace the ball bearings 9 months ago because they started to feel a bit gritty. The only annoyance is that you need to purchase a special tool to dismantle the pedal, but they spin as sweetly now as they did when I first bought them. There is a bit of play in the clip mechanism, which wasn't entirely fixed by replacing the cleats, but it generally goes away once the cleat and clip mechanism fill with mud.
In short durability of this product is nothing short of astonishing. The mechanism for the 520 is identical to the 540 and the XT version, all for a load less cash and a few extra grams.
Overall
These pedals offer all the functionality of the SPD system, with a few extra grams and slightly frumpier looks, and all for £22. In use they do everything that I expect a clip-less pedal to do, and in mountain bike terms they appear to be virtually indestructible. If I could give them 6 stars I would.
If you're going to try going clip-less then you won't go far wrong with these Shimano entry-level pedals. At the very least the low cost means that you have lost very little if you find you don't get on with them.
More details
Price
£15-£22
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