Submitted by
TEUFELHUENDEN
a Cross Country Rider
from Murrieta
Date Reviewed: January 31, 2012
Strengths: This is a very durable product. I have used it for over 8 years and it still is humming along. If you want a clipless ride Shimano is it. The rest are lighter; however, good luck adjusting them because most are non-adjustable...especially compared to the versatility of Shimano.
Weaknesses: Weight...pretty heavy. Can get a newer pair now for about $50 and 60 plus grams lighter.
Bottom Line:
I bought these for my gary fisher full suspension years ago. Transferred them recently to my new build. Love them. Time to upgrade though to Shimano Pd M540. I have put literally thousands of miles on these and they are just starting to wear. They are full adjustable and I am not sure why others are having problems with the adjustments. Maybe their little girl ankles don't have the power to twist out of them...lol. Anyway, if you are looking for a good bang for your buck these are great for everyday riders. I would not recommend them for racing due to weight; but, if you ride almost every day like me you want something that is durable...and these are definately durable.
Bike Setup: Niner EMD, monkeylite race handlebar, Race face stem, Lizard skin grips, shimano brakes/components XT, Stans Arch rim, DT swiss revolution spokes, American classic hubs, DG seat post and seat, Avid BB7 brakes (very reliable)...xc training bike.
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Submitted by
325racer
a Weekend Warrior
from Oceanside, CA
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2011
Strengths: NONE
Weaknesses: Consistancy, reliability,
Bottom Line:
These pedals came on this bike when new. The rest of the bike uses components from LX - XTR, so I did not really suspect these would be a bad pedal. I had used clipless pedals many years ago with no problems.
From day 1 these pedals never performed well, the right pedal seemed to work OK, but would occasionally be a little hard to disengage, while the left pedal was a nightmare, it would either be to hard to clip in or just wouldn't engage at all. Then it would disengage with the slightest movement or lightest rock strike.
I recently decided to splurge and move to Shimano PD-M780, what a diffence, these things engage with a nice solid click and disengage with a deliberate twist of the ankle.
Bike Setup: Tarmac full dura ace with these heavy but beautiful fitting pedals as they let you use the whole bottom as a pedestal if you set them up with the narrow spd cleats that allow for a potoon for walking and on the mtn bike the potoons not needed of course.
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Submitted by
ae111black
a Weekend Warrior
from Pahoa Hawaii
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2009
Strengths: Solid platform, suprised at how smooth they are, basicly the clipless part of all the m545 combo platforms
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
Good value to all you broken bone nay Sayers Learn how to ride. I'd buy them again in a heart beat!
Bike Setup: Rockhopper commuter fat slicks and fenders
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Submitted by
DahVeed SherDeed
a Cross Country Rider
from thousand oaks, ca, usa
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2009
Strengths: Durable. Reliable. Adjustable. Affordable. Great Intro to going Clipless.
Weaknesses: Heavy.
Bottom Line:
They've worked for me since I've owned them, and after 3+ years, am now only replacing the cleats.
Not much wet, muddy riding, so I cannot talk about dirt clogging probs.
As I've looked at other pedals (e.g. egg beaters), they are hefty and I'd like to try a lighting ride.
Weaknesses: horrible for riding a fixed gear, come unclipped strait up, a speck of dust and they're impossible
Bottom Line:
don't ride them if you ride a fixed gear or anywhere with even dust. i've come unclipped pulling strait up resulting in me going OTB into traffic, not fun. they're all right for riding to the end of a paved driveway to get the mail, i'm going back to crank brothers
Submitted by
Pat Lew
a Cross Country Rider
from Alhambra CA
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2007
Strengths: Well built, hefty body, smooth bearings
Weaknesses: Plastic pieces, a bit on the heavy side at 450 grams
Bottom Line:
I bought these because I wanted a cheap pair of clipless pedals to throw on while I overhauled some Ti spindled pedals. Coming across these reviews for PD-M515 I thought, "Ah man, I've been had...more scrap for the junk parts pile." Anyways, I shook off the dirt, lubed them, screwed them on and set them at the loosest setting then took off for a spin with allen wrench in pocket. I had to keep cranking them up to get the right feel for me. Bottom line, I'm impressed. Clicking in and out is effortless. Some reviews had me scared for a moment (broken legs, sprains, etc). Maybe poor quality control on these pups, but IMHO these things seem pretty darn sweet. I'm going hunting for new pair. If they're cheap, and you're on a budget, definitely nab them as spares. The only thing that makes them entry level is the weight. (So what's a hundred grams on your bike when you're packing no less than 2kgs of Krispy Kremes, Big Macs and fries around the waist?)
Favorite Trail: Santa Monica Mtns, Sycamore Canyon
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$15.00
Purchased At: eBay
Similar Products Used: Ritchey, Wellgo & Azonics clipless
Bike Setup: Parkpre hardtail, XT cranks, etc
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Submitted by
Daniel
a Cross Country Rider
from Summerland, BC
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2007
Strengths: good low level clipless pedal that came with my bike, decent entry/exit from the pedal, good in dry conditions
Weaknesses: incredibly difficult/impossible to clip in if the pedal or cleat gets any mud in/around it. I was unable to clip out when riding in mud but wasn't injured (fortunately). Tough to adjust to a light setting since the adjustment screw comes right out of the pedal if you're not careful.
Bottom Line:
if you ride on the road or in only dry conditions these'll be okay but only if they come with your bike. If you ride anywhere where there is going to be a bit of mud get different pedals.
I had been thinking of going clipless for a while, but was wary of being unable to clip out. I realise now that it was a premonition.
I decided to try these because the shop offered me a big discount. So I decided to stop being a wuss and finally go clipless. Bought pedals & shoes, got home, fitted pedals, fitted the cleats, sat on the bike (supported by a convenient wall), and started practicing unclipping. I'm glad I did. My left foot unclipped ok, less than half of the time. My right foot just refused to release. Had to take my shoe off & twist it off the pedal by hand.
Tweaked everything I could, and tried again. Left foot was a bit better, but the right foot only released twice, and each time took a lot of twisting and grunting. The rest of the time, the pedal was merciless. I tried again the next day. No better, and I actually ended up with a mild sprain of my ankle.
I didn't know if it was just me being a newbie to clipless pedals, but I took them back to the shop. I told the guy the problem and he didn't seem surprised, didn't try to troubleshoot the problem, or even try to haggle by pointing out that the pedals were now marked by the cleats (and the effort of trying to get out of them). He just offered me a full refund straight away, no questions asked. But, as I now had some clipless shoes, I decided to try some 540 pedals and see if the problem had been me or the pedal. See my review of the 540s elsewhere, but those were like night & day. I can definitely say that the problem wasn't me being a newbie.
As for the 515's, I'm glad I tested them before I actually rode them on a trail. I don't want to think about the pain of bouncing along the ground with the bike still flapping about on the end of one foot.
Submitted by
joe shmow
a Cross Country Rider
from australia
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2007
Strengths: durable, tension adjustmemnt
Weaknesses: absolutely hopeless in mud, hard to get in/out of.
Bottom Line:
DO NOT buy these pedals if your going to use them in mud. I put one foot down in loose dirt and then struggled to clip in, one i was in there was no way i was getting out. I was over the handlebars and cartwheeling with my bike still attatched. Hmm a broken ankle...what now?
Submitted by
Jeremy
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: July 2, 2007
Strengths: They perform a pedal function to some extent
They are strong
Weaknesses: They do not release on the lightest setting when you fall. VERY DANGEROUS
Bottom Line:
These are dangerous. I know someone who broke their femur because of a pair of these, as others have said- they sometimes do not release. I used these for a number of years commuting to work, but I had a couple of serious falls when I started riding trail, the last time I rolled down an embankment, and yes, the bike stayed attached. Come to think of it, I have also fallen on the road and the same thing happened and I ripped a big chunk out of my arm. Don't say I didn't warn you.
JUST PASSABLE for commuting VERY DANGEROUS for anything else
Similar Products Used: Just bought some Crank Bros. candy C's. Waiting for them to arrive in the post.
Bike Setup: Iron horse imbred
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Submitted by
Jeremy
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: July 2, 2007
Strengths: They perform a pedal function to some extent
They are strong
Weaknesses: They do not release on the lightest setting when you fall. VERY DANGEROUS
Bottom Line:
These are dangerous. I know someone who broke their femur because of a pair of these, as others have said- they sometimes do not release. I used these for a number of years commuting to work, but I had a couple of serious falls when I started riding trail, the last time I rolled down an embankment, and yes, the bike stayed attached. Come to think of it, I have also fallen on the road and the same thing happened and I ripped a big chunk out of my arm. Don't say I didn't warn you.
JUST PASSABLE for commuting VERY DANGEROUS for anything else
Similar Products Used: Just bought some Crank Bros. candy C's. Waiting for them to arrive in the post.
Bike Setup: Iron horse imbred
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Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2007
Strengths: Shimano quality, Dual sided entry, Dual tension adjustable, Small in size when compared to platform/bear claw pedals, Can hadle plenty of abuse.
Weaknesses: Cleat tension too stiff (in my opinion) if on any setting other then the loosest, Expensive Shimano replacement cost, A little heavy.
Bottom Line:
These came stock on my 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Dsik that I got brand new on July 02,2001. My first experience with clipless pedals replaced my GT cage + straps with Ritchey Logic's. My second set of clipless pedals (Shimano PD-M515) are small in size, are a little heavy, Shimano quality, spring tension is a little tight and I use them on the loosest setting, handle grinding well (when I made a high speed right hand turn on a city street with the right pedal at the bottom of the pedal stroke - oops!). Bottom Line: Better then my Ritchey Logics that I still use to this day, but will be expensive to replace.
Purchased At: Stock on my 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Disk - Earl's Cycle (closed 2003)
Similar Products Used: Ritchey Logic Clipless, GT cage + strap, Metal platform with reflectors, Plastic bearclaws with reflectors.
Bike Setup: 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Dsik.
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Submitted by
Brian McInturff
a Cross Country Rider
from Marietta, GA
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2006
Strengths: Came on bike.
Weaknesses: Hard to clip out.
Bottom Line:
This review is for the m505s, the OEM version of the m515.
They came on my Fisher Tass. They were easy enough to clip in (except in mud) but this pair (and especially one of them) was very difficult to clip out whether they were muddy or not. Even with plenty of grease and other lubes and the tension set as low as possible. Months later, one of my knees still hurts from having to use so much force to unclip. One problem is the tension screw. Unlike the higher end shimano pedals, which have a stop on the tension screw, these will come right out so there is no real gauge as to where the minimum tension should be set.
I tried them a couple of weeks thinking they might loosen up and always had a hard time clipping out, requiring a lot of force (and time) to do so. Fell a few times on trails due to this but nothing serious. I started riding with my shoes loose so in an emergency I could extract my foot from the shoe instead, then wrench the shoe off the pedal afterwards. I left the plastic platforms on one side so when they got muddy I could just use the platform side.
I got some m540s instead and these were excellent - night and day difference. Even set to medium tension these are very easy to clip out. My kid wanted the 505s to replace the plain platforms on his bike. I warned him not to but he put them on anyway.
The first thing he did was remove the plastic outer platforms from the 505s (since otherwise people could not tell he had clipless, the little poser). I had tried to do that once just to see how hard it would be, but never succeeded, even using a rubber mallet to bang them - I could not hit them with enough force to twist them out and figured maybe there was some trick to do it. My kid did succeed getting the platforms off (he had to use a regular hammer instead of a rubber mallet.) This should have been a warning. Oh well.
He tried them for a couple of weeks and after he was bruised up enough (granted, he was just learning to use clipless and spent a lot of time doing bunny hops on pavement), he got a pair of m520s, which like the m540s, have been excellent.
Similar Products Used: m520, m540 - both work excellent.
Bike Setup: Tass with upgrades, and the first upgrade was getting rid of these pedals.
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Submitted by
Alex
a Weekend Warrior
from Adelaide, SA, Australia
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2006
Strengths: reliable, have taken an absolute beating and still going strong. predictable and consistant release/entry.
Weaknesses: weight, they are heavy.
Bottom Line:
bottom line - i have owned these for 6+ years and i am happy with them. i would not buy them again simply because the newer 520/540 design is better (and lighter) but for the same price.
