Submitted by
Jorj
a Weekend Warrior
from Windsor, England
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2002
Strengths: Cheap, reasonable weight for combo pedal
Weaknesses: Cage can break
Bottom Line:
I broke on of the resin cages yesterday on a stump. Didn't hit it that hard (i.e., I carried on riding, didn't even have to clip out). On the other hand, it ain't the first time I've smacked the scenery with these pedals. Had some trouble clipping out when I first got them, then switched to SH55 cleats, which are the dog's. Please Mr Shimano ship all your pedals with the good cleats, they cost the same and we wouldn't have to spend an extra $20 on replacements! Only 3 chilli's for value, because they're really $60 after you've bought the good cleats. A good pedal for off road exploring, not really enough cage grip if you need it for agressive unclipped riding, quite possibly the perfect pedal for a commuter bike so you can just get on and ride in any shoes. If you take the cages off, you have (more or less) a pair of PD-M515's for XC racing, though I wouldn't recommend doing it repeatedly.
Similar Products Used: Dura-Ace SPD's on my road bike, PD-A535's on everything else, Look road pedals back in the day!
Bike Setup: Specialized Enduro Pro frame built up to about $2500
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Submitted by
Charlie
a Weekend Warrior
from Sunnyvale, CA
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2002
Strengths: unbreakable, supports better than non-cage SPDs when you're not clicked in - which is a good thing because you can't click in when it's muddy. Pedals do work quite well when it's dry. They are also lighter than similar pedals and every bit as tough. The resin cages are far tougher than aluminum and tons lighter.
Weaknesses: Pedals and cleats get so clogged with mud and leaves that they are useless in wet weather - at least in the Santa Cruz Mts. There is no way you will be able to engage the cleat and you'd be far better off with platforms because of the better support. If you're using Times now, do not try these pedals.
Bottom Line:
These pedals were the first I've owned with the SPD click-in system. In my experience, this system simply does not work in muddy environments. After riding/scrambling for just a few minutes in mud (and the mud in Northern California is pathetic in comparison to Texas gumbo - a real man's mud!), I cannot click in to save my life. It takes a screwdriver or Allen wrench to clean out the mud so that you can click in again - which is a pain in the patootie. Times are FAR better, but they don't offer nearly as much grip when you're unclicked. I took my pedals off for wet riding and am now on either my Times or my old beartraps. I'll go back to the Shimanos once things dry up. I would give these things 4 flamers if they had the new 958 design that is supposed to be better in the mud-shedding dept. But I suppose the price would skyrocket.
Similar Products Used: Time Atacs, SunTour XC-1 with toeclips, SunTour XC-2 beartraps, old Shimano XTs with toeclips
Bike Setup: Burro bike "exploration" (freeride?) bike with 19" wheels and 3" wide trials tires. Rigid front and back - as in very rigid. If the terrain is kicking your butt, the Burro will kick it back - hard.
Strengths: Easy in and out. Nice grip without cleats.
Weaknesses: Cage material wears easily with harsh usage.
Bottom Line:
These have worked and are still working great. I swapped the stock Ritchey's for these when I purchased my bike and they have performed flawlessly for the last 9 months. The only issue I have with them is the cage material is soft and getting destroyed from roots and rocks. So, if you ride over alot of hard material with pedal contact don't get these, get the M-545's instead (the same pedal as this but with a metal cage). As far as riding without cleats they're great too.
Strengths: Easy to install and adjust. The cage makes riding unclipped very stable.
Weaknesses: None found.
Bottom Line:
Cheap, easy to get in and out of, the cage gives me stability when unclipped. Tried Time ATAC but in this climate (dry and sandy) they are not really necessary. I found Time to be a little difficult to get out of but easy to get into. The original equipment Bontrager's worked well for a cheap pedal. But I love the cage, my foot doesn't slip around when unclipped. The installation and transition from my other pedal's was very smooth. I would recommend them to anyone who would like a little more stability from their pedals.
Similar Products Used: Time ATAC and Bontrager RE-1
Bike Setup: Trek VRX 300
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Submitted by
cooter
a Cross Country Rider
from milroy, indiana
Date Reviewed: July 13, 2001
Strengths: cheap easy to use / setup cage for when you dont ride cliped in
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
the guys at my lbs told me clipless was the only way to ride, and they were right. i will never go back to regular pedals. these pedals are great because there cheap and easy to learn on. they seem to be holding up well and have made me a better rider
Submitted by
Lisa
a Cross Country Rider
from Mountain View, CA
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2001
Strengths: relatively light for a pedal that also has a platform, super-reliable clip-ins and outs, tension adjustment, can use bike with sneakers for a quick hop to the store.
Weaknesses: because the pedal has a (small) cage, if your shoe has big deep tread, the tread can interfere with clipping in and out. I had to cut some of the tread off my AXO mountain shoes so that I could clip in and out. Once I did that, the clip in/clip out has been flawless and easy. Why do we need separate tension adjusters for each side of the pedal? 2x the work, IMHO. If you try to pedal 10 miles or more in sneakers, you'll feel the hotspot where the popup cleat mechanism sticks up higher than the platform surface.
Bottom Line:
Very easy and reliable clip in and out (that's what's important, right?). The pedal positions your foot so that it'll clip in without a thought. However, if you wanted to stay clipped out, it's hard to avoid clipping back in. The small platform is great for added support and giving you time to clip in while pedaling.
You may have to trim tread off your shoes. If the tread is too deep in the area around the cleat, you'll have trouble clipping in and out.
Similar Products Used: road shoes and campy clipless pedals on a road bike
Bike Setup: Specialized 2000 Rockhopper A1 FS
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Submitted by
Ian
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2001
Strengths: platform helps when your unclipped, Makes alot less noise than alloy version, also cheaper, lighter, and much cheaper to replace the resin outside
Weaknesses: resin cage, (i broke it) but the mechanic at the bike store said it was the first time he'd ever seen it happen before. springs that make the pedal parralel with the cage both broke.
Bottom Line:
i like the pedals, they work good, alot harder to clip in in muddy coditions but thats what its like with any pedal except time and speedplays.
Submitted by
Kevin Setter
a Weekend Warrior
from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2001
Strengths: Strong. Relatively light Inexpensive Cage for extra foot support
Weaknesses: Cage restricts disengagement of your foot in emergencies. Not a weakness exactly but the cage is PLASTIC!!! NOT carbon. When I want to unclip to ride through a rough section, the pedal just kinda clips you back in anyway.
Bottom Line:
I'm torn about whether clipless pedals are for me. When I'm off-roading, I don't feel safe being clipped in, but it doesn't work for me to try to ride unclipped, because my shoes just end up clipping themselves in anyway. And I've fallen a few times because the damn things wouldn't release quick enough. I have them set on the lightest setting possible and they still hold my feet too solid laterally. I thought that all you had to do was kick your heel out (or in) and the pedal would release - ya right...Is it me? Or is it these pedals? And you can't put one of those plastic fake pedal adapters on one side of this pedal because the plastic cage gets in the way and won't allow it to fit. But......when I'm on solid ground (city streets/fire roads) and want to ride crazy fast, then clipless is out of this world.
Strengths: Lightest platform/clipless pedal around. Super easy "in" for those technical spots.
Bottom Line:
This is the sweetest freeride pedal around. The pop up binding is impossible to miss when trying to re-engage with chunky tech terrain directly in front of you. 6 feet of rolling and you should be in. Forget about the too heavy, too wide, too thick, grind on any turn or bump 636/646 series. The 434 has the same binding and everything else is gravy. The carbon cage is holding up well so far and the after a few rides you will see the shin hungry platform teeth begin to wear away, nice. This pedal allows you to ride down hairy stuff dis-engaged, or when you reach the point where you LIKE to be clipped in for even the weirdest stuff you can find the binding easily. Figure it out.
Similar Products Used: Shimano 636, 646, 747, ritchey ti, frogs
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Bullit...the 29 lb. freeride, smoke you up any hill version. And then you know what happens on the descent...
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Submitted by
Richard Warg
a Weekend Warrior
from Woodland, CA
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2000
Strengths: Easy to adjust. Wide platform for sneakers, unclipped riding. With the Shimano recessed cleat shoe I can easily walk the grades I can't climb yet.
Weaknesses: Were hard to get out of at first (user ignorance- see below)
Bottom Line:
This is a fantastic pedal for a new ROAD rider. I'm 60 and just starting road riding, so it's really a plus to have a clipless pedal with a walkable shoe. Until I can get up those t4-5 climbs on the bike every time, I like being able to push it the rest of the way to the top and not screw up the shoes and cleats in the process. Being something of a weenie I'll approach an uncertain situation like a stop sign, or gravel, with one foot unclipped, just in case, and still get good force onto the pedal. The big platform makes that a reasonably efficient option.
I fell several times when I first got these clipless pedals because I couldn't get out in time(I understand it's a common problem for new riders, but I was hiding the knee scrapes from my wife so I wouldn't get grounded.) I was beginning to think that the dealer had given me a bum steer because I had asked about Speedplays and he thought I'd have better results with the 434s. A mechanic I asked said they were as loose as they could get and for a month and a half I felt uncomfortable (read scared) until I finally realized that the mech was 180 degrees wrong, they were as TIGHT as they could get. I can EASILY adjust them to the point that it takes NO EFFORT at all to unclip. I'd gotten some wrong advice.
I've experimented with having a loose side and a tight side so I can stay lightly clipped in city traffic and still slip out instantly, or flip the pedal over and have a firmer grip for powering ( a relative term )down the open road. Right now I have both sides set about medium.
I just did a 100 mile ride in awful wind and I was able to finish ahead of some riders because I could walk quickly up and over a crest into a 40 mph wind and they couldn't because they had huge, protruding cleats. A few of them eventually passed me - in the SAG wagon. More than once I had to bail out of the clips when I got a huge gust in the face near the top of a hard climb and stopped dead in my tracks. No problem. The pedal and shoe combination worked great for me all day.
