New pedals: To trail or not to trail...

[pkeenan]

Apologies if this has come up already, I did do a quick search but didn't find the info I'm after.

I'm looking for a new set of SPDs for my touring bike. My previous set were from the cheaper Shimano range (think I paid £20 for them in 2010). They've done the job fine, but despite steady maintenance I would prefer to replace them before my next tour.

I know I want SPD and have been looking at the XTR Race and the XTR Trail. They are pretty much identical - much the same in price too. What is the difference in practice? I can see the benefit of having that slightly larger platform on the Trail - but does it really make a difference when put into a touring situation?

Any thoughts/experiences would be most welcome.

 

[young Ed]

racee:310g
trail:398g

apart from that the only difference is the platform i would say without experience of either
some people suffer from 'burn' in their foot on normal spd without any platform as it is a very concentrated area you put all your power through and you wouldn't want a 'burning' foot for several days touring

that is about it but if your old pedals didn't have a cage and you never had a problem then the choice is yours and as you aren't racing or TT'ing there is no difference
Cheers Ed

 

[young Ed]

oh and you might be better off asking a mod like @Shaun to move thread to buying advice components or what ever it is called as it may be more popular there
Cheers Ed

 

[mickle]

Have you considered using non-Shi**no pedals such as Time or Crank Bros?

 

[pkeenan]

Definitely not ruled other pedals out, but I've had pretty good experiences all round with Shimano. Will investigate!

@young Ed - I've never experienced this 'burning' problem personally (even with some reasonable touring mileage!). Thanks for feedback to you both!

 

[rich p]

I've been everywhere on these - as you may have!
I have never found a reason to waste £60 on something else.

 

[young Ed]

to be fair like @rich p said why spend more on something if something else cheaper has done you very well for several years?
Cheers Ed

 

[cyberknight]

I have just changed my commuting pedals to a520`s .
larger platform but "only" single sided but i would not have thought that would be a problem unless your unclipping every 5 minutes and need fast getaways.

 

[young Ed]

I have just changed my commuting pedals to a520`s .
larger platform but "only" single sided but i would not have thought that would be a problem unless your unclipping every 5 minutes and need fast getaways.

any good or different to the cheaper type without a platform?
Cheers Ed

 

[screenman]

I have just put those on a new bike, only one ride so far and that with new shoes. I will comment after a few hundred miles.

edit, just checked mine are the PD-A600 same thing though, one of my sons bought them for me, they know far more about these things than me.

 

[cyberknight]

I have just put those on a new bike, only one ride so far and that with new shoes. I will comment after a few hundred miles.

edit, just checked mine are the PD-A600 same thing though, one of my sons bought them for me, they know far more about these things than me.

I have a 600`s on another bike

any good or different to the cheaper type without a platform?
Cheers Ed

I feel like there is more to transfer the power through the cranks and i have had 2 pairs of shoes crack on the sole plate where the rear of the pedal on m520s are , they were cheap shoes though.
I ran a pair of m530s which look the same as the xtr trails and liked them but i wanted a cleaner look and i rarely unclip, the m530s are for sale but they are scuffed white.

 

[pkeenan]

Been looking into pedals a bit more since my OP. While the XTRs would match my brake set, I'm thinking more toward XTs now (the M780 / M785). On Wiggle and CRC they've been reviewed consistently well - whereas the XTRs are too varied; some people rave about them, some people say they're awful and complain about bearings coming lose too soon. So my confidence is in the XT.

Those M520s are pretty much what I've been using for about 4 years. Certainly never had any disasters with them, but they are noticeably not up to the quality of the rest of the bike. I'm in a rare position to be able to put a tiny bit more dosh toward this than usual - so no harm in looking slightly higher in the range!

Still haven't made my mind up between the Trail and the Race versions. I'm not fussed about weight. The Race versions are familiar. It would be nice to try the Trails before making my mind up.

I have wondered about those single sided A520s. Certainly wouldn't rule something like that out yet!

 

[toekneep]

I've been everywhere on these - as you may have!
I have never found a reason to waste £60 on something else.

+1 and at the price I'm happy to replace every few tours.