# Shimano XTR pedals?



## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

Would these be a decent choice for CX type riding (but not racing)?

Off road riding will be new to me (tons of road experience) and I know nothing about this type of pedal. The only reason I'm thinking Shimano is that their road pedals have been bomb proof for me so guessing the mountain would be the same?

How about clipping in after walking in mud. Are these decent for that? 
That's one of the main reasons I'm not contemplating using road pedals for a cx bike. 

If those would be a poor choice I'd like to here your suggestions.

Thanks,


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Sure, but XT works just as well for a lot less$$$. I went back to Shimano pedals on the CX bike a couple of years ago. Depends on the mud, but they're way better than they used to be. They feel very secure too compared to Crank Bros. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Shimano.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

Thanks.

XTR appears to be really easy to find market down significantly so the price difference wouldn't be that much. Using Competitive Cyclist as an example it's about $30 difference.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

At that price go for it. The bearing quality is better on XTR.


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## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

I still have two 747 SPD sets in service. I tried Cranks for a while but find the 747s more deterministic to get in and out of... Just make sure you have solid soles on you shoes with small cleat system I have learned, especially if you get out of the saddle much.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

I like the Time ATAC pedals better. My wife is the opposite. Either would be just fine cross riding. You do realize that you need a mountain bike pair of shoes that have three holes rather than the two that road bike shoes have.


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

The XTR M9000 pedal has a little better mud clearance than the XT M8000 because the spindle shaft is narrowed on XTR. The bearings are also wider apart on the XTR pedal. Minor differences really but the XTR pedal is only a little bit pricier than the XT pedal.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

pmf said:


> I like the Time ATAC pedals better. My wife is the opposite. Either would be just fine cross riding. You do realize that you need a mountain bike pair of shoes that have three holes rather than the two that road bike shoes have.


You got that backwards, right? I know I need new, not road, shoes.


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

pmf said:


> I like the Time ATAC pedals better. My wife is the opposite. Either would be just fine cross riding. You do realize that you need a mountain bike pair of shoes that have three holes rather than the two that road bike shoes have.


typos?


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

Are any of these made so you can clip in on either side of the pedal? The think I hate about my current pedals is they don't necessarily orient themselves the same way like road pedals and it would be much easier to clip in if there were clips on both sides like egg beaters. I would like to have some support outside of the clips though.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Srode said:


> Are any of these made so you can clip in on either side of the pedal? The think I hate about my current pedals is they don't necessarily orient themselves the same way like road pedals and it would be much easier to clip in if there were clips on both sides like egg beaters. I would like to have some support outside of the clips though.


Seriously? SPD pedals have been 2 sided since they were introduced. Egg Beaters are 4 sided. ALL mtb pedals outside of CB are 2 sided.


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## Wayne-O (Oct 8, 2014)

I have used the 747 and newer XTR pedals.
For CX, mud, snow, etc. the XTR pedals are lots better and will clear mud, snow & etc, where the 747 will not.
I have used the older Time pedals and I prefer the XTR pedals.
That being said, I have the old 747's on my road bike and they work great; but I do not have to deal with mud or much snow.
Good luck,
Wayne


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

cxwrench said:


> Seriously? SPD pedals have been 2 sided since they were introduced. Egg Beaters are 4 sided. ALL mtb pedals outside of CB are 2 sided.


Great, should be easy to find something googling MTB. I figured they were mostly like my A600s.


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

cxwrench said:


> Seriously? SPD pedals have been 2 sided since they were introduced. Egg Beaters are 4 sided. ALL mtb pedals outside of CB are 2 sided.


Not all are 2 sided. Plenty of pedals are made as platforms on one side and SPD on the other. Yes, they are a pain in the azz.


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

I run XTR on my MTB and XT on my CX bike, if the price is that close do it. I cant really tell much of a difference in the two. Now if you were talking about the road side of it from Ultegra to Dura-Ace you can tell.

But as Cxwrench said, the XTR is an all around better pedal. The bearings are nicer for sure.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

I ended up getting XTR PD-M9000.

I posted another thread about this but my only slight concern is if between the float (it's 4 and I'm used to 6 with road pedals) and the ability to put the cleat on crooked will I be able to accommodate for being pigeon toed the way I want. 

Anyone have any experience with this who can give me an idea how much room there is to set up heal out?

I'm guessing I'm worried about nothing because there must be thousands upon thousands of mountain bikers wanting to set up this way and I couldn't find any mountain bikers having a problem by googling.


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

Jay Strongbow said:


> I ended up getting XTR PD-M9000.
> 
> I posted another thread about this but my only slight concern is if between the float (it's 4 and I'm used to 6 with road pedals) and the ability to put the cleat on crooked will I be able to accommodate for being pigeon toed the way I want.
> 
> ...


I think you'll find the float on SPD cleats to be a lot more cushy/progressive than float on SPD-SL. In other words, with SPD-SL you kind of feel that 'wall' where the float hits the stops but on SPD it's more of a springy feeling once you get to the edges. I have absolutely no problems with it but of course it's very easy to angle the cleats better if you find you're close.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

nhluhr said:


> I think you'll find the float on SPD cleats to be a lot more cushy/progressive than float on SPD-SL. In other words, with SPD-SL you kind of feel that 'wall' where the float hits the stops but on SPD it's more of a springy feeling once you get to the edges. I have absolutely no problems with it but of course it's very *easy to angle the cleats better if you find you're close*.


That puts my mind at ease. Thank you.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

cxwrench said:


> Sure, but XT works just as well for a lot less$$$. I went back to Shimano pedals on the CX bike a couple of years ago. Depends on the mud, but they're way better than they used to be. They feel very secure too compared to Crank Bros. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Shimano.




And M540 works just as well as XT for less $$. And M520 works just as well as M540 for even less $$.

I have M520s on all my bikes and so far have over 5,000 miles on one set of them with no problems.

Any of these would be an excellent choice depending on how much bling you find necessary.

And as far as shoes, I like these because they have a good tread and the cleats are recessed for easy walking:

Amazon.com: Shimano 2016 Men's XC Off-Road Sport Cycling Shoes - SH-XC31L: Clothing 


Did someone here say Crank Brothers Eggbeaters? No thank you! Bad experience. Mine were junk at 2,000K miles.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

I have the 980 on my road bikes and 985 on my mtb commuter.
Plenty of float and my wrecked knees appreciate it.
The 985 has a big platform so they are easy to use with non cleated shoes.


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

cxwrench said:


> At that price go for it. The bearing quality is better on XTR.


You can say that again!


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## Lelandjt (Sep 11, 2008)

Being used to road pedals you'll want a stiff shoe so you don't feel the tiny cleat/pedal interface of spd. Check out the Pearl Izumi Project X shoes. They are light and have a carbon sole (like all high end cross country MTB shoes) but that carbon plate ends just ahead of the cleat so the toes flex and they are much better for walking in than XC race shoes. Another thing that seperates them from typical race shoes is they have soles that are easier to stand on the pedal when unclipped. The new Boa version just came out but that's to eliminate the old buckle catching on rocks which probably isn't a concern for your use so keep an eye out for deals on the old version.

And yes, XTR 9000 is the best pedal available for MTB or CX unless weight is a higher priority than feel, in which case the Xpedo M-Force 4Ti is noticably lighter but feels nearly the same. I use them on my tandem road bike.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

Lelandjt said:


> Being used to road pedals you'll want a stiff shoe so you don't feel the tiny cleat/pedal interface of spd. Check out the Pearl Izumi Project X shoes. They are light and have a carbon sole (like all high end cross country MTB shoes) *but that carbon plate ends just ahead of the cleat so the toes flex* and they are much better for walking in than XC race shoes. Another thing that seperates them from typical race shoes is they have soles that are easier to stand on the pedal when unclipped. The new Boa version just came out but that's to eliminate the old buckle catching on rocks which probably isn't a concern for your use so keep an eye out for deals on the old version.


I got Lake MX237 shoes. I know Lake's fit and I've had real good luck quality wise with their road shoes so figured I'd stick with the brand. Not a big deal but all else equal I like real leather too.

Those you describe sound very well thought out though. Ending the carbon after the cleat sounds like a really good idea for a bike shoe that people are likely to walk in.


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

Lombard said:


> And M540 works just as well as XT for less $$. And M520 works just as well as M540 for even less $$.
> 
> I have M520s on all my bikes and so far have over 5,000 miles on one set of them with no problems.
> 
> ...


If you are only worried about the monetary side of it this would be true. The XT/XTR pedals are worlds ahead of the 520/540 pedals. Not only are they lighter, but the bearings are a better quality and both the XT/XTR pedals can be taken apart and serviced rather easily.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

TJay74 said:


> If you are only worried about the monetary side of it this would be true. The XT/XTR pedals are worlds ahead of the 520/540 pedals. Not only are they lighter, but the bearings are a better quality and both the XT/XTR pedals can be taken apart and serviced rather easily.



Interesting. In what way are the bearings better? In this respect, I would assume I would get longer service out of XT/XTR before a failure? From what I can see, they are all chromoly spindle with sealed bearing cartridge.

I've never had a failure out of the M520, but who knows what the future holds? They are cheap enough to just replace if/when they do fail.


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

I ordered some XTR Trail pedals (M9020)but it's going to be a week or 2 before they show up (Ribble) and I need to know the distance from the crank to the middle of the pedal. The Shimano web page I looked at doesn't have this dimension. Anybody have these that they can measure for me? I need to fill out a form for sending a crank to Pioneer for PM installation and it asks this dimension from the pedals I'm using. My CF DA SPD-SLs are 52mm and the A600s I have are 54mm so it seems its not a standard.


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## ParadigmDawg (Aug 2, 2012)

Just for the record and maybe they have fixed the issue but XTR's were having a lot of issues with the pedal coming off of the shaft. I went through 2 pair one season and 1 pair the next season. They were all replaced for free but what a hassle plus it was very dangerous when you were hauling the mail and all the sudden you were just on one pedal. I finally gave up and put the last pair I had on my wife's MTB. They have been fine but she is light and not aggressive. I ended up going with for $35 Forte pedals and they have been bullet-proof and are lighter than XTRs.

Keep in mind that this was over 3 years ago so it may not apply. Look it up on mountain bike review.


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't race but these are my favorite pedals by a long shot. I just got a second pair, in limited-edition blue to match the trim on my frame. I also have the XT version, and these are noticeably superior. There are two versions of this. Shimano corrected (hopefully) the problem in the newer version.

Nashbar gleefully sold me the older version, which I sent back to Shimano directly when they started to leak grease. They sent me the newer version as a replacement. I noticed the difference (different model number M9000, and no gold-colored hex nut), and only then found out the old ones were problematic. Make sure you aren't getting the old version.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

nhluhr said:


> I think you'll find the float on SPD cleats to be a lot more cushy/progressive than float on SPD-SL. In other words, with SPD-SL you kind of feel that 'wall' where the float hits the stops but on SPD it's more of a springy feeling once you get to the edges.


So I got the pedals and shoes last night. You definitely were not kidding about that.
Despite supposedly having 2 degrees less float than my road pedals, functionally they seem to have quite a bit more. And I'm not talking about pedaling right on the verge of coming out.

I only did a little goofing around on the trainer thus far but definitely happy with the pedals and shoes (XTR and Lake MX237). Pretty heavy compared to my road pedals and shoes but I don't really care about that especially for this bike that I'll never road race with.


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## masont (Feb 6, 2010)

ParadigmDawg said:


> Just for the record and maybe they have fixed the issue but XTR's were having a lot of issues with the pedal coming off of the shaft. I went through 2 pair one season and 1 pair the next season. They were all replaced for free but what a hassle plus it was very dangerous when you were hauling the mail and all the sudden you were just on one pedal. I finally gave up and put the last pair I had on my wife's MTB. They have been fine but she is light and not aggressive. I ended up going with for $35 Forte pedals and they have been bullet-proof and are lighter than XTRs.
> 
> Keep in mind that this was over 3 years ago so it may not apply. Look it up on mountain bike review.


That issue was fixed a couple years ago


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

pmf said:


> I like the Time ATAC pedals better. My wife is the opposite. Either would be just fine cross riding. You do realize that you need a mountain bike pair of shoes that have three holes rather than the two that road bike shoes have.





nhluhr said:


> typos?


Oh no, it's a typo?

I just drilled a 3rd hole in my carbon soled Grio to so I could use the Time ATACs.
:cryin:


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