#223 - Shimano XT Trail Pedals

XT Trail Pedals - image from BikeReview.com

 Early this year, Shimano has introduced their version

of the 10-speed drivetrain. But along with the new XT and

XTR drivetrains, Shimano has also seen fit to revamp the

ubiquitous XT and XTR pedals. Now the XT and XTR

pedals are available in two flavors. One is the normal

minimalist version and the other is the 'trail' version.

Naturally, along with the introduction of the new

10-speed drivetrains, all of the components had a sudden

jump in price... and here I was hoping that the prices

would remain the same and the 9-speed versions

would be cheaper. Sigh, how naive of me.

Anyway, it looks like the only XT part that I can

afford right now are the pedals (LOL). The internet

was abuzz with how these pedals are sooo good

and sooo stable. Even one of my ride buddies gave

this a glowing review. On the strength of those

reviews, I went ahead and purchased said pedals.

There are lots and lots of descriptions of these pedals

easily obtainable on the Internet. There are even some

reviews with weights. Hence, I won't be describing nor

weighing these pedals here.

What actually, got me buying these pedals is the 'cage'.

See yellow arrows in the picture above. I had this notion

that the reports of unparalled 'stability' was due to

the cage. I thought my shoes will be resting on the cage!

But noooo... your shoes will only be resting on the

unpainted area pointed to by the blue arrows.

This area is bigger than the same area on the

old XT pedals ... but not by much!

In the picture above, the blue arrow points to the

catch mechanism for the cleats. Note that I thought

my shoes will be in contact with the area pointed by

the yellow arrow....

Picture above shows my Shimano shoes connected to

the pedals. See how big the space is between the cage

and the shoes?! I think that even with my full weight

on the shoe there is still no way that any part of my

shoes will be in contact with the cage of the pedals.

I have used these pedals on two offroad rides

and ... yes, I can feel that these pedals are a 

little bit more 'stable' than the older pedals.

But I have to emphasize that any feeling of

stability over the older pedals is jussttt a little

bit. In fact, it may even be attributed to placebo!

So, do I recommend these pedals? No! If

your pedals have given up the ghost and you need

to get new ones, then go and get the version without

the cages. Up to now, I still don't know what the

cages do.