Bearings appear to have failed on my trusty 520s as the pedal wobbles about on the axle now. Fancy treating the bike any real difference between xtr and xt other the ‘r’ and £20?

No.
XTs aren’t worth much over 540s either. 540s are the pick of the bunch

You do know you can easily serve and adjust those bearings though, don’t you?
520s need a tool to fit the plastic collar on the axle, but 540s only need a spanner. Both adjust the same way, 7mm & 8mm spanner to adjust the cone, then fill the body with grease and screw the axle back in, purging the old grease out.

gets you an extra years warranty, XTR/Dura-Ace are 2 years versus 1 year on everything else Shimano sells

Was thinking of getting some spuds for my winter bike today. So spooky timing of post.

M540’s on wiggle etc totally new for £25.99.

Or used on ebay for more
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-PD-M540-SPD-MTB-Clipless-Bike-Pedals-Silver-/261844475792?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf7259f90

haha. Good luck selling them fella 🙄

I have the XTRs and had the M540s. They aren’t really any better. Lighter and blingier but don’t perform any better.

gets you an extra years warranty, XTR/Dura-Ace are 2 years versus 1 year on everything else Shimano sells

Has anyone actually had a pair of Shimano peddles fail.? I’ve got pedals that just seem to go on forever through all types of shite.

M980 Race/M985 Trail had issues with early ones, I’ve got some Races away for warranty at the moment but they did +10,000km on a road bike,

lighter is better 😉

I think for the price (looking at the M540’s) if they did fail I wouldnt care about the warranty. Just buy a new pair and you get new cleats.

Every pair of XTR SODs I’ve seen has failed – five or six pairs among the folks I ride with regularly.

You get a 3 yr warranty on XTR.
I’ve had two sets of XTR fail recently, the locknut on the pedal axle shears and the whole thing comes apart.
I now have a set of XT trail and a warranty set of XTR trail. I can say it seems easier to clip in and out of XTR but that is all.
I would also say that the warranty was accepted without any problem so full marks to Shimano for that.

Ive got a pair of shimano spd’s that have been on my commuter since 2002 they’ve done 45 thousand miles +,never serviced or sprayed with lube theres not much play in them either they are rusty and tired looking though.going to keep em on till they fail

got both the 540 and xtr for many thousands of miles of abuse and 0 maintenance or need to. 1 pair on cx, other on mtb.
i’m happy with either so unless money is no concern get the 540.

The failures on XTR 980 and 985 were on early batches. Long since fixed. XTR gives more support, has a lower stack height, and has a crisper entry/exit. Lovely pedals.

540 s don’t come in black unfortunately, I’ve got around half a cm of side to side play in the axle so I reckon they are probably for the bin, I’ve not touched them in years of riding so I don’t mind paying a little more if the exit set last as long.

My first upgrade on my M2 was a pair of 959s. They are still running faultlessly. That was in – about 2002.

520s – OK as stand by. Like the XTRs – get second hand and they’re not much more than 540s.

Has anyone actually had a pair of Shimano peddles fail.? I’ve got pedals that just seem to go on forever through all types of shite.

The xtrs had a serious issue with shearing off the spindle for a time – loads on here and mtbr about it.
The 959s were the classic fit and forget part, so a v unwelcome development. It probably is sorted now, though. Something so obviously wrong would be simple to put right, esp given their track record of pedals.

They both look the same after they’ve been hit off a few rocks, but if you want the bling and save a couple of bags of crisps in weight then go for it if it makes you happy.

I wore the mechanisms out on a pair of m540’s, but they were 8 years old.

I thought I’d give new XTs a try, but they’re no appreciably and better, only a bit lighter and more supportive.

Of course they’re not.

I’ve got some M9000 though – because Father Christmas likes bling! They’re still going strong and have been well used (1,000s of miles) in all kinds of grit, muck and mud. Only once in the thickest clay have I had an issue clipping in. I think they have a thinner spindle and therefore better mud shedding than ‘lower’ models.

They do feel crisper than my wife’s M540s which purchased on the same day and have done far fewer miles.

After years of Egg Beaters (which I’m a big fan of), it’s nice to see the soles of my shoes not being worn through.

Woooh sensible answers!

Do folk just not bother maintaining stuff any more then?

My OH doesnt get maintenance on bikes at all.
I work all week and have been a bit lazy over the winter, so been catching up on some basic bits n bobs, cable lubing, BB cleaning regreasing, pedal regreasing etc. Why are you doing that, did it NEED doing or are you just titivating for the sake of it?
Its called PREVENTATIVE maintenance dear. *sighs*

I have a pair of the super cheap ones 515 or something, they are over 10 years old now and going strong. I’d estimate that at close to 20k miles.

If they are going to last that long an extra £20 doesn’t seem so much but at the same time, if the cheap ones work so well why pay more?

I had 3 pairs of (new) XTR all fail with the pedal body coming off, had none of them more than a few months , all warrantied via LBS and the last set I swapped and had XT.

Has anyone actually had a pair of Shimano peddles fail.? I’ve got pedals that just seem to go on forever through all types of shite.
The xtrs had a serious issue with shearing off the spindle for a time – loads on here and mtbr about it.
The 959s were the classic fit and forget part, so a v unwelcome development. It probably is sorted now, though. Something so obviously wrong would be simple to put right, esp given their track record of pedals.

Yes – just happened to me from pedals bought 2years and 11 months ago.

Apart from this my beef is they just wear out so fast – last about 3-4 chains before massive play on the axle. They are also bad in mud. If they don’t wear out, fail and it’s dry they have a lot of support and are really comfy. I’m warranteeing my 3 sets and replacing with Ritchy.

Having failed I’m not willing to take on blind faith that Shimano have fixed the design. Mine came of in my hand but a failure while riding/racing could be really disastrous.

get a set of time atacs instead

get the XT’s, as mentioned above, XTR are well known to fail, and its not just the early batches. mine are less than a year old and have failed, bearing play, seals have disintegrated. cheaper to buy a new set of XTs than replace the axles which is madness.
And, there is Zero discernible difference between all of them in terms of performance

Yes – just happened to me from pedals bought 2years and 11 months ago.

+1

Just back from LBS dropping off broken XTR Trail pedals. Warranty ones will most likely go on ebay.

Ride flats now anyway.

Given the horror stories a above I went for xt and saved myself £20

My 2002 959’s still going stong.

I don’t think any are worth the money over the PDM-520/540s I have on all my bikes now, no issues, they last years of high mileage / all weather riding and get replaced when the alu pedal body gets too worn by dirt and shoes. One or two bearing checks or adjustments in that time usually. I have some XT and XTRs, the XTRs tend to get less sticky-dry feeling on long dry rides (trips away rather than day-ride long) but I don’t trust the axles fully in the way I trust the heavier crmo axles of the cheaper pedals.