Hi,
I'd be interested to know people's experiences with SPD pedals. I bought a new set of M540's 6 months ago. Today while out riding I noticed a sqeak from the left pedal and looseness on the binding. By this I mean up/down movement of the shoe especially if you are putting a lot of effort into the pull up on the back of the pedal stroke. I though that maybe the cleat wasn't properly seated on my shoe, so took it off, cleaned out some compacted mud and refitted, but no better. Then I saw a lot of wear on the pedal body to the sides of the binding parts - I think the actual bindings are steel but the body is alloy. The cleats and shoe sole have worn considerable groves into the pedal, thus lowering the shoe position and making the binding loose in the vertical plane.
I think I've probably only ridden these pedals, with new cleats which came with them, for less than 100 hours total.
Could it be the shoes are contributing? I have Northwave MTB shoes - standard stuff - basic mid range with football type stubs at the toe.
Previuosly I used Specialized more leisure/trainer type SPD shoes and didn't notice the same problem - last SPD pedals managed about 3 years use.
What other types of pedals to people recommend?- I am interested in a good firm binding (need it for singlespeeding) and decent service life.
Thanks
I've got 3 pairs of M540s and have used various shoes but only genuine Shimano cleats. Never had any problems, unlike the vastly inferior 520s.
You can get into them with a spanner (17mm?) easily enough to tighen the bearings or to re-grease. I did swap out the balls once but that's a headache.
Never had ay problems with my ancient,cheap Shimanos(2nd hand when I bought them),or my more recent XTR s,