After always using xc racer style hard soles shoes and the small style SPD pedals with no support, I’ve finally chilled out and realised that people actually unclip and clip back in for technical bits of trail. And this is more easily accomplished with DH style shoes and pedals with support. Such as the new Shimano AM9 and specialised 2Fo clipless.

But what pedal and shoe combos work best for unclipping and easy clipping back in?

time MX6 from bike-discount although I don’t clip out

i rate times highly, and have 5 or 6 sets, one set has been on my ss for probably 5 or 6 years ( used twice a week, about 70k and 2000m climbing ), and are only now worn out.
however i recently bought a pair of mx2. figured they’d be cheap and good. former, yes, latter, no. i read a review that said the first pair they had, had wonky spindles, but figured that was a one-off. the first pair had wonky spindles, they went back, wiggle swapped them out, and the second pair were worst than the first. they’re going back for a refund, and i’ll try teh next set up the range. shame, they looked good.

doesnt really matter which shoes you use.. they are much the same…

any of the shimano spd pedals will be fine but go for the sh-56 cleats rather than the sh-51

gavstorie good tip on the cleats.

Are the more modern metal frame SPD pedals like the m530 better or any different for support and re-engagement to the older plastic framed versions?

Personally, I like disco slippers and platform spd’s as they give me a bigger pedal to aim for whilst keeping a stiff sole. I use Spec Pro shoes and 530 platform pedals, but I would never clip out for tech sections. And I would also heavy advise against the multi release 56 cleats, horrible, sketchy things that you’re never quite sure if you in or out of, normal cleats and lots of tension for me.

I’m not sure you can feel the bigger platform but I find for trail riding having a bigger pedal to aim at when clipping back in is no bad thing.

Yeah multi release cleats not needed at all unless you’re very nervous being clipped in. Specialized Rimes for me and whatever Shimano spd you fancy.
I’d never unclip for anything technical, then with the downhill style pedals you don’t have great grip.

Sorry, staying clipped in through technical sections yes. It’s more foot out flat out when cornering. Have mates who are riding local trails like that and want to give it a go!

Just got these to go with my deore platform pedals. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-am45-mtb-spd-shoes-2015/rp-prod55370

They are noticeably easier to clip in and out with. Something to do with the flat sole design i think

Avoiding writing another thread, has anyone compared the AM9 vs the M200. I used to really like shimano stuff my first proper shoes were the disco blue jobs. I’m quite taken with the M200 anniversary blue additions, bit can’t make upy mind if I’m better with AM9 (which I had settled on) or the M200 (which is probably more to my riding type) I think the M200 ticks the boxes bar the mesh toe box, Im not a fan of these as I seem to have toes that destroy them..

Specialized 2fo’s have a hard plastic ‘landing strip’ to guide the cleat into the pedal. Use xt trail pedals on all my bikes (trail, xc, dh, 4x) and rarely have any trouble clipping back in.

With the hard soled disco slippers, you have to be more precise and the grip unclipped is non existent, compared to the reasonable amount from the 2fo’s

Waiting for shimano’s new dh clipless pedal.

Mallet race, the old wider platform with the split cage and updated inside bits. Then anything nice and flat soled run 5.10 minaars and current shoes are tea pivots.

Clip in pedals = Time in whatever version suits
Shoes = A good fit, and whatever suits

For example, on my gnarmac bike, it’s Time XC8 and either S-Works XC or Northwave winter boots. On MTBs, it’s Time Z-platforms and a mix of the S-Works XC, Spesh Tahoe, Northwave boots as before, and a recent set of 2F0 clips (Not used much, owing to the weather!)