I'm torn. Can't decide whether to go with good old shimano spd's or try some Time atac xs.

I've always struggled with going with anything more than m540's with the weight/price balance, having once owned a set of XTR's which were lovely but no better!

As the Time's are only a similar weight to XTR and just as expensive I need a bit of convincing as to their worth, which I guess is really down to muddy conditions, any advice?

The price isn't the issue, more the relative value? Do Times last?

Cheers

Times do indeed last and from riding with a bike club every other weekend I can clearly state they are
not effected by mud or snow unlike shimano pedals.

I would also go for the ROC version for smoother entry.

The Time users (ie me amongst others) will say Time.
The Shimano users will say Shimano
And there'll be a Crank along in a minute.

I've used Time originals(still going by the way), Zs and ROC (but not the Atac XS), Crank Egg and Mallet, Onza elastomer and very briefly some Shimano 520s.

So in order of my preference…

If you ride in mud or snow, or if you have knee problems I would say Time is an excellent choice – plenty of float and the kick in clears the pedal (you really can kick too because that little bulge behind the rear clip angle the pedal when you hit it so that the front clip catches your cleat).
If you always ride in the warm and dry, then Shimano – differnet engagement action, better float than it used to have and better than it used to be in mud.
Cranks I don't like – float yes, decent mud performance yes (though certainly no better than Time), but maintenance issues and a clip in action that you have to be very precise with – if you are great go for it, but I'm not.
Onza were bad then and unavailable now – so that's good.

You could also consider Look Quartz. They look light, cheap(ish) from some places and ought to be OK in mud – but I haven't tried them and don't know anyone who has.

I have Time Atac Alium's. They work great in mud and most people say the only problem is the weight (I'm not bothered about that though) I'm sure the XS's are lighter. If the mechanisms are the same then definately buy the Atacs. They work brilliantly well in all conditions and are nice and easy to get out of

ROC has the same mechanism I think.
50g heavier – £35 lighter
Here for ROC

I must say I fancy trying the time atac xs, I can't see spending the extra for the carbon, it's only about 5 grams! As I run a saint groupset this would seem silly!

The ROC's use round bar and the other use square bars and the ROC has more support.

Aliums have round bar too, no? – thought it was just the XS that didn't

I've been using Shimano's for a few years, but have decided to go with Time Aliums (for the HT) & Z's for the FS.

Thing is the M540's I've been using have always been slightly difficult to clip into on my Shimano boot. The mud makes things worse, and now the snow is here there are occasions when it it takes 3 or 4 times to clip in.

One question for the Time users: are the cleats multi-directional release?

I just twist my foot out at the rear.
You can adjust the the degree of float by fitting the left cleat to the right shoe etc.

igm – Member
Aliums have round bar too, no? – thought it was just the XS that didn't

Seems they do.

My answer: any will do. My main bike is out of action so I went out on my flat peddled bike today instead, damn those hills are hard work when your not clipped in. Ive used eggbeaters and shimanos, but stick with shimanos overall.

Multi direction? If that means twist either left or right on either side then yes, but…
They are a long twist to get out of on a Time – completely intuitive, you just kind of step off outwards and your foot will twist naturally (because your toe is still clipped in). You can twist inwards but you will likely hit the crank or frame before you get out. You might be lucky though.

It's a different level of twist inwards and outwards (7 and 13 degrees if I remember) and you swap the cleats over on the shoes if you want a different rotation before release. Either way it doesn't really work to the inside and I would stick with the default recommendation.

I switched from 540's to atac xs about 2 years ago & overall prefer the time's.
I would mention that i do seem to have worn the engagement bars a fair bit though. I've used them with 3 different pairs of shoes, & managed to wear a groove in the sole of some shimano ones (& the engagement bar at the same time I imagine). should of maybe shimmed the cleats a little(?).
this has made them feel a bit looser but hasn't caused any unwanted unclipping.