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Shimano’s clipless pedal performance is legendary, and they’ve aimed to make the latest XTR Trails their best yet. The body has been lengthened, to reflect enduro riders’ preference for slamming their cleats further back and to provide a bigger contact area between shoe and pedal, for improved feel and power transfer. A milled, treaded surface on the contact patch improves grip. The addition of some pins would give an even more confident connection for those using skate-style, flat-soled footwear, but with stiffer daps there’s decent support. At 398g (pair) they’re only 10g lighter than Shimano’s XT Trail pedals and 40g lighter than our favourite Nukeproof Horizon CS clips, with pins, both of which cost under £100. Cleat engagement, hold and exit are excellent though, as we’ve come to expect from Shimano, and the tension adjustment available is wide (we cranked them up reasonably tight because there was a little cleat play, which we wanted to reduce). The Japanese brand have a good reputation for pedal longevity, but we found that the outermost seal was prone to working along the axle towards the crank while riding, and needed pushing back in regularly. While our pedals are still spinning smoothly, this isn’t what we’d expect to see from Shimano’s top-end option. Tom www.madison.co.uk

Feel great, with a stable platform and easy-to-adjust mechanism, but some aspects could be improved