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With XC mountain bike racing introducing ever bigger drops, the multidirectional forces of rocks, roots, bumps and riders’ power delivery to contend with, XC pedals take a beating. Shimano’s venerable SPD pedals have done service off-road since the 1990s, and this XTR Race M9100 model represents its attempt at a suitably resilient XC-based pedal.
While they are ostensibly mountain bike pedals, the double-sided design (amongst other reasons) means that gravel and even road cyclists favour these as a versatile, all-season option. Testing these in late winter in the UK, in all these conditions, ought to put them to a proper beating, and shows why they have been a long-time inclusion in our guide to the best gravel bike pedals as the best overall option.
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The packaging is a little more premium than youd get with more budget pedals. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
Box fresh they are quite pared back compared to most other Shimano SPD options. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
Design and Aesthetics
Straight out of their discreet, tactile, ‘rock’-patterned box, there is a reassuringly solid feeling to the XTR M9100 pedals. With a minimal aesthetic – all teflon-coated steel, chro-moly steel axle, chromed bolts and hefty fixings – there’s little to hide behind, which makes the robust machining all the more apparent. Sure, this is XC racing, which has increasingly turned towards lighter weight components. However, I feel like pedals connote security and I’d rather have robust pedals and lightweight everything else. Shimano, too, places ‘durable’ before ‘lightweight’ in its blurb, which is reassuring.
A pair of forged steel cleats are included, four hex screws with reassuringly large M4 hex sockets, a pair of spacers for more deeply-treaded shoes, and a succinct instruction manual complete the set. Initial set-up is intuitive, as is often the case with Shimano products. The drive side and non-drive side pedals are clearly indicated. The M2.5 bolts to adjust clipping-in tension are set to maximum out of the box, but I find loosening them most of the way leaves them more than sufficiently tight for gravel duties if you’re not regularly engaging in sprints. The cleats have a good deal of adjustability left and right, but fore/aft is going to depend on your shoes. All easy, all the more to get you out the door ASAP.
For what it’s worth, the hollow axle and minimal design make some nods towards weight reduction. Shimano claims a weight of 310 grams per pair, and my home scales measured them at 312 grams. This is more hefty than the Crankbros Eggbeater 3, but for gravel pedals it’s still pretty light.
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The axles are hollow, to save a few grams.(Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
Clip-out tension can be adjusted on both sides with a small hex key. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
Performance
Heading out the door, that solid construction translates to a characteristically tactile, mechanical clipping-in action: click-clack-clunk, rather like the bolts on the gates of Helm’s Deep for any Lord of the Rings fans out there. This positive action is good for the urban stops and starts heading to the trails, but also good to lean on when riding off-road.
My XC bike is a singlespeed, rigid 29er, which means a lot of stamping heavily on the pedals and no relief from suspension. Twisting, turning, bouncing and bunny-hopping round my local forest trails, rooty and full of awkward turns, I could turn my foot as far as the pedals would allow, using the pedals themselves to flick my rear wheel left or right. Frequently, I could lean my foot against the pedals on a corner without unclipping, with plenty of tactile feedback on how much pressure to apply. All this, and my feet stayed firmly attached until I wanted.
I did miss a ‘cage’ around the pedals, though, like the Shimano M8120 XT pedals I normally use. This was not as problematic with stiffer-soled XC or Gravel shoes, but on my flexible-soled MTB shoes I could distinctly feel the pedal body pressing into my feet on bumps. The lack of a cage became slightly more of an issue in the winter mud, after putting a foot down for balance; with a cage I can usually pedal off afterwards without clipping in fully, but sans-cage there’s just not enough pedal. You’d best practise your technique.
The lack of foot support was also subtly evident during longer road and gravel rides. Perhaps this was due to the extended time in one position and foot-pedal angle, but after two or three hours I had a distinct ‘ghost’ sensation of pressure mid-foot. For the relatively small addition of 95 grams, the XTR M9120 model addresses this shortcoming and adds a few cms of metal supports around the pedal body.
I had many opportunities to test Shimano’s claim of a ‘mud-shedding’ design. After a few hours around the thick Warwickshire clay, clipping back in with mud undersole becomes nigh-impossible. A few firm kicks are usually enough to free the worst of it, but the intricate clipping mechanism tends to retain thicker mud. A good hosing-down usually gets rid of this easily.
These, like most of the Shimano SPD range, are very serviceable. The full metal axle spindle threads firmly into the pedal body, there are distinct spanner flats to undo them for service, and my heart was gladdened go see Torx – not hex – bolts holding the pedal components together. While the test period of a few months didn’t do much more than cosmetically scratch them, I’ve run older models for decades with no trouble. The hard scratch-plates on either end are usually the only things to wear, as seen here.
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On longer gravel rides I did crave a little more foot support, but with a stiffer sole this should pose no real issue. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
The Shimano XTR pedals have stood up to the worst winter conditions possible and come up smiling every time. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
While I can’t say I’ve tested the wear life of these for more than a few months, I know from experience that Shimano pedals tend to just keep on truckin’ for years. (Image credit: Varun Jyothykumar)
Value
The world of lightweight off-road clipless pedals is well-contested. On one end there are the Nukeproof Horizon CS Ti and Hope’s Union RC, with titanium axles and aluminium alloy bodies. Crank Brothers’ Eggbeater 3s are amongst the lightest with simple stainless steel clips, but very little foot support. Otherwise, its Mallet and Candy pedals have more structure but a composite construction and softer brass cleats that compromise on durability.
In terms of value, at an RRP of £140, the Shimano XTR M9100 undercut almost every one of their competitors – and they’re very often sold for cheaper in addition to performing excellently.
Verdict
Against other XC and gravel clipless pedals, the Shimano XTR M9100s stand out as no-nonsense, durable, even boring. That they manage to be amongst the lightest, most widely adopted and the best value amongst the top tier options ought to banish any concerns regarding style.
They’re a workhorse pedal in the best possible way while still being high performance, and buyers can go away knowing that they will stay attached quietly underfoot despite the myriad abuse thrown at them.
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Testing scorecard and notes
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Design and aesthetics
Functional, but with a certain utilitarian chic. Everything about the design is purposeful. The lack of platform loses points but that’s not uncommon for a race pedal.
9/10
Weight
Amongst the lightest and simplest designs out there unless you go for Eggbeaters.
9/10
Durability & serviceability
Very durable and capable of resisting a lot of abuse and weather conditions. Serviceable with just basic workshop tools.
9/10
Foot retention
Totally secure, with linear tension adjustment and tactile clipping in. Struggles in mud compared to Eggbeaters, but that’s about it.
9/10
Value
Undercuts most of its competition while still being durable and performing very highly indeed.
