Pedal Contact Surface?

Equipment
1

So I wound up with two pairs of Shimano Pedals. One with a cage and one without a cage.
(DEORE XT Enduro PD-M8120 Pedal and XTR XC PD-M9100)

is it my imagination or are my shoes contacting the pedal more on the one with the cage. I understand the shoe isn’t touching the actual cage…but the surface of the pedal itself seems like it has more contact area.

when I stand up and pedal hard, I feel my shoe flex just a hair more on the non-cage

weight difference is like 100 grams and the non-cage has a ~2mm lower stack height.

wondering which you all would choose. more contact vs lighter / slimmer?

tyty

i dunno how to upload pictures on here for some reason …uploaded a few pics to imigur

[Album] imgur.com
2

I had cage and no-cage XT pedals. With my shimano shoes, there was more shoe+pedal contact on the left and ride sides of the pedal.

I use very stiff shoes and can’t tell the power output or flex difference so I use the no-cage pedals to save weight.

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3

The problem with SPD pedal/shoe interfaces, is that the theoretical surface are of contact only really works in ideal sole and cleat wear conditions. As sole and cleat wear sets in, that contact surface starts to get uneven.
For this reason, to me at least, SPD pedals only really work with very stiff XC shoes. With those I couldn’t care less about the theoretical contact area, the pedal could have no cage and the carbon sole would still be spreading the pressure.

If you care about actual pedal body support for your use case, I suggest to look for CB pedals

4

yeah I guess that’s part of what I’m wondering too - how much the contact area even matters.

my shoes are very stiff.

5

In my experience, with stiff shoes, not much. I have a pair of Bont Riot+ MTB and these are one pair of stiff shoes. Close to S-Works 7-levels of stiff even though the tub is thinner. (I have been using them with Eggbeaters, not SPDs for the most part.) The stiffness also prevents hot spots. With less stiff shoes, you can feel a difference.

The cleat-pedal interface only matters insomuch as there should not be any play in the vertical direction.

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6

If weight and stack height are big factors for you, the non-cage might feel a bit more streamlined, but the cage version will likely give you more stability and support, especially for aggressive pedaling. It really depends on what feels more comfortable for you overall – more support or the lighter, slimmer setup.

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7

The cage is just there for soft sole shoes and foot protection. The flat areas next to the mechanism might be a different shape or the pedals might be tensioned differently.

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8

I totally get the cage isn’t contacting the shoe. I really don’t need the foot protection either as the most off-road I do is grass for 10 seconds.

But the pedal itself is wider and there is more surface area on the top overall.

I’ve been riding around with one of each lol. I dunno if it’s in my head but with basically brand new shoes I feel more stable in the platforms :confused:

9

Shimano seems to have 2 reasons for the ‘cage’.

Integrated cage increases stability and control when not clipped in and protects binding mechanism against impacts

Shoes without cleats, and protection from biffs on the trail. So if you always ride with cleated shoes, pass on the caged version? I feel that the cage makes it easier to clip in, somewhat, but knew some who rode with them because they ‘looked better’. :person_shrugging: Like I said, I have a pair and like them but have the un-caged versions too. (I also use very stiff shoes)

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