hello, some suggestion for reliable and affordable spd pedals model/brand? thanks
i'm deep into this rabbit hole. i currently own i think 7 pairs of offroad pedals despite only riding one bike.
zeray and west biking spd both had extremely inconsistent clipping to the point it was sketchy. sometimes no click, sometimes took a lot more force, sometimes very hard to release which made me eat mud once or twice.
the supplied cleats make both much worse, avoid at all costs. genuine shimano cleats make it better but still not acceptable. the zeray pedals developped play after maybe 2000km. i forgave the inconsistencies because they were a very respectable 280g. time atac xc were in the same league. light, sketchy and inconsistent and developped play early.
in the end as much as i wanted aliexpress pedals nothing came close to the crisp, consistent clipping in and out and seemingly bombproof bearings. i picked up exustar ti pedals for 22eur locally that look like they've seen combat but the bearings are smooth, clipping is just as good as shimano for just 216g, 100g lighter than xtr. time will tell but i'm very impressed so far.
tl;dr get used shimanos and don't waste your time on ali if you want reliability