I purchased these with high expectations - thought they were a step up from the multi exit SH-56 cleats. Glad I tried them out before my Arizona trip.
I am not quite sure what Shimano tried to accomplish with these cleats - they work but for me not as well as the SH-56. As soon as I put them on I went back to the SM-SH56. I did not feel I could get out of them as quickly and easily as I liked for mountain biking. Maybe for gravel biking they are ok, but so are the SM-SH56. I still prefer SPD over platform pedals and the SM-SH56 in the lowest retention setting are a good compromise for me.
I run the pd-m9100 on all my gravel bikes but I wanted to see how the platform felt on a mountain bike. Very solid feel but the outer cage deflects the rock garden type stuff from hitting your shoe and knocking it off the pedal. So while they are a bit heavier than some other spd pedals they have the benefit of some minor protections. Few hundred miles on them already and don't think I'll be swapping to the m9100s any time soon. At this price these are a steal.
These inexpensive Shimano pedals will last a very long time if they are well maintained. This is my second pair. I bought the first pair probably over 20 years ago. And they have been on a lot of different bikes since then. They still work perfectly and show very little wear. I have never had to do anything to them. I just keep them clean and that's it. The bearings are still perfectly smooth and don't have hardly any play in them at all. Not enough to even notice. And that's only in one of them. The other has no play. But it is still as smooth as glass. The originals have a polished aluminum main body. The new ones are black. And they both have the same chrome steel adjustable clip-ins. They are both easy to clip in and unclip. They are a very good value and well worth the money. If I ever need another pair I will probably buy another pair of these.
