Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I somewhat agree. For SPD pedals, it's really hard to beat Shimano M520. You may not be able to get them for under $30 anymore but they are still a bargain. They last for ages...I've got some 20 year old ones I'm still using...and they work better than just about any other SPD pedal around. I hate Shimano (or, rather, I hate the monoculture that Shimano has created) but...damn!
i
SSi pedals (QBP house brand) are also pretty good pedals (if somewhat unfortunately named). They work pretty well for a non-Shimano pedal and they have some cool features like wider spindle kits, better bearings, and you can get them in really cool colors but, at around $85, they are a bit more expensive than Shimano's M520.
At risk of ruining my troll-mirror thread with a serious question, I'm actually interested in the Issi pedals (I think it sounds more like "easy" than "pissy" when they pronounce it), and in particular the axle extensions (apparently only available with the black pedals). I heard mixed things about the reliability, which put me off. Do you have any experience with these?
Before I broke my ankle, any old Nashbar SPD clone worked fine for me. Now, the only thing I have been totally comfortable on are XTR trail pedals (and they are marginally more comfortable than the seemingly identical but more robust XT version).