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| The finish has held up surprisingly well for 3500 km |
SPOILER: This review is not going to end with recommendations on an awesome product. Quite the contrary, but please, read on.
For those of you, who are not familiar with XLC, they were founded in 2003 by Accell Group B.V., XLC is a European brand, headquartered in Germany, and specializing in bicycle components and accessories. The company began with the goal of offering high-quality bike parts at affordable prices, initially serving in-house brands and later expanding to broader markets.
Build
The PD-S15 is comparable to small SPD pedals, like the Shimano PD-M520 but at slightly lower price and surprisingly enough, weight. Costing only 35-40€ in Europe, they are definitely on the cheap end of the spectrum, but actually weight less than the XTR PD-M9100 at ~280g for the pair vs. ~330g for XTR. For this very reason I decided it was worth it to try them on my gravel bike. Boy, was I wrong!
XLC market these pedals as an "upgrade", featuring an aluminum body, steel cromoly axle and cartridge bearings. The body is finished black and the steel parts, like the axle and locking system are chromed. The locking system is compatible with Shimano SPD cleats and they come with a pair of XLC's in-house cleats.
The end cap of the pedal can be opened and there is a small 8mm nut underneath, but to remove it and to remove the axle for servicing / bearing change, you need a special, thin socket. Without it the pedals are more-or-less one-time use as it's impossible to change the bearings without such a tool.
Ride impressions
Installation is straight forward, as with any pedal. Just thread them onto the cranks and ride! The pedals do not come with washers, so I fitted mine with a pair that came with my Force cranks on my gravel bike.
Adjustment is similar to Shimano pedals using a 2,5mm allen key, and this is where the pedals fail miserably! Regardless of the shoe and cleat you use, the adjustment can definitely be felt, but the issue is the locking mechanism. It's dimensioned so that the cleat sits on the body of the locking plate and regardless of how tight or loose the pedals have been adjusted, the cleat can and will catch on the locking plate. This creates a situation where the cleat has been released, but it's still stuck to the pedal and required a good yank to come clear. The pedals also require a significantly more force to engage than Shimano, so I would not recommend them for MTB. They are livable for gravel and frankly still easier to use the road pedals, despite the poor performance of the locking system.
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| Comparison with my 6 year old, ~15 000 km ridden Shimano XT PD-M8110. You can clearly see the groove worn by the cleat into the locking plate. |
XLC advertise their products as having been "reliable, well tested and meeting international standards.". Perhaps in the case of the release mechanism of these pedals, that testing was forgotten or cut short? Reliability is certainly a far fetched promise that these pedals simply can't keep.
Verdict
The finish looks cheap as it is, but that is to be expected at this price range. I have ridden mine for around 3500 km after which the pedals had to be retired as the bearings were essentially destroyed. The finish had held up surprisingly well, apart from a very deep groove worn into the locking plate from the cleat.
The poor bearings in comparison to the rather appalling, and clearly flawed release mechanism, I can't recommend these pedals to anyone.
Performance: 1,5/5, These just don't work very well
Build quality: 2,5/5, OK build, but the design is flawed
Value: 2/5, If you can live with the uncertain release, then the price is not that bad
Overall: 1,5/5, Frankly, I'm surprised I made it 3500km on these!
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