Advantages: quality, use, price
Disadvantages: None

...Previously, I had a pair Of Ritchey WCS Ti spd pedals (i paid £60 on ebay, but the retail at £140!!). These were next to useless - the bearings failed within 12 months. They looked good and weighed not a lot, but didn't work very well, at all :O( I begrudgingly purchased the XTR spd's for £56.99 from wiggle, as I didn't want to go the "shimano" route again. First impressions of quality were superb, especially for under £60!!! The smoothness of the bearings is silk like. fitting is just like any other pedal. Adjusting the tension springs was also the same as any other spd, although I didn't have to do them as tight as previoud spd's I'd owned. Clicking in and out of the pedal gave a satisfying quality click. In riding i've done so far, they perhaps clogged more than i'd have liked, but the riding was very very extreme. After 2... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Extreme pain

...to the baby by taking anything stronger. Then one day I bumped into a friend who happened to be a nurse. By coincidence her daughter was also pregnant and she was suffering from a great deal of pain due to a condition known as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). My friend told me that their GP had also been treating her daughter for a urine infection, which is a common mistake as many doctors have little or no knowledge of SPD. She gave me a copy of a magazine article and the website address of the British SPD Support Group. She suggested Katy take this information to her GP and see if it might be what she was suffering from. We did this and fortuately the GP was honest enough to admit he hadn't come across the condition before and made an appointment for Katy to see a specialist. We have just returned from seeing a physiotherapist... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Control, power transfer, efficiency etc
Disadvantages: You might fall off once or twice....

...If you're riding XC there is no other option, you should be riding clipless! Clipless pedals (so called because they do not require a toe clip & strap)improve bike control, power transfer, efficiency of pedal stroke (your foot is closer to center of spindle) & allow those that have trouble lifting the bike at the rear to cheat! Mainly used for XC not trials, downhill or duel, some platform types exist like the shimano m646's that can be good for all disciplines! There are two main players in the mtb emporium; these are Shimano who make the spd (shimano pedal dynamics) & Time who make the Atac. But I've seen loads of other makes I hear you cry - sure the list is endless, VP, Ritchey, Wellgo etc etc but at the end of the day they are all shimano copies & are usually adequate but not as good as the real thing! They are generally... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: none whatsoever
Disadvantages: pain, agony, sleepless nights

...(This review has been amended at the end to let you know how SPD is since I gave birth). I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and since around week 20, I have been suffering with SYMPHYSIS PUBIS DYSFUNCTION, known as SPD for short. SPD is quite often known as PGP nowadays - Pelvic Girdle Pain. I had only heard of it before when my friend was diagnosed with it late in pregnancy. There are varying levels of pain and discomfort with SPD and I count myself "lucky" that mine pain is not so severe that I am in a wheelchair as some sufferers are. A lot of people have never heard of SPD and do not have much sympathy for anybody who suffers with it, so I would like to explain the condition, what can be done about it, and what the symptoms are. SYMPHYSIS PUBIS DYSFUNCTION From a medical website - The symphysis pubis is the joint where two... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: none
Disadvantages: very painful

...You may have read my mums (mrsandrewsjk) opinion on Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD), well I am the daughter that is suffered from it. So I thought that I should write an opinion from a sufferer’s point of view. It first started when I was around 14 weeks pregnant, I was walking down the road and started getting a very sharp pain in both of my hips, and the more I walked the worse it was getting but eventually it passed, so I just put it down to pregnancy pains. Then a few days later I went out again and within five minutes of leaving the house I got the pains again, but this time they were a lot more painful than before. I happened to be on the phone to my dad at the time and I cryed in pain, so he told me to get straight home, which I did (very painfully I might add!) and as soon as I got there I called the doctor out. When...