📚 Guides | Aug 6, 2026 | 14 min read

By MTB Cycling Gear Team

Best MTB Clipless Pedals 2026: SPD vs Crankbrothers

Picking the best mtb clipless pedals 2026 has to offer comes down to one question: SPD or Crankbrothers. Five contact-point guides this year — grips, saddles, trail tires, handlebars, forks — and somehow we never covered the one contact point that decides whether your foot stays on the bike or comes off on command. We did the flat pedal guide back in March. We did the flat vs. clipless shoe comparison around the same time. The dedicated clipless pedal breakdown never happened. Overdue, and this is it.

Two systems dominate this category, and they solve the same problem — locking your foot to the pedal — with genuinely different mechanisms. Shimano’s SPD platform, led by the XT M8120, uses a two-sided step-in design that’s been essentially unchanged in principle since the 1990s. Crankbrothers built its Candy and Mallet lines around a four-sided eggbeater mechanism that clips in from any angle. Both work. They fail differently, though, and that difference matters more than most buying guides let on.

No major clipless launch broke in the last couple weeks — this isn’t a news post. It’s the buyer’s guide that should’ve existed already.

Top Picks

Pedal System Best For Weight (pair) Price
Shimano XT PD-M8120 SPD Best overall trail/enduro 438g ~$150
Shimano PD-M520 SPD Best budget ~380g (claimed) ~$55
Crankbrothers Candy 3 4-sided Best for mud / adjustable float 340g ~$135–$160
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail 4-sided Best aggressive trail platform 344g ~$180–$200

Pedal	System	Best For	Weight (pair)	Price
Shimano XT PD-M8120	SPD	Best overall trail/enduro	438g	~$150
Shimano PD-M520	SPD	Best budget	~380g (claimed)	~$55
Crankbrothers Candy 3	4-sided	Best for mud / adjustable float	340g	~$135–$160
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail	4-sided	Best aggressive trail platform	344g	~$180–$200

What Actually Matters

Two things separate clipless pedal systems: how many sides you can clip in from, and how the cleat releases when you need it to. Everything else — bearing type, spindle material, platform size — is secondary to those two decisions.

Entry angle is the biggest practical difference between SPD and Crankbrothers. SPD pedals like the XT M8120 are two-sided — top or bottom, no fumbling required, but you have to get the pedal roughly right-side-up first. Crankbrothers’ eggbeater-derived design engages from all four sides. No orientation to find. On a technical climb where you’ve dabbed a foot and need to clip back in mid-pedal-stroke without looking down, that matters more than the spec sheet suggests.

Mud-shedding follows directly from entry design. SPD’s two-sided mechanism has more surface area for mud and grit to pack into around the retention claws. Crankbrothers’ open, four-sided arms shed debris more reliably because there’s less to clog — the system is mechanically simpler at the point of contact, even though it has more individual moving parts (four spring-loaded arms instead of two fixed jaws). Wet, gritty conditions expose this gap fastest. Dry hardpack, it barely registers.

Cleat float and release angle determine how much your knee tracks side to side before the pedal lets go, and how easily it lets go when you crash. This is the spec most riders never adjust and probably should.

How Do I Choose the Best MTB Clipless Pedals for 2026: SPD or Crankbrothers?

If you want maximum retention security and minimal maintenance, go SPD. The two-sided mechanism has fewer wear points and a simpler service life — spring tension and cleat wear are the only variables.
If you ride wet, muddy, or gritty terrain regularly, Crankbrothers’ four-sided entry sheds debris more consistently and re-engages faster after a dab.
If you’re new to clipless and nervous about unclipping in a crash, look at release mechanism first: Shimano’s SM-SH56 multi-release cleat or Crankbrothers’ Easy Release cleat both bail out in more directions than the standard setup.
If your knees ache after long rides on fixed-position pedals, Crankbrothers’ adjustable float and release-angle tension lets you tune engagement rather than accept whatever the stock cleat gives you.
If budget is the constraint, the Shimano PD-M520 remains one of the best-selling clipless pedals on the market for a reason — it’s simple, it’s durable, and it costs a third of the premium options.

Best Overall: Shimano XT PD-M8120

The XT M8120 is the consensus gold-standard trail SPD pedal, and it earns that reputation through boring, deliberate engineering rather than any single standout feature. Wide pedal-to-shoe contact area. Low 16.2mm stack height that keeps your foot closer to the spindle for better leverage and less pedal-strike risk. An integrated cage around the retention mechanism that takes rock strikes instead of the binding hardware.

The chromoly spindle and adjustable retention claws are what most riders actually interact with. Tension adjustment is a flathead-screw dial on the pedal body — turn it down for easier release while you’re learning the system, turn it up once you trust your technique and want security on rough terrain. The claws themselves are user-replaceable when they wear, which SPD pedals have allowed for decades and which the eggbeater-style competition generally doesn’t.

At 438g per pair, it’s not light. Riders chasing rotating weight will find lighter options elsewhere. That’s not what this pedal is for. It’s for riders who want a platform they can trust on a technical descent and forget about for a season, aside from an occasional bearing check.

Comes with SM-SH51 standard-release cleats — the firm, security-first option. If low-speed technical terrain has you nervous about bailing out, the SM-SH56 multi-release cleat (more on that below) is worth the swap.

Best for: Trail and enduro riders who want the most proven SPD platform available and don’t mind the weight. Anyone replacing a worn-out pair of XT pedals from a previous generation — the layout hasn’t changed enough to require relearning anything.

Skip if: You’re chasing weight savings, or you ride consistently muddy terrain where four-sided entry would save you real time re-clipping.

Best Budget: Shimano PD-M520

Price: ~$55 | System: SPD, 2-sided | Weight: ~380g/pair claimed (measured closer to 372–381g depending on the scale) | Cleats included: SM-SH51

The PD-M520 has been Shimano’s entry-level SPD pedal for a long stretch, and it remains one of the most-bought MTB clipless pedals for the simplest reason possible: it does the job and doesn’t break. No adjustable retention claws, no fancy cage, no premium bearing system. A chromoly spindle, a sealed cartridge bearing, and an open binding mechanism that clips in reliably in wet and dry conditions alike.

What you give up versus the XT M8120 is refinement, not function. The platform is smaller, the bearing feel is less smooth over time, and there’s no cage protecting the mechanism from rock strikes. For riders doing moderate trail miles rather than aggressive enduro terrain, none of that matters much. Cyclingnews and Cycling Weekly have both kept this pedal in rotation across multiple test cycles for the same reason shops keep recommending it — it’s the pedal you buy when you’re not sure clipless is for you yet, and it turns out to be good enough that a lot of riders never upgrade.

Best for: First-time clipless buyers. Budget builds. Anyone who wants proven SPD engagement without paying for a cage and adjustable claws they may never use.

Skip if: You ride technical terrain aggressively enough to want the platform stability and rock protection of the M8120. The step up is real, just not necessary for every rider.

Best for Mud and Adjustable Float: Crankbrothers Candy 3

Price: ~$135–$160 | System: 4-sided entry | Weight: 340g/pair | Float: 6° with Standard Release cleats

The Candy 3 is where Crankbrothers’ four-sided eggbeater philosophy meets a small, XC-leaning platform, and it’s the pedal that best demonstrates why some riders switch systems entirely and never look back. Clip in from any angle, no orientation-finding, no hesitation at a stop sign or a technical switchback where you need your foot locked in half a second faster than SPD allows.

The mud-shedding claim isn’t marketing filler. The open, four-armed mechanism has fewer places for debris to pack against a retention surface — compare that to SPD’s enclosed claw-and-spring design, which has more surface area for grit to jam against. In a wet spring mud season, that difference shows up as fewer missed clip-ins, not a dramatic performance gap on dry trails.

The trade-off is moving parts. Four spring-loaded arms instead of two fixed jaws means more components that can wear, loosen, or need service. Crankbrothers pedals have a maintenance reputation that’s earned — not catastrophic, but the eggbeater mechanism needs more attention over a multi-year service life than a Shimano SPD pedal’s simpler claw system.

Float and release-angle tension are adjustable through cleat choice — Standard Release cleats give 15°/20° release angles with 6° float, and Easy Release cleats drop that to a 10° release angle for a lighter, quicker bail-out. That’s a real advantage over fixed-geometry SPD cleats: riders with knee tracking issues can tune engagement rather than accept whatever angle the stock cleat provides.

Best for: Riders who want faster re-engagement on technical terrain and are willing to stay on top of pedal maintenance. Anyone with knee tracking sensitivity who wants adjustable float rather than a fixed angle.

Skip if: You want the lowest-maintenance option available, or you’re not confident you’ll service a pedal with more moving parts on the recommended schedule.

Best Aggressive Trail Platform: Crankbrothers Mallet Trail

Price: ~$180–$200 | System: 4-sided entry | Weight: 344g/pair | Platform: 78mm x 74mm | Float: 6° with Standard Release cleats

The Mallet Trail takes the Candy’s eggbeater mechanism and wraps it in a real platform — 78mm by 74mm of aluminum surrounding the clip-in mechanism, which gives your foot a stable base even when you’re not perfectly clipped in. That platform is the whole reason this pedal exists as a separate line from the Candy. Riders coming from flats who want the efficiency of clipless without giving up the confidence of a foot resting on something solid get that here.

Same four-sided entry, same mud-shedding advantage over SPD — Crankbrothers’ own product copy calls out “4-sided entry / superior mud shedding,” and it’s a fair claim given the mechanism hasn’t fundamentally changed since the design that made Crankbrothers a brand people recognize. The platform doesn’t interfere with clip-in speed; it just gives you somewhere to put your foot when you’re not clipped in yet, which matters on the technical, low-speed sections where a dab is likely.

Same maintenance consideration as the Candy applies here, and slightly more so — the added platform means more material to inspect for wear where it meets the spindle, on top of the eggbeater arms themselves.

Best for: Trail and enduro riders transitioning from flats who want a platform under their foot alongside clipless retention. Technical terrain where a stable base matters as much as the clip-in itself.

Skip if: You’ve been on SPD for years and don’t need the extra platform — the standard Mallet or a Candy will save weight and money without changing your riding.

Cleat Float and Release: The Spec Everyone Ignores

Most riders run whatever cleat came in the box and never think about it again. Worth five minutes of attention, because it changes how the pedal behaves at the exact moment it matters most — a crash.

Shimano’s SM-SH51 is the standard cleat included with most SPD pedals, including the XT M8120 and PD-M520. It’s a single-release design: the pedal lets go when you twist your heel sideways, and only sideways. Firm, predictable, and the choice most experienced riders stick with because it doesn’t release accidentally under hard pedaling loads.

Shimano’s SM-SH56 adds multi-directional release — sideways or upward — at a roughly 13° clip-out angle. BikeRadar’s comparison of the SH51, SH56, and MT001 cleats is worth reading if you’re deciding between them. The practical upshot: SH56 gives you an easier bail-out option on technical, low-speed terrain — exactly the situation where a new clipless rider is most likely to tip over because they couldn’t twist out fast enough. The trade-off is a higher chance of releasing when you didn’t want to, which is why experienced riders on rough terrain often stay with the SH51’s firmer, single-direction engagement.

Crankbrothers handles this differently — instead of two fixed cleat options, float and release-angle tension are both adjustable, either through cleat choice (Standard vs. Easy Release) or, on higher-tier pedals, through spring tension screws on the pedal body itself. That’s a genuine advantage for riders who’ve experienced knee pain on a fixed-angle SPD setup: rather than swap an entire cleat design, you can dial in exactly how much float your knee gets before the pedal releases.

If you’re new to clipless and coming from the flat vs. clipless shoe comparison, start with whichever multi-release option your system offers — SH56 for SPD, Easy Release for Crankbrothers. Tighten up once the twist-to-release motion is automatic.

Maintenance Reality: Two Moving Parts vs. Four

This is where the systems diverge long-term, and it doesn’t show up on a spec sheet.

SPD’s two-sided claw mechanism is mechanically simple. Two spring-loaded jaws, a tension screw, and a cleat channel. Service life is long, and when the claws eventually wear enough to affect retention, they’re replaceable on pedals like the XT M8120. The PD-M520 doesn’t even offer that — at its price point, most riders just replace the pedal.

Crankbrothers’ four-arm eggbeater mechanism is more exposed to mud-shedding advantages, but the trade-off is exactly what you’d expect from more moving parts: more surfaces that can wear, more springs that can weaken, and a mechanism that benefits from periodic disassembly and cleaning if you ride in grit and mud regularly. It’s not fragile — Crankbrothers pedals have been in the sport since the 1990s and the eggbeater design has proven itself over decades of trail use. It just asks more of you as an owner.

Neither system is objectively better here. It’s a trade between mechanical simplicity (SPD) and entry speed plus mud performance (Crankbrothers), and which one you value more should track with the conditions you actually ride in.

How to Choose

You want the most proven trail/enduro SPD pedal: Shimano XT M8120 at ~$150. Wide platform, low stack height, replaceable retention claws, and the pedal most riders in this category eventually land on.

Budget is the deciding factor: Shimano PD-M520 at ~$55. Simple, durable, and good enough that plenty of riders never feel the need to upgrade.

You ride wet or muddy terrain and want fast re-engagement: Crankbrothers Candy 3 at ~$135–$160. Four-sided entry, adjustable float, better mud-shedding than SPD’s enclosed claw design.

You’re transitioning from flats and want a platform under your foot: Crankbrothers Mallet Trail at ~$180–$200. Same eggbeater mechanism as the Candy, wrapped in a real platform for foot stability.

You’re nervous about crashing clipped in: Shimano SM-SH56 or Crankbrothers Easy Release cleats. Multi-directional release, easier bail-out, worth the slightly reduced security while you’re learning.

The Bottom Line

SPD and Crankbrothers solve the same problem from opposite directions. Shimano bets on mechanical simplicity and two-sided retention that’s changed little in thirty years because it doesn’t need to. Crankbrothers bets on four-sided entry speed and mud performance, accepting more moving parts and more maintenance as the cost of that advantage.

The Shimano XT M8120 is the default recommendation for most trail and enduro riders — proven, serviceable, and priced fairly for what it does. The PD-M520 gets first-time clipless riders on the system for a third of the cost. Crankbrothers’ Candy and Mallet lines earn their premium specifically in wet, muddy, technical terrain where entry speed and debris clearance actually matter — and the adjustable float is a real fix for riders who’ve had knee issues on a fixed-angle SPD setup.

Cleat choice matters as much as pedal choice. Don’t run the stock firm-release cleat if you’re new to clipless and nervous about bailing out — SH56 or Easy Release exists for exactly that reason.

That closes out the contact-point series: grips, saddle, tires, handlebar width and rise, fork feel, and now the pedal system underneath it all. Every one of those decisions changes how the bike feels before you’ve touched suspension setup or drivetrain. Get the contact points right first.

Last updated August 2026. Prices are approximate USD street prices and change with retailer and colorway.