Shimano leaned on one of the winningest race teams/families you’ll find in gravity racing to overhaul their downhill & all-mountain pedal and shoe line-up. With input from the Athertons, Shimano has a couple pairs of all-new Saint pedals ready for the World Cup DH circuit – whether you want to clip in or stick with flats – and a two premium SPD shoe options to connect your feet to them.
Working with some of the same pedal updates, Shimano also has a new XT flat available in two different platform sizes, and a cheaper gravity flat pedal for all around trail bashing. Those also get their own shoes to match, with a couple of new Gravity shoes developed with grippy Michelin soles. Step into the details below…
Shimano’s had high performance SPD pedals and flats in the line-up for a long while, but there hadn’t really been much of a choice for the gravity fueled rider. Now with two new Saint pedals, everyone from downhill racers like the Athertons to weekend freeriders can pick their preferred method of shoe contact with top-level performance & durability.
Saint M820
A first for the DH crowd, the new Saint clipless M820 pedal take the engagement you’d find on XTR pedals, and build up a wide gravity-ready aluminum cage that offers more foot stability and contact with DH & enduro style shoes.
Instead of just adding a small cage that protects the engagement mechanism and offers a bit more to press a foot against, the new 546g (without pins) double-sided Saint SPDs get four adjustable traction pins (per side) at the corners of the wider platform to offer real grip when not clipped in.
Saint M828
The fourth generation of the race-ready Saint gravity pedal builds on the concave shape of its predecessor, but adds a few extra pins to the more octagonally shaped flats.
Twelve stainless steel pins per side in either 3 or 5mm lengths are spread wider across the pedal to offer improved contact with Shimano’s newest gravity shoes. They even claim to get a bit lighter at 493g, with a more open design to better clear mud.
XT M8040
For the first time in years, Deore XT gets its own platform pedals as well. Shimano has seen big growth in demand for flat pedals with the booms in both enduro & e-MTB racing and wants to give riders the top value-to-performance balance that XT is known for. With a more open shape, and slightly taller stack than Saint, the XT flats still build in 10 replaceable (short or long) pins per side to provide excellent grip.
They also will come in two sizes – a smaller SM 100 x 105mm platform optimized for shoes sized 36-44 & a bigger 110 x 115mm ML platform for shoes 43-48. The slightly concave XT pedals are designed for trail and enduro use and weigh 460g or 503g, respectively.
GR500
Shimano is also adding a non-series gravity pedal called the GR500. It essentially takes the old Saint MX80 as a base and finishes it with a bit less machining to keep production costs down. That’s not a bad thing. Those pedals have done well for many riders, and been ridden to their fair share of race wins. The GR500s carry over the same spacer-adjustable traction pins and sealed bearings with a chromoly axle and 533g claimed weight in either black or silver.
Saint & XT pedals won’t be available until near the end of the year in November 2017, with the GR500s coming in August.
AM9 (AM901)
With each of the new pedals, Shimano has some new shoes, too. Rachel Atherton has been racing (and winning) in Shimano’s AM9 shoes for a couple of years now, and this past weekend at the Fort William World Cup she got to update her kicks with the newest generation.
A fairly minor looking update over the previous AM900, the shoes do get some solid functional updates. Overall construction and layout with the lace shield plus single upper strap and asymmetric shaping remains the same, but the top level DH shoe is made of new materials that make it both shed water and dry more quickly.
Hidden under the reshaped armored top, it also gets a new speed lacing setup that also helps keep water & debris out. On the toe a harder molded cap should stand up to abuse longer. Underfoot everything stays, with the same grippy rubber and pedal channel that claims to help SPD users better grip their pedals, even when not clipped in. It does seem to drop a few grams in its latest iteration, down to 400g for a size 42, with the same 36-48 size range on offer.
AM7 (AM901)
The AM7 gets bigger changes, as it now becomes an SPD clipless shoe as well, placed just below the AM9. That means it drops last year’s lace shield in favor of a traditional lace layout, and now gets a slightly stiffer sole to make it cross over as more of a trail rideable shoe, with the same material updates as the AM9. It gets the same reinforced toe cap, grippy sole with a pedal channel, and adds an ankle gaiter to keep dirt out. The new shoe gets a low key gray/blue/black version or a bright lime green for those wanting to stick out on the trail.
GR9 (GR900)
With the All-Mountain redesign making both race shoes SPD compatible, Shimano adds a pair of new Gravity level shoes for the three new flat pedals on offer.
The new top GR9 gets a similar look and layout to the new AM9, minus the top velcro strap. Otherwise the upper materials, asymmetric raised ankle collar & hard reinforced toe cap carry over, with speed lacing inside and the same 36-48 size range.
Underneath the shoe gets completely different construction with a lighter weight & softer sole (still at a 3, it’s 1 higher than last year’s AM7) to better conform to flat pedals. Rubber is all new too, using a new Michelin sole for maximum grip interfacing with the raised traction pins of the new platform pedals.
GR7 (GR700)
The GR7 again takes the same flat pedal steps as its SPD analogue AM7. The GR7 share the same construction & Michelin sole of the GR9, with a traditional lacing configuration. It also shares a gray/lime/black option or a brighter Shimano blue version.
Seen as more of an all-around trail shoe, the GR7 is also offered in women-specific GR7W version that swaps out lime for mint green detailing, still in a wide size 36-44 range.
No word yet on shoe pricing or availability.
