Shimano has quietly introduced the PD-EH510, an update to its hybrid SPD/flat pedals popular with everyone from urban bikers to long-distance cyclists.
While the fundamental design is very similar to the outgoing EH500, a big change here is a shift from aluminium to the carbon-reinforced resin that Shimano uses on its high-end 105 and Ultegra SPD-SL road pedals.
This shift to resin construction should make a difference in how the pedals handle. Anyone who’s used hybrid pedals will attest to their biggest problem: that they always seem to be the wrong way up, so you end up unclipped when you should be clipped-in, and vice-versa.
It’s hard to say how switching to a lighter build will affect this in practice, but presumably the heavier SPD side will always gravitate towards the bottom. This should at least make the hang more consistent, allowing you to flip the pedal more intuitively.
The other issue with the older PD-EH500s is that the non-SPD side can get slippy, especially when wet. The EH510 addresses this with a larger platform and longer pins. Combined with the more tactile nature of resin, this should ensure your trainers stay in place. While the new pins might tear chunks out of your soles and shins, they can be replaced with shorter, blunter ones if necessary.
There are a few other options for hybrid pedals on the market, including Shimano’s own XT PD-T8000 touring pedals, and Look’s Geo Trekking pedals, both of which are chunkier and include reflectors, making them better-suited to staying on smooth roads. Ritchey’s WCS Trail Pedals are a smaller platform that’s less likely to smack into roots and rocks when you’re mountain biking. By being both larger and flatter, the PD-EH510s hit the sweet spot between size and stability.
Hybrid pedals may seem like a bit of a jack-of-all-trades product, but they are remarkably useful, especially on one-bike-to-rule-them-all type builds. When using the bike for shopping or commuting you can wear regular trainers and wander around supermarkets without people thinking you’re a hungry tap-dancer, but it’s also easy to switch to SPD shoes for gravel or long-distance rides.
An overlooked benefit of hybrid pedals is that if your cycling cleats fail (and, believe me, that can happen) you can still pedal without the torturous pressure of an empty SPD interface on the ball of your foot, which is one less thing for long-distance cyclists to worry about.
We’ll have more on the Shimano PD-EH510s when we get them in for review.
3 thoughts on “Shimano’s classic two-in-one SPD/flat pedal is now wider, lighter, spikier, and less slippy”
I’ve heard hybrid pedals
I’ve heard hybrid pedals sometimes referred to as “college pedals” but I’ve searched for the origin of this term and have not had any luck getting to the bottom of it. Have you heard this?
mick_o wrote:
I’ve seen the term on American websites, I’ve always assumed it must derive from the fact that most students can’t afford/don’t have storage for two bikes so would use the same one for riding to college that they would use for shredding the mountains at the weekend, so would need pedals that could be used with both ordinary shoes and cleats.
Shimano lists this pedal as 61mm to center of pedal, but is the clip in the center of the pedal?
In other words, does this pedal measure 61mm to the center of the clip?