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I am searching for pedal/shoe nirvana.
Recently tried flats after decades of SPDs and was impressed with the feel and confidence to jump, however I still feel some sort of clipless would be better for most situations. To that end I bought some AM9 shoes and offered these up to some Saint SPD pedals I already have, but was disappointed to see that the majority of the platform of the pedal never really makes contact with the shoe when attached.
Photos of Mallets with AM9s appear to show almost complete contact as you would get with a flat pedal. Is that the case?
I have mallets and ion spd shoes. My foot is exactly where my feet are on flat pedals and secure.0 degree float
I can't answer your question however I have Mallet's and 5.10 Impact vxi clipless and they really don't work well together, they have too much contact and are far too difficult to clip into and out of. I find enduro style shoes work best with Mallet's but it's definitely a case of trial and error
Used to ride Mallets and whatever shoe preceded the AM9 and it was a good combo. Moved to flats a few years ago now though.
Coming from a lifelong SPD user, I now use Mallet E’s and Mavic Crossmax (I think) enduro shoe and aside from having to shim the cleat out from the sole a bit they’ve been great.
I had this exact combo and think the AM9 actually works better with the Mallet DH pedals than Crank Brothers own shoes do which I now own, on the AM9 with no cleat spacers the entry / exit was perfect and the shoe makes contact with the pedal platform unlike with the Saint pedals where they just wobbled on top with barely any contact at all.
I only changed the AM9's as they were just a bit to narrow for my feet and causing pain on the outer edge of my foot.
Crank brothers shoes are much more comfy but very slightly harder to clip in / out even with the supplied spacer, hopefully the shoes sole will wear down a bit. However overall still excellent.
Used that exact combo for years until recently changing to Shimano ME7 shoes. I found they work spot on, clipped or unclipped you can feel the platform, the trick is getting the pins set up, too high and its a pain to unclip, too low and there's a noticable lack of grip when riding unclipped, just takes a few rides to get it perfect. The me7's, which I now prefer, have a much stiffer sole and you can't 'feel the platform as much but to me they feel more stable when riding. Pretty sure I used the shim that comes with Mallet dh pedals, only downside being the brass cleats that wear out a LOT faster than spd cleats