Originally Posted by
gomango
First of all, I like 540s. I ride them on my commuter atm.
I had a pair of 520s blow up on me 23 miles into the BWCA on a fire road though. Bent the axle and it snapped.
Ended up walking the bike half the way back before a neighbor picked me up on his four wheeler.
Haven't tried the others since then, other than the 540s.
I prefer the clip in mechanism on the 8000 and 9000 if I'm in gravel. They shed mud quite well.
Otherwise the platforms on the other two give the a little more surface area between the clip and shoe.
On my Yeti, they both feel super secure in the rocks, sand and on singletrack. Plus no hot spots.
Thanks! My wife started with 520s because they were on a used Gary Fisher she bought (used as a commuter, not a mountain bike). A year later I got the same, since they'd worked great for her, and were dirt cheap. Then she ended up putting them on her road bike. They've been fine, but if we get into real off-road riding I was already planning on going to 540s on those bikes. I'm gradually shifting the road bikes to A600 and A530, simply because I like the looks, which is worth the slightly decreased utility of only being one sided.