Shimano PD-M540 Pedals

Review from What MTB

What does your extra tenner get you over the Shimano M520s? Well, they're a wee bit lighter and everything just feels a bit better quality out of the box, and there are no spanner flats on the cro-mo spindles so they tighten onto the crank with an allen key out back, looking neater as a result. Apart from that, it's more or less the same pedal, the same gappy mud-friendlier design, the same Shimano float and release feel. You either do or you don't really.

In conclusion...

Affordable, tidy looking, and reassuringly durable

Rating: 8/10

Review from Singletrack

Almost identical to the XT pedal but made slightly cheaper due to lower quality bearings and hence a few grams heavier. But even that extra few (four!) grams does push this pedal to the top of the weight list for non-platformed pedals. But for the chunkiness you do get the same super-quick engagement and lovely positive release as the XT, just in a reversed colour scheme.

In conclusion...

A beefy pedal but for the money it works briliantly and indistinguishable from the XT.