I recently bought a set of the new Shimano XTR pedals because of the increased contact area. However, looking at the front of the pedal between the string and the front retention bar, the space between these two seems to be about half of the clearance on the previous generation XTR's. It seems like the smaller space could cause clogging issues. Has anybody used these pedals in mud yet and is able to comment on the ability of these pedals to shed mud? Should I race these or stick with the tried and true previous generation pedals, which I never had any problems with?
Thanks.

I would just stick with them and if there are any issues then switch to the old pedal. I have the new xt m780s which also have the wider platform and I love them, but have not ridden them in mud. Making sure your cleats don't clog up is almost more important and if you dremel the bottom cleats on the shoe you can greatly decrease the likely hood of your cleats getting clogged.

http://www.cxmagazine.com/mechanical-mo ... air-cleats

I switched to 980's mid cx season last year and while I did not race any really serious mud, the couple wet courses I raced on proved your observations correct. From my perspective, the M980's actually seemed to acrete mud easier - especially moist/slimey mud - than the M970's. One solution that I have not tried is to 'notch' out a bit more clearance between the cleat and the knobs on the soles of your shoes (see Mechanical Mondays: When To Repair Your Cleats article).

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Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...

The new style XTR pedals are not ideal in the mud. This is why you still see a lot of the Euro CX racers on the old models when it's really muddy.

It has less to do with the shape, but more to do with the increased shoe contact area. The extra contact area is what makes these pedals so great in the dry. More stability, etc.

But, the other side of that is you've got a lot of extra contact area exposed to mud/dirt. That causes increased friction with the shoe/pedal and more surface area to clog up.

I keep an old pair of 970s around for muddy days (and even some eggbeaters if it's a real shit fest).

I raced on Sunday with 980 pedals on a sticky terrain. They are not the ideal pedals for muddy conditions for sure, but they are not too bad.

On the other hand I feel a better control of my bike, much better I would say, due to the extra contact area which is huge. I feel the pedals like an extension of my shoes. I think they are the best in dry condition.
For muddy races (extreme conditions) I think it's better to have a spare set of Crank B., Look or Time

Having raced in the 'soup' at the USGP in Madison & Fort Collins, I now have mixed feelings about the M980's utility in the mud. For the masters race on day two (Sunday) in Madison a few weeks back, we had moderate rain that ended just before the start offering soupy, sloshy mud that really did not seem to inhibit clipping back in after running (okay, fast walking ) through the mud. For the Fort Collins round, although the earlier races had light mist which kept the track relatively dry early on day one, the rain let loose as the officials started the callups. The rain quickly turned much of the course into a thick gooey muck and my Sidi Dragons and XTR M980 pedals got seriously clogged after the runup and with a bumpy downhill immediatley afterwards, it was a struggle to get clipped back into the pedals for many sections of the course during the race. Fortunately the slightly larger platform made it a little easier to pedal while struggling to clip back in.

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Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...

just got the new xtr and after 3 uses in the mud they are noticably harder to engage when it is muddy

not crazy bad but noticable

I switched to the new gen XTR pedals this season as well and love the increased contact area. I thought they handled the USGP Madison Day2 mud adequately and similarly to the old gen XTR pedals

I agree, they worked great for Madison day 2 unfortunately for me, the same set of pedals got clogged and were not very user friendly for Fort Collins day 1.

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Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...