Archival Review of Shimano Pedals

The M650 is Shimano's Deore DX pedal for use with or without toe clips. It has their competition shape with a cage that slopes down and behind the rider, with a relatively low profile. The body is made of cast aluminum alloy with two pins molded on the top of the braces near the body to provide increased surface for grip. There are also two pins cast into the bottom on the outer brace. The body has two steel cup races pressed into it for the inner and outer bearings. The spindle is made of cast Cro-moly steel with a 6mm allen head fitting in the threaded end for ease of installation. For bearings the M650 uses fourteen 2.2mm steel ball bearings for both the inner and outer bearing assembly. The spindle slides through a rubber dust seal, to protect the inner bearings, into a white Teflon sleeve in the body that distributes the load over a broader area of the spindle. A Black plastic dust cap snaps into the outer end of the body to close off the outer bearings. The bearing tension is adjustable. The cage is made of die-cut steel, with the taller rear of the cage bent back providing more ground clearance. The M650 has three tangs off the rear of the cage for toe flips. The front of the cage has two holes that are tapped with 5mm by .8mm pitch so toe clips mount directly to the pedal with no rear nuts required. The cage is held to the body with four countersunk screws, that have 3mm hex fittings, which screw into tapped holes at the end of the body braces.

The braces and cage have slots for toe straps, and there is space between the braces for a strap twist. The pedal set comes with Black molded nylon toe clips in the large size, and installation bolts in two lengths. The 7mm bolts are for toe clips without reflectors and the 14mm long ones are if you use pedal reflectors. This is a reversing pedal, even with toe clips installed on the top side, you can kick out and use the bottom as a pedal without clips. The pair of M650 Deore DX Comp pedals without the toe clips installed weighs 386 grams. The toe clips and mounting bolts weigh 64 grams. The body is Silver and the cage is Black. No longer made, we sold the last of these for $29.99

The M735 is the Deore XT model of Shimano's toe clip style mountain pedal. They share many features with the M650 but also have some significant upgrades. The body of the pedal is made of cast aluminum alloy, in the same shape as the M650, then is barrel polished. It has pins in the body in the same locations as the M650 but on the M735 they are steel pins driven into the aluminum body. The body has a steel piece pressed into it that has the bearing cup for the outer bearings at one end and the inner cup at the other. The inner bearings using this piece are actually located at the center, while the outer bearings are just 5/8" farther out on the spindle. In advance of the inner bearing is a Teflon sleeve that supports 3/4" of the spindle to balance the load on the spindle and displace it over a broader area. For the bearings themselves, both the inner and outer rely on twelve 2.2mm diameter steel ball bearings.

The spindle is cast of Cro-moly steel with evidence of post casting, bearing race polishing. The bearings are protected from outside contamination by a rubber seal that closes off the thread end of the body. A second rubber seal on the spindle closes off the outer bearings from the inner ones and an amazingly tight fitting Black plastic cap that threads into the end of the pedal body. The bearing tension is adjustable. The cage for the M735 is made of die cut aluminum and shaped just like the one for the M650. The cage has a three tang toe flip. There are slots in the braces and the cage for the toe strap with enough space for a twist in the strap between them. The front of the cage has two holes that are tapped with 5mm by .8mm pitch so toe clips mount directly to the pedal with no rear nuts required. The cage is held to the body with four countersunk screws that have 3mm hex heads which screw into tapped holes at the end of the body braces. The pedal set comes with Black molded nylon toe clips in the large size, and installation bolts in two lengths. The pair of 7mm long bolts are toe clips without reflectors and the pair of 14mm long ones are if you use pedal reflectors. This is a reversing pedal set, with toe clips mounted on the top side, you can kick out, and use the bottom as a pedal. The pair of M735 Deore XT Comp pedals without toe clips installed weighs 318 grams. The toe clips and mounting bolts weigh 64 grams. The body is Silver and the cage is Black. No longer made, we sold the last of these for $54.99 a pair.