Cleats - easy release?

[Growler]

Hey there emtb world!

Ive been riding on and off for 30+ years, more in the last few months since I got my Rail 7.
My body is a little broken, bone grafts, screws and multiple surgeries on both ankles have left me with no horizontal movement in each ankle.

Is there a set of cleats, don't care brand that can be tuned or adjusted to have a quite lazy release or doesn't require as much of a twist in either direction?
I currently run an older set of crank brother mallets and see they have an 'easy release' set of cleats, anyone have some input on those?

So, I don't like flats, I started with toeclips in the late 80's went to clips and have used them ever since. But now my body is fighting with me, the action to release them is a bit of a fight and is really starting to feck me off!

Here is some fun to look at, both ankles the same, bone grafts taken from just under my knee. Screws are now out but I am still pretty broken and full of arthritis! The emtb has made me able to get back up the hills where the climbs just hurt my joints too much!

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

my SPD's have a tension screw so you can adjust the ease of release, shimano M959's

 

[H1 Dave]

Hello there.
I ride both a emtb (Focus Sam2) and a normal mtb (Trek EX7). Now i have a dodgy leg from a Motorcycle accident. I broke it in 5 places so now its a bit twisted and full of screws n plates. The funny thing is i ride the normal bike with Shimano M520 spd's (tension is adjustable too) and the emtb with flats. Tried riding the normal with flats bloody awful just don't seem to have the same ability/confidence with the flats as with the Spd's. However with the emtb i found that sometimes with the spd's there were times when i couldnt extract myself from the spd's quick enough and it was quite nervy particularly knowing that my dodgy leg could end up even more mangled! So now i always ride flats on emtb and spds on my normal bike. So got used to it and don't even think about it now.
Works best for me.
Regards
Dave.

 

[Darren66]

Another vote for cheap Shimano M520 or M540 with the tension backed off, you could also try the multi release cleats.

 

[Nicho]

Another vote for cheap Shimano M520 or M540 with the tension backed off, you could also try the multi release cleats.

View attachment 31184

I have been using these multi-release cleats for about 20 years, with Shimano PDM545 pedals, and like the way you can adjust them to release just where you feel comfortable.

 

[luna87824]

Any Shimano SPD pedal with SH-56 cleats will work great for easy release.....

 

[OldGoatMTB]

I've ridden Time ATAC pedals ever since I went clipless, 15-20 years. Always found them easy to get out of, but don't have anything to compare them to.

 

[deksawyer]

I've got an old set of time atac mtb pedals from 2002ish that I never used... One has some scratches from a static tryout and the other is still sealed in its airtight plastic.

Anyone got a couple of unwanted 10° cleats going spare? I'd like to try the pedals again...