I have one pair of xtr pedals that I switch between 3 bikes. These will be going on a road specific bike, worth a try for the money and comparative enough for me. Whether they explode within the year is yet to be seen.
I've used single sided SPD on the road, from A525 in the 80s through DuraAce in the 90s and some weight weenie options in the 2000s. I don't any more 🙂
If I wanted a no-platform SPD for road use, I'd just get PD-M540 and ignore the haters
Why rip off one brand when you can do two?🙂
Also not really apples to apples if you compare a single sided plain bearing road SPD to the double sided all roller XTR.