clipless pedals

[dru_b]

ok, so i am learning as to why people dislike the shimano spd cleats and pedals. i am having trouble keeping clipped in without making the resistance too tight.

i am LOOKING at pedals online to see what's available but not sure just what i am looking for. never used anything besides shimano spd's.

tell me what you have used with the likes or dislikes associated with those pedals or what you may recommend without going balls out on price. trying to keep it budget minded without losing quality ya know.

[SweetSVT99]

I have been using SPD's since I switched to clipless and went through several sets of cleats a year. When the cleats start getting worn, you can crank the pedals all the way and they still won't stay clipped in.

I just switched to crank brothers, and love them so far.

[Bexter]

John used to be a Time guy... for probably the better of 20 years. A pair of Egg Beaters came on the Giant I got last year, and he tried them out and liked them (I was a platform pedal kind of girl and had no interest in the clipelss pedals). It wasn't until about 5 weeks ago that I decided to try clipless pedals (thanks to the encouragement from a number of people). I went with the Crank Brothers Mallet pedals. They have the egg beater mechanism but also have a platform. I thought that would be a good compromise for me being a newbie to clipless riding. I LOVE them! There is enough slack that I don't feel pinned down, and I have found that they are easy to get out of when needed. I've only had 1 "clipless incident." John also bought a pair of the Mallets (a better pair than the ones I bought) and also loves them. He said he'd never go back to Time. He liked the egg beaters so much that he also bought the regular egg beaters (no platform) for another one of his bikes.

Keep in mind though that the pedals Ray broke at the Stampede were the Mallets. I think the spindle broke off.

[Rage]

All the young kids are down with the Crank Bro's offerings, and they look like a decent enough pedal to me.

I switched from SPD to Time 10 years ago, have nothing but positive experience and have no desire to try anything else. Just sayin'.

Rg.

[mtnbkn1]

my feet tended to slide off to the outside on times. I ended up riding bow-legged. switched back to spds mostly due to the positioning. cleat wear is more than likely the problem with yours. I liked my times except for the cleat movement, but some people love that. I would think the crank bros would be similar due to the retention similarities. The newer spd's shed mud far better, which was the reason I left spds in the late 90's...

[dru_b]

still looking for more input, but with my time since the first post, i have been readin all i can on mtbr.com about pedals.

i gotta say, crank brothers reviews are a very mixed field. about equal on the love hate side of things, plus the fact that ray ray broke a brand new pair and neipert has broken a pair or 2 maybe even, cannot remember for sure. i gotta say i am not impressed thus far. they seem to be a weaker pedal.

now, for those dang spd's again. i am running the cheapest crappy m520's which also have many mixed reviews. issues with entry and exit, unexpected releases, etc. when i started reading on the m54o's, they are much better than the previous. almost a 90% good rating. much better than the 520's i have, and still MUCH cheaper than anything crank bros offers without getting their bottom line product.

still in search of the best bang for the buck i guess.........scotty, fixxer, what's you opinion from the repair guy standpoint? what feedback do you get?

scotty, you must've beat me to the post button.

[jimithng23]

dru_b...

for what it's worth, I started out on clipless SPDs (520s) and upgraded to the XTR SPD. Rode the pedal for a while and after talking with a few dudes in the club, decided to try egg beaters. I picked up a set of the SLs and haven't looked back.

I felt a difference between the two in that with the SPD I either felt *seriously* clipped-in, or really loosey-goosey. I had trouble when my cleat/pedals were muddy, and overall had more problems than I should have with the SPDs. I feel that the egg beaters offer some side-to-side *float* but I still have full confidence that I am attached to the bike. I have not yet had an issue with coming unclipped, or not being able to unclip in extreme situations. And, with 4 points of entry in the egg beaters, clipping in happens very quick and often without even thinking about it.

you should know as well as anybody on this forum to take online reviews for what they are - online reviews. My thinking is that the majority of reviews you will read are biased based on the fact that the reviewer may not have the best frame of reference. Instead, they post up a good review to justify the money they just spent.

If you want, I will lend you a set of egg beaters to try out...

...just my $.02

[Neiprider]

I have broken two spindles on the mallets, ray lost the nut on the end of the spindle so the pedal came apart but didn't actually break. I have four other sets of crank bro's pedals, candy c, candy sl, eggbeater c, and eggbeater sl, and have never had a problem with any of them. I am just wearing out my first set of cleats and have been riding them for years. The simplicity of the pedal is great because there is nothing to adjust at all. They shed mud great too. Shop around ebay, I got a $120 set of candy sl's (looked brand new) for $40 dollars delivered, not too bad. Crank's customer service is great too, they have fixed my mallets no questions asked both times and got them back to me quickly. Hope that helps.

[Slim3]

I too started out with the SPD 520s. I had a bad habit of coming unclipped at the worse times, going over obstacles, trying to bunny hop, etc. Once I got out here to Cali a couple of the guys talked me into trying the EGGBEATERS. All I can say is that I love'em. Easy to maintain, easy to clip in and out.

[Gunchie]

I personally like that seriously clipped in feeling of SPD's so I've been reluctant to try something else, but it's hard to ignore the popularity of crank brothers. Only one way to tell... try them and see for yourself. Everyone likes something different. I'd like to try some eggbeaters myself.

[forcmeister]

dru_b

All my mtn bikes, all my fixies and my cyclocross bike have Ritchey SPD pedals on them. I've riden Ritchey now for over 10 years. I have riden alot of single track, done alot of races, and commuted alot of miles with them, and I have to say that I have not had one bit of trouble with them. They work well in all kinds of conditions, very rarely do I have trouble getting clipped in, and most importantly they are kind to my knees. Some of the pedals that I ride today are still the originals that I bought 10 plus years ago. And as far as cleats go I very rarely have to replace them. So, to me, the Ritchey pedals are the way to go. That's the forcmeisters 2cents.

FM

[basebklyn1]

If you get egg beaters make sure to get SL's, not the C's. The SL's are made of stainless steel and the C's are made of a cheap carbon steel. Any prolonged riding in bad conditions on the C's will chew them up pretty bad and I've had a couple wings break off on some old sets of C's (you can still ride them like this, just with less entry points.) I think of lot of the bad reviews are for the C's and for this reason.

[SPLASH]

Time all the way. No adjustment...great mud clearing...always work...in other words, what Rage said.

[The Fixxer]

I've been riding shimano spd's ever since I took off my straps & cages back in 1998, and they have worked great for all these years. I've used the lowest models and the highest one's too and found not much difference in the ride quality or release factor, it all comes down to weight for differences of shimano spd's.

Some of the problems with clipping out unintentionaly can be due to a few factors. The cleat alignment on the shoe isn't in the correct place for your foot allignment on the pedal. You can move the cleat around a little at a time, be sure to only make very small adjustments at a time to the cleat and see if that helps your staying clipped in.

Another way that some riders come unclipped prematurely is a wild foot/feet, a wild foot is one that is always moving around on the pedal, therfore while its moving around all it takes is the wrong bump in the trail to make it pop out of the pedal. The way to help fix that can be with a bit of practice and concentration in keeping your knees in a straighter line with your foot, will result in less foot movement and result in less WTF! clipouts.

Of course cleat wear & tension adjustment can be a factor too, so always check those if your having any problems, and dont forget to lube the pivot points on all pedals to keep the pedal functioning properly.

When chosing a pedal it tends to come down to personal prefrence and price, definately try different types of them if you get the chance before you invest.

I hope this and all of the other great advice in this thread helps you with your issue.

By the way congratulations on moving into the clipless era!

[gussy27]

I got a set of crank bro's Acid's and I love them. They have the same clip in system as eggbeaters do and provide a wide enough platform for whenever you have that not so clipped in moment. And it's not as wide as it's downhill brother the mallet. If that's what your lookin for you can try mine any time. They don't have any traction pins on them: Cons, you lose alittle grip. Pros, you wont kill your shins.

[Bexter]

WTF! clipouts...

I love it!!!!!! Best description ever!

[Chuck Norris]

I've never ridden on any other system than crank bros - they were what I started with. I had a set of stainless eggbeaters and bought a pair of candy SL's a few years back. I love having that little extra platform for working some technical. I love the fact that the system is simple, low profile, and sheds mud & grit easily.

On this system, I've never had any WTF clipouts. While I do not race, I have never broken a pair. You can get some great deals on them on EBAY.