Mountain Biking - Going clipless: Should I stick w/ SPD or buy Eggbeaters right away?

I just got a new bike, a Giant Trance 3. I love it! I am going to get some shoes in a week or two and go clipless for the first time. Should I just use the SPD cleats and pedals that came on the bike (Shimano PD-505 I think), or spend the bucks for Crank Brothers stainless steel Eggbeaters right now and only have to learn one system?

Are the Eggbeaters easy enough to slip out of? At this point the weight savings is of no concern. (I need to reduce my own tonnage first!) Riding will be moderate trails and easier.

Eggbeaters right away, FAR easier to get out of and far more consistent than SPD's. My first pedals were Eggbeaters, tried SPD's for a few weeks and promptly threw them out.

Eggbeaters right away, FAR easier to get out of and far more consistent than SPD's. My first pedals were Eggbeaters, tried SPD's for a few weeks and promptly threw them out.

I agree with Seely. For MTB, Cross and offroad the Eggbeaters are a great pick. I have SPDs for road adn they are fine but am thinking about moving to a larger platform design.

Cheers,
Dusk

Well, I just ordered a set of the sl (stainless steel) egbeaters from buildyourbike at ebay. $77 delivered. Man, the titanium version of these pedles can get PRICEY! For the money I save by lugging the extra 76 grams I can buy a lot of replacement tubes, chain lube, tires, grips, and band-aids! Thank for the advice guys.

Eggbeaters right away, FAR easier to get out of and far more consistent than SPD's. My first pedals were Eggbeaters, tried SPD's for a few weeks and promptly threw them out.
Seely said it best

Oh Yeah Baby! The Crank Brothers Eggbeaters are nice! I got them in the mail Saturday, put the cleats on pair of new Shimano shoes (on sale at REI) Saturday evening, and went riding Sunday morning. Good Stuff. I went with the stainless steel version.

I never even put the SPD cleats (that came with the M505 pedals on the new bike) on any shoes.

Egg Beaters; SPDs are utter and complete crap.

The 505s and 515s are sticky, gooey crap. Shimano has done themselves a huge disservice by turning off thousands of riders to SPDs with these "introductory" pedals.

Their old 535 and 737 pedals were great -- in fact, I've still got a pair of 535s I've been riding since late 1996. I just picked up another set off ebay.

Their newer 520/540/959 pedals have that same crisp feel, but even better mud shedding ability. The 520s are a downright bargin, but watch out -- the chrome plating flaked off mine within months, but Shimano was good enough to warranty them for me (hopefully just an early production fluke). With only a 35g weight penalty over the 959s, and ~100g heavier than the Eggbeater SLs, the 520s are hard to pass up (especially when they're on sale at $40)

I just got a new bike, a Giant Trance 3. I love it! I am going to get some shoes in a week or two and go clipless for the first time. Should I just use the SPD cleats and pedals that came on the bike (Shimano PD-505 I think), or spend the bucks for Crank Brothers stainless steel Eggbeaters right now and only have to learn one system?

Are the Eggbeaters easy enough to slip out of? At this point the weight savings is of no concern. (I need to reduce my own tonnage first!) Riding will be moderate trails and easier.

I used to have Onza pedals- some hate them but for me they were great. Eventually they had to be replaced and I went for Shimano 515's purely on cost. Never had any problems and have them on all 3 of my bikes- They Work and are cheap. There is one disadvantage though and that is they don't like mud. Doesn't bother me too much as I rarely stop on a ride except for the coffee break, so rarely get mud in the mechanism. This is one area where the eggbeaters will score hands down, and where the old Onzas definitely had an advantage over the Shimano's.

if your going clipless for the first time you might want to use shimano spd. you can adjust the tension. when you get used to it then consider eggbeater. save you few bruises.

like speedub mention, shimano 520 is a bargain. careful with the shimano series ending with an "5". some users reported unable to unclip in emergency and result in broken bones. check reviews at mtbr.com

if your going clipless for the first time you might want to use shimano spd. you can adjust the tension. when you get used to it then consider eggbeater. save you few bruises.

like speedub mention, shimano 520 is a bargain. careful with the shimano series ending with an "5". some users reported unable to unclip in emergency and result in broken bones. check reviews at mtbr.com

Dude, what are you talking about? Save yourself some bruises? Why do you think most of us have gone to Egg Beaters, Frogs, etc. over the crap pedals that Shimano puts out there? Because they CAUSE bruises, falls, mishaps and all sorts of other problems. There are only two reasons one should ever own SPDs: 1) because they came with the bike and you can't afford to purchase new ones or 2) you're sponsored by Shimano and have no choice but to ride their crap pedals. Otherwise, if you have the coin, fork it over and buy yourself a decent set of pedals that won't kill you.

How about the nashbar set here (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=8863&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=)? I ran a set of shimano type(I presume) pedals (not brand) for several years with no issue. Maybe I am not up to the eggbeaters but I am alos not up to the price.