Mountain Biking - Help here pls

Hey I was wondering, what you guys think about these two products?

http://www.exustar.com/sm321.php <---- MTB Shoe
http://www.exustar.com/pm25.php <----- MTB Pedals

practically, im not sure many riders out there never heard of this brand but the shoe that I saw looks quite ok, well made and it is stiff. Not sure about the pedals though but its light (I think comparing to Shimano) and from
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Pedal/product_127466.shtml
it sounds a pretty good product.

Anyone of you guys owned or used this product before and what you guys think bout it because im thinking of using that pedal and the shoe on my Giant Anthem 2. I wonder what makes their pedal lighter then Shimano's, It works the same I guess and I wonder what if I use Shimano pedals on the shoe.

Sorry if I ask a lot its just I dont know a lot about pedals and clipless shoes

I'm using Shimano PD-M424 pedals with Specialized Taho shoes (point being shoes and pedals don't have to be same brand).

As far as the quality of the pedal, don't know. I'm new to clipless (one week) so I've got a lot to learn myself.

I would suggest you find a place to try them on before buying. You don't want to deal with a too-tight or too-loose shoe for 10-15 miles.

I have used many off brand pedals and I keep coming back to Shimano. They just seem to work better and are much tougher. The pedals you are inquiring about bother me because they have Cromo axles. I tend to bend that stuff. If it's not stainless steel, I don't buy. I have bent several cromo's just doing small jumps on cross country courses.

Those shoes look pretty nice, though. I'd buy 'em.

well thanks, Ive been thinking of getting Shimano too although its like 80g heavier because it uses bearings instead of bushings ^^

I wouldn't worry too much about 80g on a mountain bike...unless you earn a living racing one that is! As far as quality a big +1 on the Shimano comments. I've pounded them into rocks, ridden in muddy and dusty conditions, and generally been tough on them and they've never let me down.

As far as the shoes go I don't know that brand in particular. Just make sure that you get something that fits your feet nicely and are comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. If they're well constructed and feel good buy them.

wheelhot have you considered eggbeaters? I ran spd's for a couple years and then made the switch to eggbeaters. I'll never go back. The difference in the mud is amazing.

well, I though of em and think deeply bout it, simple maintainance, lightweight but I just dont buy it looks, it looks sooo fragile (small) and no offence, well I believe that to use a EggBeater you must first have a stiff shoe right? Anyway which EggBeater you recommend? I cant make my mind up because I made my mind for Shimano's which is PD540 while Egg Beaters I cant pick between SL, C and MXR because all of them has a mixed review in MTBR. SL seems the perfect one but I scared my dealer might charge it as RM400 which is ouch!, so for a cheaper choice and lighter it would be the MXR rather then the C but both of these product review is not so erm good. Shed some light here lowcel?

I have no idea what you are talking about, sorry. As far as I know pretty much everyone that uses eggbeaters love them, at least in my area. As for the SL or the C get whichever your budget allows. I prefer the SL's. They are lighter plus they don't get the surface rust. As for fragile I've been beating the crap out of my main pair of eggbeaters for over three years now and I've never had a problem with them. I have owned the eggbeater C's, eggbeater SL's and the Eggbeater candy's. Never had the first problem out of any of them. However if I ever do I know that crank bros will take care of me.

haha, good one. Hmm so are you saying that C will rust? That will be a good point for me to tell my mom why i need SL, haha, because my mom will only buy me exp stuffs if its for safety

It is just a little surface rust, won't make them dangerous.

oh k then, haha seems you understand my mom haha

Hey Low Cel, which of Crank Bros eggbeater is same price as shimano 540's pedal?

Why dont you find that out yourself ;).

Why dont you find that out yourself ;).

Great answer!

It really is pretty easy to find that one out wheelhot. Just check out a couple of websites, thats what I did. Found out the eggbeater C is pretty much the same price as the 540's.

thanks, ahh im full now, fasting makes you feel tired and lazy. Haiz I better study haha

Dirtrag did a review a while back on the shoes. they were happy with them.they said they were comfortable, stiff and held up well.

well practically im looking for a pedal that lasts because from what I read from MTBR, the chromoly version seems to suffer from wings getting bent and so on. And they only use it for 3 - 1year and the price different is reasonable.

As far as I know they all use the same wings except for the titanium egg beaters. The difference between the C's and the SL's is the axle.

swt, well EggBeaters SL uses stainless steel as its wings while MXR and C uses carbon steel. Im pretty sure stainless is stronger then carbon steel.

I would avoid bushings when possible on pedals.
Ive seen lots of eggbeaters get bent but none of the Candies.
I would also look at the Time pedals. the ALIUM are tough as nails, hold up well and are inexpensive as well as having a decent sized platform for unclipped situations. Ive used them myself and if I hadnt found a steal on the carbon atacs I still would be.
if safety and longevity are your biggest issues stay away from non platformed clipless pedals like eggbeaters and if you ride in muddy conditions you will be better off with Times or Candies than any SPD or clone

Ahhh, I stand corrected.

I would avoid bushings when possible on pedals.
Ive seen lots of eggbeaters get bent but none of the Candies.
I would also look at the Time pedals. the ALIUM are tough as nails, hold up well and are inexpensive as well as having a decent sized platform for unclipped situations. Ive used them myself and if I hadnt found a steal on the carbon atacs I still would be.
if safety and longevity are your biggest issues stay away from non platformed clipless pedals like eggbeaters and if you ride in muddy conditions you will be better off with Times or Candies than any SPD or clone

Have you ridden the candies? I have and I hated them. Most people that I know end up going back to the standard eggbeaters after they buy the candies.

well im going to let my dealer decide on it, all of this choice is giving me headache haha

Aargh!!!! Interbike Hasnt End Yet!! I Want Free Stuffs!!!!!

Wheelhot - I did a race yesterday that was muddy as all hell and involved a lot of hiking. One thing that I noticed was that the people riding eggbeaters and most of the people riding times were able to clip in relatively trouble free the whole race. The people with spd's were constantly trying to clean their shoes and pedals.

yeah, thanks I believe its best I take Eggies because here in Malaysia the races must have a river crossing haha. Anyway according to my father (a guy who works around metals - engineer) he says that carbon steel is stronger then stainless steel unless they mess up the calculation then stainless is stronger then carbon. But carbon steel cannot be bent, it will break and my father say that it would take a very strong force to break carbon steel, weird eh if you compare to reviews inside MTBR

stainless has been heated more than black so it can actually be more brittle. Ive seen a gazzillion times, at work, hardened or stainless steel break under vibration or quick stress while the black steel will bend instead.
no Ive never tried the candies, just seen a lot of eggbeaters bend or break.
Ill stick with TIMEs. theyve not let me down yet. I even bent a crankarm once from hitting the pedal so hard but the ATAC Alium stayed true

I have those shoes and love them, except the studs that come in the front are crappy because they are very weak, but i couldn't really ask for more from a 100$ shoe. As for pedals i have shimano clipless and have nothing but good things to say about them, very consistant. My next pedals will probably be crankbrothers though, as i've heard nothing but good things about them too. The only thing is, you have to buy new cleats every year with crankbrothers, while the shimano cleats last for a very long time.

All I know is that they say SUPER on the side....and that's GANGSTA!

well, maybe ill take the gamble of buying eggies although there is risk of breakage because I trust my father because hes been in this business for 10years plus and he knows alot about metals. Go Dad! ^^

The reason I recommend Shimano is b/c I don't ride in mud. I don't like to trash the trail and mud/water is hell on bikes.

If you ride in mud alot, I'd probably go with eggbeaters too.

The reason I recommend Shimano is b/c I don't ride in mud. I don't like to trash the trail and mud/water is hell on bikes.

If you ride in mud alot, I'd probably go with eggbeaters too.

I don't like to ride in the mud either, I hate to damage the trails. However on race day I don't really have much of a choice. If it's muddy I still have to race it. :(

well I sure dont want to not be able to clip in during a competition

If it gets muddy where you ride, go with Time ATACs or the eggbeaters - it's the preferred choice in WV racing circles... My son rides the ATAC carbon xs - he beat one set to death for 4 years, and I recently replaced them with a slightly used pair I picked up on e-bay for $89. His old ones were just worn down where the shoe clips in.

And, I have to say, LowCel is right on the money - I was timing at Sunday's race, and you could see the difference between the amount of mud collected on spd's vs time/eggbeaters at the end of the race!