Mountain Biking - Clipless Pedals

I have no idea what kind of pedals to get, I've been thinking about Crank Bro's. Any help? I'm looking in the under $70 range... Thanks!

I cant remember the brand but i got some nice hybrid (one side platform the other clip) for around 75, go to your LBS and ask around.

Crankbrothers Candy C pedals are great. You can get them on performance for $49 plus shipping.

Crank Bros Mallet C pedals are in that price range and are great transition pedals because they have a platform aspect for the dicey parts of the trail. I have them and like them a lot. Make sure to practice at least 3 hrs in your driveway before daring to hit a trail and wear pads. Yes, I speak from experience!!

Shimano 520's and they will last you a very long time.

Crank bros makes the best, lightest pedals in this price range, in my opinion. The cheaper shimano's are very heavy, and I don't really like the release.

yeah, cheaper shimano is heavier but, here is the funny part that I realise, no matter how expensive you pay on your Shimano pedals, it could not be as light a Crank Bros eggies. But Shimano does look stronger though

The Crank Bros are nice and are a cool looking product but it's hard to beat an M520 for $37 here (http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=31491). They may be slightly heavier but the stupid things work...Damn you, Shimano! I hate Shimano, really, but their stuff just plain works. And at $37 they compete with cheaper (and less reliable) Wellgo, etc.

agreed

I had a pair of Shimano that came stock on my Kona Caldera. I hated them. They clogged with mud easily... one time while riding in January the mud froze and I couldn't get out. I fell onto my right knee during a planned stop on a fireroad. I landed on a rock. This sucked because I had completely dislocated my right knee in May (7 months earlier) and took up cycling - mostly mountain biking - because I had to give up running due to the knee injury. At the time of the pedal freezing I was still recovering: I had a limited range of motion, the MCL was still a little sloppy, and I still had some pain. Biking was the answer.

I immediately ordered a pair of Eggbeaters and haven't looked back since. I gave away my Shimanos and will never go back.

M540 Spd's - These are almost idenical to the 959's but at a reasonable price. I've put many miles on them and they are great. Only $70-75 bucks instead of the $120 for the 959's. I had the 520's on a bike for a couple of years, but found the 540's much nicer and worth a few extra bucks. The 520's seemed heavy for me even though I dont care about weight on my bike.

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M540-Pedals/dp/B000G7SR8E

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000G7SR8E.01-A1K3STFM6ANN7W._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V66815827_.jpg

M540 Spd's - These are almost idenical to the 959's but at a reasonable price. I've put many miles on them and they are great. Only $70-75 bucks instead of the $120 for the 959's. I had the 520's on a bike for a couple of years, but found the 540's much nicer and worth a few extra bucks. The 520's seemed heavy for me even though I dont care about weight on my bike.

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M540-Pedals/dp/B000G7SR8E

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000G7SR8E.01-A1K3STFM6ANN7W._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V66815827_.jpg

Cambria lists the weight on the 520 as 370g and the 540 as 320g. Personally, having wrench flats on the pedals is much more important than saving 20g. I dislike installing pedals with an allen wrench;)

Cambria lists the weight on the 520 as 370g and the 540 as 320g. Personally, having wrench flats on the pedals is much more important than saving 20g. I dislike installing pedals with an allen wrench;)


Good point about the allen install on those. My 520's are a few years old and were of a different design than the newer ones. The had to be a lot heavier than the new 520's and felt like they had twice the float (too much is bad). Now that I think about it- maybe I meant to say 515. They are collecting dust on the road bike right now waiting for better weather.

Crank Bros Mallet C pedals are in that price range and are great transition pedals because they have a platform aspect for the dicey parts of the trail. I have them and like them a lot. Make sure to practice at least 3 hrs in your driveway before daring to hit a trail and wear pads. Yes, I speak from experience!!

Pricepoint.com currently has orange Mallet-Ms (ligher magnesium platform) on sale for $60 a pair. You can always paint the pedal body ;-)

BTW, I greatly enjoy my Mallet-Cs. When things get rough, it's nice to have a nice plaform to stomp your foot onto and still be able to give a decent push.

I just bought some slightly used CB Candy SL's for $48 w/ new cleats, is that a good deal? :beer:

I just bought some slightly used CB Candy SL's for $48 w/ new cleats, is that a good deal? :beer:


Sweet deal. Used pedals will still last forever. Cha-ching $$

Sweet deal. Used pedals will still last forever. Cha-ching $$

coool, I will post a pic when they come in!:beer:

i'm surprised no one has mentioned the time atac. take a look at those as well. perform well in the mud, easy in and out.

Make sure to practice at least 3 hrs in your driveway before daring to hit a trail and wear pads. Yes, I speak from experience!!

This is unnecessary. Try the pedals out before hitting a trail, but to say that you need 3 hours to get used to them is ridiculous. You may adapt quickly or it may take you longer. My first experience on clipless was on my second ride ever. I had 10 minutes in the lot to get used to them and then we hit some singletrack. I won't lie, I had some tumbles and falls that were in part due to the pedals on that ride and subsequent rides. But, you learn to get out of them fast when you're put in a position where you need to get out of them fast. It soon becomes second nature.

Additionally, I'm not a believer in the clipless/platform combo. Often the platform on these combos is not very grippy. Additionally, many clipless shoes do not have a sole that is very useful on a platform. You've got to commit to the clipless system. If you have the option to clip out when the trail gets a little rough, you probably will. This will hinder your progress on using the clipless system.

Additionally, I'm not a believer in the clipless/platform combo. Often the platform on these combos is not very grippy. Additionally, many clipless shoes do not have a sole that is very useful on a platform. You've got to commit to the clipless system. If you have the option to clip out when the trail gets a little rough, you probably will. This will hinder your progress on using the clipless system.

I'd rather walk than use clipless / platform combos :lol:

I'd rather walk than use clipless / platform combos :lol:

right on

You obviously have no experience with the right clipless platform pedal/shoe combo.

I haven't had any of the issues that you describe.

True. I was speaking from my own experience. Maybe you can provide some info on the clipless/platform pedal combo that you have used. I'm sure this would help the OP in making their decision.

Shimano 646/647 with Adidas Hematoma or Specialized BG TRAIL 120 SL shoes.

excellent. i may also look into those when i'm in the market for a new set of pedals/shoes. thanks.

I love my eggbeaters, but there are some places where I am scared for my life being clipped in. Not having the platform on there makes it pretty much impossible to ride without clipping in (which I'd much rather do on some downhill sections I go through).

...

Additionally, I'm not a believer in the clipless/platform combo. Often the platform on these combos is not very grippy.


They're never grippy using flat shoes. If they were grippy you would be unable to pivot out of the clip.



Additionally, many clipless shoes do not have a sole that is very useful on a platform.

Well, that's not really the point of most combo systems (the AtomLab Quickstep being the exception). The platform is just there to get started and allow an emergency spot after dabs. Plus it allow for casual use without shoes.

For the combo systems, in order to have any real grip without cleats, you need to have a deep and sparse rubber tread that literally "envelops" all of the pedal surface.

found the 540's for about $50 from blue sky cycling, been a great pedal, I run the multi release cleat, very easy out.

first post. but not a newbie- been road racing and road riding for quite some time now... but never put clipless pedals on my mountain bike- until now.

my first question is probably a stupid one- as i'm really not familiar with the offroad world. does/did LOOK ever make an offroad pedal? i ask only because it would be nice to keep the same system on all my bikes and ive ridden with LOOKs since the very early 90s...

second- when looking at Crank Bros. or Shimano- will most all offroad shoes accomodate either choice?


thanks in advance for informative replies.

first post. but not a newbie- been road racing and road riding for quite some time now... but never put clipless pedals on my mountain bike- until now.

my first question is probably a stupid one- as i'm really not familiar with the offroad world. does/did LOOK ever make an offroad pedal? i ask only because it would be nice to keep the same system on all my bikes and ive ridden with LOOKs since the very early 90s...

second- when looking at Crank Bros. or Shimano- will most all offroad shoes accomodate either choice?


thanks in advance for informative replies.

Look doesn't list any mountain bike pedals in their catalog. Their system uses a much larger cleat then the SPD or Crank Bros. which would not be good for off-road use. You will end up walking more off-road and you don't want a large slippery cleat under your foot when you go off-road.

Most all of the pedal/shoe combinations for off-road are compatible. You might have to do some minor surgery on the shoe to get it to fit properly but it's usually not much of a problem. Just be sure to get a mountain bike shoe with a good agressive sole on it. 'Cause as bad as a large slippery cleat is off-road, a large slippery shoe is even worse:D

A friend of mine just gave me these. I love em. The cage around them helps me locate my cleat without looking.

http://nbs1.homeunix.net/~Randy/pics/M424.jpg

heavyyyyy

Razor blades.

Gargle.

Repeat.


I dont get it

heavyyyyy


They're on a bike that already weighs 29lbs.

:rolleyes:

oh I see, oh well

A friend of mine just gave me these. I love em. The cage around them helps me locate my cleat without looking.

http://nbs1.homeunix.net/~Randy/pics/M424.jpg

I used the very similar 545's as my first pair of clipless's back in the day. The learning curve is a bit faster because you can buy yourself time finding the entry point while still moving on technical terrain. After a while I really started preferring the simplicity of the 540's and could get into them almost 100% of the time. I mostly XC and singletrack - no DH racing.

http://treads.com/images/library/large/shimano_pdm545_05_m.jpg

ive always used the time clipless i love them
http://www.pricepoint.com/images/styleImages/D_240%20TIMAB9.jpg

I used the very similar 545's as my first pair of clipless's back in the day. The learning curve is a bit faster because you can buy yourself time finding the entry point while still moving on technical terrain. After a while I really started preferring the simplicity of the 540's and could get into them almost 100% of the time. I mostly XC and singletrack - no DH racing.

http://treads.com/images/library/large/shimano_pdm545_05_m.jpg

Yeah, my bike came with 505's and I'd been riding on those for 3 months before I put those on. It wasn't always a big deal, but when you're exhausted trying to click in after losing some momentum on a monster climb, the cages help.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=8863&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20ATB%20Clipless%20Pedals

Nashbar pedals have been good to me. cheap, light, SPD compatible and 20 bucks.

I like my CB Candy pedals.... cheap and work very well. A huge improvement from SPDs if you ask me.

If you are on a budget I strongly suggest Wellgo pedals. Work as good and sometimes better than Shimano and are a tad cheaper.

Ricardo

A friend of mine just gave me these. I love em. The cage around them helps me locate my cleat without looking.

http://nbs1.homeunix.net/~Randy/pics/M424.jpg

I had these cleats for a couple of months and the plastic cage broke when my foot hit a rock. I just use the Shimano M-520 SPD now, which work okay.

okeedokee...

got my shoes and stole the 520s off my kids road bike and set out. everything is as it should be- but ive got a question for the more experienced mountain bikers out there...

spring tension. do you run it light so can put a foot down quickly? or tune it tight to keep your feet from unclipping through the rough stuff.

and dont say- "somewhere in the middle" as that's obvious. i'm looking for which of the two options most of you lean towards.

thanks in advance