Mountain Biking - which clipless? and why

When I went to the LBS, they had crankbros smartys in stock. It seems like I can disconnect and just hang on a little on the pedal when I feel a little uncomfortable. The original clipless pedal I was looking at were the crankbros mallet. They cost almost double to the smarty and it would take about 2 weeks to come in. I am a newbie with clipless, but I also dont ride very hard. I do mild trails and roads. I occasionally do small jumps, or roots , rocks etc.. In the end the mallet would be useless, but also I like the mallet cause it seems I can just use my regular shoes when I want to to go ride, or will it be uncomfortable? Either way, I would like peoples input on the smarty pedals and mallets and their experiences. Thanks

When I went to the LBS, they had crankbros smartys in stock. It seems like I can disconnect and just hang on a little on the pedal when I feel a little uncomfortable. The original clipless pedal I was looking at were the crankbros mallet. They cost almost double to the smarty and it would take about 2 weeks to come in. I am a newbie with clipless, but I also dont ride very hard. I do mild trails and roads. I occasionally do small jumps, or roots , rocks etc.. In the end the mallet would be useless, but also I like the mallet cause it seems I can just use my regular shoes when I want to to go ride, or will it be uncomfortable? Either way, I would like peoples input on the smarty pedals and mallets and their experiences. Thanks

My friend runs Smartys (or Smarties? Oh English). The platform around it is near useless. I run Mallets after running Eggbeaters for a while. The platform on the Mallets don't grip like my Syncroses do, but they grip well enough with soft soled shoes (skate, tennis, etc.). However, the grip is crap on a XC shoe.

Like with most new clipless riders, I suggest not clipping out when you think the trail is a bit sketchy. Otherwise, you may never get comfortable riding fully clipped in. If, however, you want something with a platform because you use the bike for more than trail usage and may use it with "regular" shoes, I can completely understand the desire to have a platform available.

I only ride XC, though, so that advice is only coming from one perspective.

I find the regular eggbeaters feel more comfortable when un clipped then ones with platforms.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=401343

I don't like the smartys because you can't rebuild them. The Candy SLs are what I have on my Epic. They're the same platform as the smarty, they're just rebuildable so you'll get more life out of them.

Shimano M647. Decent platform, and adjustable tension which is a nice feature for someone learning clipless for the first time.

The Smarties are crap disposable pedals with bad bearings/bushings/seals, and not very serviceable.

"oh, but crank bros. has such great warrantee stuff..." is usually the response to stuff like that. And the helps me out just how when I want to ride and my pedals are falling apart?

the smarty pedals really are crap

my first clipless pedals were a pair of crankbros mallets
that was over a year ago and i've never regretted it

also i've tried crankbro Candy
these were nice pedals. quality and feature-full

then i bought a cheap pair of smarty pedals
CRAP CRAP CRAP PIECES OF CRAP

maybe for five or ten bucks, but damn, i threw away something like 35 bucks.

http://www.mtbr.com/cat/drivetrain/pedal/crank-bros/smarty/PRD_412479_135crx.aspx
i suggest bookmarking mtbr for their user reviews. comes in handy when you're looking for users' experience stories.


please don't buy Smarty pedals.

Like with most new clipless riders, I suggest not clipping out when you think the trail is a bit sketchy. Otherwise, you may never get comfortable riding fully clipped in. If, however, you want something with a platform because you use the bike for more than trail usage and may use it with "regular" shoes, I can completely understand the desire to have a platform available.

I only ride XC, though, so that advice is only coming from one perspective.

I agree with this . . . even if it is hard to swallow. Like many things, learning takes a little time and effort but one is almost always better off doing it right.

Clipless on the road is a no brainer (even though we all fell at least once). Just so little down side. So many roadies that are clipless users are very tempted to use platforms on XC trail riding. You will fall more staying clipped it. You will go slower through than technical spots. You will be frustrated. But you will get better.

Also, if one needs to be very thrifty with clipless, get some SPD type pedals. At the low end of the price scale, they are the best option. I think crank bros makes some nice pedals, but their low end offerings across the board are junk.

For the person new to clipless, I would suggest the Shimano 520 or 540 with multi release clips. If you have a panic stop or crash your feet will pop out. I've been using the 540 with multi for two years and have only crashed once due to being stuck in my pedals. That was the first day I had clipless. And I have never had an unwanted release.

Crank bros pedals sem to have a different release to other 'spd' pedals, if this is bothering you, perhaps do what the others have said and get a cheap pair of shimno pedals. Half the fun of bike riding is finding a setup that you like, don't be scared :)

I ride smartys and they work just fine. I rode them with regular shoes in the rain too and they worked fine.

I ride smartys and they work just fine. I rode them with regular shoes in the rain too and they worked fine.


It isn't a question of them working. It's a question of them being poorly constructed, crap pedals.

Given the option, I'd trade in my Shimano clipless platforms for some Time Atacs. The platform on the Shimano is useless as far as I can tell. The Time Atac pedal is a very nice pedal with a smooth release... I had to looses my Shimanos quite a ways in order to release smoothly else I had to rip my foot outta the pedal.

I agree that the Smarty's are poorly designed. I had two of them that work fine. I bought a third set and had to throw them away. It had a problem where the spring would move to one end and lock up. At this point even when you clipped out, the spring would not return and you could not clip in again until you manually moved the spring. Another friend had the exact same problem and returned his Smarty's.

I have the Candy's which are built a lot better. However, if you are considering the Mallet, I would recommend the Acid 1 pedals instead. They have a pretty big platform on them and are lighter. They can be found at around the same price point as the Mallets. I have the Acids on a mountain tandem and the bigger platform (compared to Smarty's and Candy's) allows me to clip in alot easier.

It isn't a question of them working. It's a question of them being poorly constructed, crap pedals.

As far as I'm concerned, if a pedal has 1.5k really muddy miles on it with out a single problem than it isn't that bad. Thats my $.02.

I second the comment on Time Atac pedals. Very smooth and easy to use, plus built like a rock to take abuse.

Speedplay Frogs,,,,,Period! Which clipless and why??? Because when I want out, I want out. I rode SPD, Eggbeaters, blah, blah, blah. I have gone down many times solely because I couldn't feel comfortable in sketchy situations when I wasn't sure I could get in and out easily enough.

I feel totally comfortable in them, I rode them around my weight equipment in the basement which has very little clearance room and treacherous conditions if you fall. I found out that if you felt comfortable getting in and out, you would be better at slow speed agility techniques. My frogs give me that total freedom. I ride speedplay zeroes on my road bike. I also have a bike with Look Keo's and still prefer my speedplays.

I'm just starting out on SPD clipless for MTB and it's like I'm learning to ride all over again. On platforms if something was a bit dodgy i'd go at it and if I made it great, if I didn't so what I'd dab a foot and carry on. With clipless I'm unclipping before the dodgy stuff and or stopping, my confidence is lower than its been for a while, admitedly today was wet and slippery but Iv'e got to start hammering the trickey stuff or I may as well go back to platforms. I can see that if I get the hang of it it will make me faster and smoother but it's not there yet. Road in clipless is easy, been doing toe straps for 30 years, MTB is giving me heaps.

For learning:

SPD style. The adjustable tension is great for beginners.

For once you're used to clipless: Probably Time Atacs.

I use crank brothers. I'd probably use Times because of all the issues I've heard of with CB, except I like having the same system on both of my bikes, and bare eggbeaters really can't be beat for on and off the bike (cyclocross). If I didn't race cross or could afford a second set of nice shoes I'd have ATACs on the mountain bike.

For learning:

SPD style. The adjustable tension is great for beginners.

For once you're used to clipless: Probably Time Atacs.

I use crank brothers. I'd probably use Times because of all the issues I've heard of with CB, except I like having the same system on both of my bikes, and bare eggbeaters really can't be beat for on and off the bike (cyclocross). If I didn't race cross or could afford a second set of nice shoes I'd have ATACs on the mountain bike.

I have always used Atac Aluminum and love them, luckily I they were refered to me when I got into the sport. I have a friend that rides with me once in a while and he is an old MXer and he can not get used to them because they were always sticking out their leg on turns. He always feels like he won't be able to get loose from them. I have taken a few spills and have come out OK without twsting an ankle, it's more in the mind I think.

I ride eggbeaters. No complaints. Awesome pedals.

I also agree, don't clip out when you hit somethin sketchy. YOU CAN DO IT!!! stay clipped in. You'll always have better control. I also find that, at least in my experience, when you clip out, one of two things inevitably happens. You accidentally clip back in and crash anyway or your foot slips off the pedal causing a crash. Only clip out if you KNOW you need to.

Time ATACs are the only way to go. I traded in my SPDs years ago and have never looked back. Solid clip in, smooth clip out, just the right amount of float, never get clogged with mud. No contest.

And yeah, stay clipped in. You have 10 times more control over your backside.

I like my shimano 520's with just the normal cleats, I always have clipped out when I crash and if the front washes out on a turn I always get clipped out to dab a foot(maybe even easier than platforms), I think that's the natural motion to slide your foot off. If your going over the bars the bike will probably come with you on platforms too. As your thigh hitting the bars will tip it over. don't be scared of clipless, I prefer a non-platorm clipless.

My 2 cents...I love my eggbeaters. I've used Mallets and they were ok, but you shouldn't get them if the appeal is you can ride in them unclipped. They provide no traction. Ok for a cruise down the road in your sandals, but I wouldn't recommend clipping out while trail riding. But like others said, you shouldn't ever clip out anyways. Plus the mallets are heavy. The only thing I don't like about the eggbeaters is you pretty much have to be clipped in to ride. No casual ride to the store or whatever in regular shoes. So I bought $5 flats from Dick's to swap out for those situations.

Well, I got the cheapest possible clipless by crankbros. I ordered from pricepoint a set of smarties. I want to practice on them and see if I will continue clipless. If they break, then I will get something of better quality. If I discover clipless is not for me, well at least I didn't break the bank. I figure platforms/clipless are not for me. I am going to get clipless so I can use it 100% clipless and will just manually swap pedals if I want to use my daily shoes. Also the smarties are quite lite.

I have crank bros stainless eggbeaters. Cheap, simple, easy to use and they have NEVER jammed.

An update:

I've been using the smarties with time TXT spd shoes. I've put quite a few miles on them and so far no problems. I have never considered putting my platforms back on and love the sensation of having my pedals attached to my shoes. I just have to remind myself to lower my seat when im doing rougher trails in the forest :S I'm so pleased with the smarties that my next set will for sure be crank bros but rebuildable. At the moment I don't notice any real wear on these pedals. I did have a tiny squeek during the first few weeks but it disapeared and they surprisingly run just as smooth after pulling them out from winter storage.

Frogs. Best pedals ever!:thumb:

Edit:
Well Bebops are pretty cool too :)