Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - clipless pedals for fg

What do you ride and WHY? What do you like/dislike about them? If you had to buy new pedals would you buy them again? If not, what would you rather get and why?

I ride look road pedals and want to replace my clip/strap fixed pedals with some atb clipless. I'm not sure what to go with and am looking for some first hand reviews from fg riders.

All the threads I've seen on this topic turn into popularity contests, so don't just tell me to search. Thanks!

I use SPDs on my fixed gear because I prefer recessed cleats when I'm off the bike and walking. I used to have Look pedals on my road bike and now have the new Shimano 105s. Both of those require you to walk like a duck, which is not a big deal when you're riding for 60 miles and stopping only periodically, but that's not the kind of riding I do on my fixed gear.

Eggbeater SLs.

They work, they're easy to get into, easy to get out of, and with a grippy soled shoe (ie, not a road shoe) you can still pedal as per platform for those shaky ice patches.

4-sided entry = mash down (knowing where your cleat is) and clip right in without needing ever to look down.

There's not much to them, so there's not much to dislike. They just work(tm).

Yes, I would and have bought them again.

edit: downside I guess would be the lack of platform I guess for when I'm wearing my road shoes - sometimes I'll pre-emptively unclip rolling up to a light, but this is tricky with road shoes on as the lack of grip on the sole means slipping and sliding around, for safetys sake I may as well either clip back in or take my foot off the pedal altogether.

That being said, doing town/city/errands riding with road shoes on is incredibly impractical - I once stopped off at a mall in them and it was lethal just walking on the polished flooring, so perhaps it's more a shoe choice thing than a pedal downside.

[road shoes with cleats] require you to walk like a duck, which is not a big deal when you're riding for 60 miles and stopping only periodically, but that's not the kind of riding I do on my fixed gear.
Exactly why I'm looking for ATB pedals.

Exactly why I'm looking for ATB pedals.

Eggbeater Candies. Nice platform but with all the benefits of the Eggbeater system. I get hot-spots without having a platform.

I use mountain shoes, SIDI Dominator 5s, and you can do both long-distance rides and even walk around in them all day just fine. They are fully rebuild-able too.

+1 for eggbeaters. You can get a set of smarties for $29 at cambria bike right now.

I usually run SPD's on all my bikes, but on the fixed it didn't seem to work to well for me. I would sometimes unclip (granted this is my faulty technique probably) but that wouldn't happen too much on the geared bikes. I am currently trying out some Time ATAC Aliums, and so far so good. It has a little more float and seems to be just a little more robust than SPD's. It is also a little wider which is nice, it just feels more solid than the Shimano's, esp when back pedaling and skip stoping.

P.s. I am not a trickster, I just like to haul ass with a fixed on public roads with little traffic and lots of lights. I do run a brake, and it does get used, but sometimes it is wise and very fun to test yourself and your skillsets on the bike. ATAC's inspire a little more confidence in this setting IMHO.

Time ATAC xs carbon w/Sidi Dragon SRS - outside of my custom wheelset, they are the greatest upgrade to my riding experience thus far. I wouldn't go back to my gr-9's and straps unless I was ****ing around in a parking lot and didn't plan on riding more than 10 miles. The clips and straps will remain in a drawer until I throw them on a beater. The difference a good pedal and more importantly, a well-fitted shoe with a stiff sole makes is huge compared to street shoes. Try climbing a hill back to back with your clips/straps and clipless. Also makes pulling up on the pedals to skid/skip much easier.

Crank Bros. Candy C's. They're on all my bikes...ATB, FG, road and tandem. They're cheap (as least in the cro-mo versions I use) and work well. I don't really have any dislikes with them which is why they've become my standard.

Roland

déjà vu

Eggbeater Candies. Nice platform but with all the benefits of the Eggbeater system. I get hot-spots without having a platform.

I use mountain shoes, SIDI Dominator 5s, and you can do both long-distance rides and even walk around in them all day just fine. They are fully rebuild-able too.

With CF-soled shoes like the Adistar XC (love these shoes by the way), would the platform really make much of a difference vis-a-vis hot-spots?

I've got Candies on my Exile, but I'm still shopping around for a pair of pedals for my Angus, and I was considering going with the eggbeaters, but I don't want to deal with hot-spots on my longer rides. But I figured, the sole is stiff enough that this shouldn't be an issue. Thoughts, anyone?

i think clipless pedals on fixed bikes is pretty diffrent to road bikes.

normally i would say eggbeaters or SPD's, but for skidding it has to be time atacs. with time atacs your more likely to get MTB style shoes, which i think are a much better choice than road shoes unless your competitively racing. all my bikes are now time atacs.


eggbeaters are pretty rubbish for fixed riding. theyre design doesnt lend themselfs to skidding and its easy to unexpectedly unclip while skidding. me and my friends all used to use egbeaters on our road bikes before we discovered fixed, and loved them. they are very easy to engage, which is important with fixed riding, but i say HTFU and just get used to it.

SPD's is much the same, alough ive had bad luck with very quickly wearing cleats, but i think thats circumstancial.

Currently riding Time ATAC's with Sidi Bullet's. Low cost style.

Although, after seeing the Smarty's for $29.99 I will be switching.

How do you like your Sidi bullets, looking to get some better clipless shoes soon.

Right now I have Shimano SPD M520's, work well. Only thing wrong right now, which I think is due to a worn cleat is my right foot sometimes comes off on really hard upstrokes. Happens on both my bikes set on tightest spring setting.

Either way my shoes are the 661 filter SPDs, look like skater shoes, but I hate them, my foot gets numb, no stiffness at all.


My brother has eggbeaters on his bike, they're not bad at all! I highly recommend them.

Eggbeater SLs.

They work, they're easy to get into, easy to get out of, and with a grippy soled shoe (ie, not a road shoe) you can still pedal as per platform for those shaky ice patches.

4-sided entry = mash down (knowing where your cleat is) and clip right in without needing ever to look down.

There's not much to them, so there's not much to dislike. They just work(tm).

Yes, I would and have bought them again.

edit: downside I guess would be the lack of platform I guess for when I'm wearing my road shoes - sometimes I'll pre-emptively unclip rolling up to a light, but this is tricky with road shoes on as the lack of grip on the sole means slipping and sliding around, for safetys sake I may as well either clip back in or take my foot off the pedal altogether.

That being said, doing town/city/errands riding with road shoes on is incredibly impractical - I once stopped off at a mall in them and it was lethal just walking on the polished flooring, so perhaps it's more a shoe choice thing than a pedal downside.

If you get the Crank Brother Candy C's, you get all the benefits of the eggbeater with a surrounding platform (I run them on my MTB and fixed). From what I hear though Time Atacs are the best. You def want a MTB pedal, not a road.

Most all my bikes are equipped with eggbeaters. Simple, one shoe/pedal system. No hassle. I also no longer use road shoe/pedal on my road bikes.

I use Time ATAC and Time Z pedals. The ATAC has quite a bit more "float" feeling than the Z which has a large(r) platform. I have never had an unintentional unclip with either of these. They're easier to clip in and out of than either of the two SPD pedals (and different cleats!) I tried. They're simply superior to SPDs.

Crank Bros. Candy C's. They're on all my bikes...ATB, FG, road and tandem. They're cheap (as least in the cro-mo versions I use) and work well. I don't really have any dislikes with them which is why they've become my standard.

Roland

Same situation here. I have 4 different variations of egg beater pedals in my house on 4 different bikes. Use the same shoes on all rides.

I love the Eggbeater SLs on my Pista.

Eggbeaters with Sidi Dominator 5's. This was a slow transition for me going from my 29er MTB to my road bike to my fixed gear. For me, this is an unbeatable combo. I've never unclipped during a skid so I'm not sure why that would be an issue for some people. As mentioned above, you can easily walk in the Sidis and the pedals are so easy to get in and out of I wouldn't use anything else.

Looks

My Sidi Bullets are real good shoes. I have a pair of dominator's for mountain biking but you can't beat the simplicity of the bullet's.

I ride TIME ATAC's on all of my mountain bikes and my Fixed Road. I ws thinking about getting some of the Crank Bros. Smarty's for my Fixed gear. Should I bother? Or just stick with the Time's?

My Sidi Bullets are real good shoes. I have a pair of dominator's for mountain biking but you can't beat the simplicity of the bullet's.

I ride TIME ATAC's on all of my mountain bikes and my Fixed Road. I ws thinking about getting some of the Crank Bros. Smarty's for my Fixed gear. Should I bother? Or just stick with the Time's?

Sidi Bullets on Time ATACs here too. I wouldn't bother switching to Crank Bros. Perhaps if I was just getting started with clipless, I'd try Crank Bros. to save cash. But I'm into ATACs on 3 bikes so I'm not going anywhere now.

eggbeaters and mtb shoes. that setup can be had on ebay for less thank $40

i JUST bought some egg beater C's for about $65 and pearl izumi quest MTB shoes for about $65 both at REI. couldn't be happier.

werd. :beer:

First off, thanks for all the replies!


Looks

That's what I went with. I talked to severl guys at my LBS. The one that rides fixed the most likes Look, and had a bunch of reasons why they're better than eggbeaters or time, which they also sell. I rode them home from the shop then went for a grocery run. I haven't gotten in the habit of using my brake yet (winter bike has one, summer bike doesn't) so I did a few little skids and skips with them and everything felt solid. Clipping in is way different than my Look road pedals though! I felt like a noob trying to clip in while rolling.

Here's the new setup...
http://www.specialized.com/media/equip/6138-00_d.jpg

http://thedailyhabit.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/quartz_web.jpg

I run the same set of Shimano pedals I've had for who knows how long. Clipped on one side, platform on the other. Paired with some cheap PI shoes. I've used my friends track pedals with cages and I'm not really a fan. I feel like I have more control with my clips. Plus when I'm doing most of my riding, I'm not worried about doing tricks.

But if it strikes me to do some, I can just unclip and flip it over and I'm good to go. Best of both worlds IMO.

had a bunch of reasons why they're better than eggbeaters or time

Care to share?

@ all

pics or gtfo

Care to share?

They're quite a bit lighter than Time. Honestly, I don't care about this but one of the shop guys was weighing them. There are some other reasons one of the guys I talked to a couple weeks ago didn't like time but I can't remember them now. He seemed to like look, egg beaters and the newer spd pedals better, and since I trust him I just wrote off Time.

As far as the look vs. crank bros. goes... It's kind of hard to explain without having both pedals in front of you. If you look at the engagement between the pedal and cleat the look pedal is much more positive. The bottom of the wires that engage with the cleat on the eggbeaters are angled so it is possible to pull out of them if you pull up hard enough, like while skidding or grinding up a hill. The engagement on the look is parallel to the sole of your shoe so this doesn't happen. If you pull up on the cleat is doesn't want to open the pedal. (See my crappy paint drawing.) Look also sends their pedals with a bunch of shims so you can adjust where your shoe hits the pedal body. That way when you're mashing there isn't any slop between your shoe and pedal.

@ all

pics or gtfo

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n174/jdm94delsol/017-1.jpg

(See my crappy paint drawing.)

That actually helps quit a bit. I'll check out the engagement on my MXRs when I get home to see if I can see what you're talking about. I can see how that type of engagement might be less than ideal.

when i was messengering and spending all day on my bike, i like time atacs. looks like there's been lots of improvements to their design, and the cost is real low.. you never really unintentionally release from them, at least in my experience.

ive tried lots of shoes, dominators (comfy uppers, nice looks n fit, but the soles wear out with lots of walking, and the toe box isnt that tough), carnacs ( nice toe box, pretty nice fit), and finally some yellow and red mtb shoe i got when i raced for a specialized cross team back in 02. it had a strong toe box and overall reinforcement.

now that i just use it as my transportation, and alley cats, i like christophe toe clips, pake straps, and mks gr-9s (best ever!!). i like regular tennis shoes, like the new vans era fixed gear shoes.. w the cordura toe reinforcements and 3m panels. it's just more casual, and i don't need to "suit up" to roll around town and kick it.

i used to do my preseason training.. long slow miles and recovery days on an old pinarello road frame, with a 42x18.. it helped me w my base training.. i used the same pedals i raced road races with.. dura ace spd-rs. not good for tricks or casual riding, but these were 30-50 mile rides.

when on the track, i now am trying out speedplay stainless pedals. haven't come out of them in a sprint yet.. but it's still winter.

+1 for eggbeaters. You can get a set of smarties for $29 at cambria bike right now.
Thanks for the info bro... Just scored a pair. :thumb:

I have never had clip-ins and wanted to try some out and compare them to having straps/cages.

If I go with a set of CB Smarties (only $30 perfect for testing), what entry level shoe SPD compatible shoes are out there that are the closest to wearing a regular tennis shoe? (ie i do not want to walk like a duck)

Thank you.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7610

Shimano MP66's. Recessed cleat cover and all...

Tried Egg Beaters and ATACs. Switched to BeBops because:

20 deg of non re-centering float
- Because ATACs tendency is to push the angle of the foot back to its designated neutral position, I ended up with very sore knees after rides lasting longer than 1 hr. The re-centering action on Egg Beaters is much less pronounced, but still noticeable.

Wide contact area
- On long rides, Egg Beaters feel like you're pedaling on walnuts. ATACs creek and wiggle about when pulling up in the pedal stroke.

Step-on engagement
- Stomp straight down on the pedal and you're in. No funny business of hunting for the retaining spring on the pedal.

Unclip and hold
- If I think I need to put a foot down, I can twist out and disengage while still having the cleat hold within the pedal. If i want back in, I merely press down on the pedal and the cleat re-engages. Good for those dicey moments at an intersection. Other pedals instantly jettison your foot once you disengage.

210gm /pair
needle and ball cartridge bearings
http://www.beboppedals.com/

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p15/suntoryjim/pedal1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p15/suntoryjim/pedal2.jpg