FrederikThue

Hi.

I am looking for a new pedal for my XC bike. At the moment i am riding a Crankbrothers Eggbeater, and I would like to have a pedal with a little more stable platform.

Which pedal is best? - Look Quartz or Crankbrothers Candy ?

Lawrence08648

I love CB pedals and use Candy, Smarty, and Quattro however the bearings suck! The newer ones have gone to a 3 bearing design rather than the two.

Here is a review of the Look Quartz off MTBR - The downside is the spring tension seems a bit light and is not adjustable. Thus accidental click-outs are a possibility for some riders. Also, the $399 Carbon Ti model is just a poor value. Another downside is initial setup can be tricky getting the pedal and sole interface to mate up perfectly. And as the sole of the shoe wears down, the shim stack on the cleat has to be adjusted to keep the shoe properly adjusted. Time will tell on the robustness and reliability of this pedal.

iRide Africa

I found the Candy's platform to be as good as non-existent, and as said above, the bearings were rubbish - that was a year or so ago, so may have improved - but if more platform is what you're looking for, I'd go bigger than the Candy. Happy shopping!

pablosnazzy

between the two choices, i would go with Look, based off of i've had Look on my road bike for 10 years and love the pedal. Crank brothers are cool, but as said, the bearings suck and they seem to have problems with minor details in general which make things a pain.
if you want a good platform, Shimano SPD comes with nice platforms, and spds are pretty versatile, you can get them in single and multi release.

or you can just ride flat pedals, which i do and love.

obiwan kenobi

Had CB's and could not clip in quick enough, went to the Look and have no problems MTB or CX.

Yotsko

Two words: Time ATAC

Grimlock

+1
Time ATAC XS is the bees knees.

kitteh

Do the ATACs have some sort of break in period? I hear they're real tight in the beginning(?).
Have a pair of Aliums around for when it gets wet and the SPDs get clogged.

womble

Of the two pedal options you initally mentioned, I think that neither are good.

I was an early adopter of the Look pedals, and could never get them to work properly despite trying different shim combinations. They'd just release randomly during normal pedalling.

I rode Eggbeaters for a couple of months, and ditched them. I didn't have any of the widely reported mechanical problems, but didn't like the feel of engagement (it didn't feel particularly crisp or positive) and really didn't like how they occasionally released when they struck rocks.

I've used also used SPDs which were fine. I currently ride Times. The ROCs and Aliums use the older style Time design which doesn't result in cleat release during pedal strike, and they have been comnpletely bombproof- one of my sets is now 9 years old and I've never maintained them. I would not switch to the newer XS design because they have the pedal strike problem, and because of reports on the net that the aluminium retention bars can wear down over several years (ROCs and Aliums use steel retention bars that last forever).

ATAC cleats can be set up two ways. IIRC one requires a 13 degree rotation for release, and the other requires 17 degrees.

Initially the cleats may feel a bit firm, which I think is fine. Or you can shave them down with a file (photos on the net) to simulate having 'worn' cleats.

Lawrence08648

I ride CB Candy, Quattro, and Smarty pedals. I find them all easier to clip in and much easier to clip out of than SPDs which I've ridden 7 models including the MTB SPDs and one one sided road SPD.

How does the Time ATACs compare to CB, clipping in and clipping out?

cmdr

I must be the odd one out here. I have the Looks and I love them. I was riding eggbeaters and I liked the until I started popping out of the pedal every time I hopped - even after replacing the cleats.
I also don't know what people are talking about with shim height. I have my cleats flush against my shoe and don't have any problems.
I think the standard Quartz are a good value and have recommended them to friends as well as customers at my shop.