Riding Clipless Pedals unclipped
 

Saw a listing for a set of Crank Bros. Acids on Craiglists. They're egg beater type mechanisms with platforms that seem to be bigger than the candies and smaller than the mallets. In my poking around to find some info about them, I discovered that some downhillers/XCers like a bit of platform so they can ride through more technical areas unclipped.

How does that work exactly? I would think it would be too easy to accidentally clip in.

Center the pedal under the arch of your foot and it's a lot harder to clip in accidentally.

Since downhilling isn't often done while pedaling in the saddle, "pedaling efficiency" isn't a high priority.

The other method is a one-sided pedal. I have that for my SPDs. On side is a platform, the other is the clip. It's the Crispix of pedals! But I don't go off-road really, just bomb around town and sometimes on unpaved trails. I do find it handy to purposely anchor on the non-clip side when I'm gonna be mounting/dismounting frequently when running errands within close proximity of each other.

Crazy de-ja-vu. Think I saw a thread similar to this just like a week ago...

Anyways, do you know that they actually ride through unclipped? I thought the point wasn't to ride through without clipping in, it was to provide a larger target surface area for your foot to hit when you've unclipped then are trying to get clipped in while simultaneously throwing your weight around going over rocks and such. It's easier to hit a larger target when the pedal is twice as big, vs a tiny spot like on an eggbeater.

Once your foot is on the pedal, I've always thought the idea was to get clipped in as quickly as convenient. I've read people say the platform seems to be designed to nudge your foot back towards the "clipped in" position before. And the complaint in the thread from last week was exactly that the guy couldn't keep from clipping in on the platform, if I remember right.

I'm really curious if you know if anyone rides them with the specific intention of have a platform and not clipping in...

The platform may have been designed to help provide a target for clipping in, but it was pretty clear that some also used it for riding unclipped at those times they felt they were better off being unclipped. It was also clear from the discussions that others preferred to be clipped at all times regardless of the terrain.

I remember the thread from last week and maybe this is a question for the Mtn bike forum. If foot positioning is the key to remaining unclipped it seems it would be real easy to put your foot in the wrong spot and end up clipped. Maybe it's just not that big of deal when it happens. I've been debating over whether to try riding clipless in the winter which is why this piqued my interest. Being able to get a foot down quickly is what has kept me on platforms during the snowy months.

I know. Winter is quite a ways off yet.

Lol, I *want* to make fun of you for thinking of winter here in Minnesota on the first day of summer. I really, really do. But I live here, to, and - I just can't. I just know it's going to come back again, like an evil plague sweeping through town after town...lol, can you tell I'm enjoying spring?

Yeah, maybe the mountain bike subforum would have more answers. Or mtbr.com - they seem to have a higher population of mountain bike specific posters than here, where it's more road and commuting stuff.

Did they do a terrible job of plowing this year or what? It was crazy.

I'm not really sure what the intent of those pedals is. I mountain bike offroad with clipless pedals, shimano m520s The only time I unclip is when I need to throw a foot down to stop myself from falling. This usually happens when I can't quite get over something steep, and I've stopped moving forward. If I'm riding something fast and or technical I'm definitely clipped in. At least with my shimano pedals I can clip out really fast when I need to.

tjspiel, actually - I have a pair of the Crank Brothers Eggbeaters sitting at home that I'm never going to use again, if you wanted to try them. They're in decent but not great shape - I used them a year, including some winter riding, but I switched to Time Atac's this year and I'm not going back. I was going to ebay them, but they probably wouldn't go for anything that was worth the hassle - if you want to pick them up (I live in the metro area in Minnesota myself) you could just have them (including the cleats). They're the gray and black model - don't know if the current all-black model is different in any way other than color. Let me know.

Wow, that would be awesome!

Just curious. What is it about the Atacs that you prefer?

And yes, the roads were terrible last winter. ;)

My Crank Bros smarty`s came with a plastic piece that clips in like your cleat,so you can ride in any shoes.Makes them into a platform.Does that help?

Things I liked about the Crank Brothers pedals -
1. No issues clipping in any time during ride all winter despite plenty of stepping in snow (same with atac's)
2. Less cleat noise on concrete than spd's (almost silent - though still not quite) (same with atac's)
3. The big, but lightweight platform that looked kinda like a regular pedal was nice (not with atac's - more on this later)
4. Didn't take a lot of force to clip in/out. (same with the atac's)

Reasons I prefer the atac's:

1. Crank Brothers always had kind of a wonky feel to them. I mean - I'm coming from speedplays, I'm used to float, but this felt different. I switched because I was having knee pain and the fitter I went to said they were hard to fit - something about the cleat being able to move back and forth, he said he wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't having knee pain, but he thought it was fine for mountain biking but could be hard on the knees for road biking where you're more locked in a certain position for longer. He said any other pedal might be better for road riding.

After I switched, my knee pain has pretty much entirely gone away. HOWEVER - I also changed EVERYTHING from the fitting - I dramatically changed my pedalling technique based on his advice, got my bike fitted differently, and had the fitter put on the new cleats (in a different position perhaps), so....it probably says absolutely nothing. lol Other people do seem to think they're great and don't suffer from knee pain.

2. Clipped In/Out feel - I never got to the point where I could tell for sure if I was clipped in or out with the Crank Brothers pedals. I just did the motion and wiggled my foot, or overdid it unclipping to make sure I clipped out (though it didn't take a lot of force).

With the ATAC's, I know the exact moment I clip in or out by feel. It's great. I've read a number of other people have had the same experience.

3. Quality / Durability - after about 3 rides I noticed my Crank Brothers pedals had oil/grease on the spindle in the middle of the pedal. Hasn't happened with any of my other pedals (spd's, time atac's, speedplays). You gotta figure - how long is that going to last? I've read that you're supposed to rebuilt them on a semi-regular basis. With other pedals, I just don't have to do that. I've also read some people on here complain about the pedal spindle breaking off while riding - yikes. And frankly, I couldn't even clip in. I had to add the shims they came with to get them to clip in - but then one foot had free float, but the other foot had a little bit of resistance.

My Time ATAC's don't have any leaking grease that I can see. They seem very solid. Nothing messy or weird. They have a reputation for being very reliable as well. The float is great, and even on both pedals. The only flaw I have with them is that I got the Time ROC Atac Carbon's, and while mountain biking I must have slammed the pedal straight onto a rock and the metal plate has a scratch in it and a bit of the plastic on the end of the pedal got bit off (yeah, they're called carbon's but I'm pretty sure the external body I'm talking about is plastic). It doesn't even come close to impacting the operation of the pedal, but it still makes me wonder how they'll hold up to some serious mountain biking and being slammed against rocks and stuff. I've heard the "Aliums" are made completely of metal and are heavier, but might be more durable for being slammed against rocks again and again. None of this probably matters for any other kind of biking though, and again it hit a non-functional (purely plaform) area of the pedal.

4. As I mentioned, the float on the atac's just seem perfect, while it was a little wonky with the Crank Brothers.

The only drawback to the Atac's is that they do sell a platform pedal similar to the Crank Brothers Acids/Mallets called the "Time Control" or "Time Control Z's". But - I ordered those first, and they required more force to clip out of. It wasn't that big of a deal, especially after a couple of rides, my leg provided way more than enough force but when I got the Roc Atac's they had a more "normal" or "easy" release tension - I can't quite imagine it being any easier. They also had a tension adjust so you could make it harder to clip out, which the Control's didn't seem to have.

I know this year they released a new "one side clip in, other side flat pedal" atac as well, if that kind of thing is interesting to you (I don't like that style personally).

I was gonna write a little more, but I gotta go - if you wanted to try any of the Time's that I have you could, I have an extra set of the ROC's and the Control's, though in that case I would need a deposit for the value of the pedal since I'm not trying to get rid of them. :-) They're both within 5 or so rides of brand new though (and haven't taken them mountain biking).

I also wrote about the change in pedals here -
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.ph...82#post6911982

And here -
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=636821

I've seen those clip-in platforms on demo bikes at shops, too. Not perfect, but they make Eggbeaters usable with plain shoes (I hardly trust seated pedaling on my plain Eggbeaters).

Those platform style pedals have nubs to grip to bottom of the shoe. This limits the slipping around / accidental clipping in. This does not mean that they are suitable for regular street shoe use.

I also greatly prefer the Time ATAC pedals for most of the reasons previously mentioned.

I've seen those platforms that go with eggbeaters to, but I've never seen one that had any grip. The made the bike somewhat rideable if you weren't pedaling hard, and didn't need a really solid connection with your pedals. But for the crazy winter riding we have here I don't think they'd have nearly the grip or stability you would need.

Time Z Strong
 

Any of you know much about these? I was about to buy Crank Bros Candy but saw these on ChainLove for $50 and grabbed them. But I cant find any reviews - maybe they are new?

Yeah, they're super sturdy pedals for downhill racing. Be aware, though, that unfortunately I've read that they make the effort required to clip out of the pedal higher because they're "downhill" pedals.

PaulRivers, how would they compare to Mallets? I've been thinking of switching from CB to Time for my commuter and MTB.

I wouldn't get the Strong's for anything other than actually downhill mountain biking.

Time also makes the XRoc's that aren't as heavy and more just like the Mallets -
http://www.time-sport.com/product-sh...0.idp.218.html

However - I just don't know if they also require more effort to clip in and out of, that's my own hesitation in buying a pair.