Hi everybody. I'm trying to decide which set of pedals to use on a salsa vaya. I have a set of crank brothers eggbeater 2s and an old set of speedplay x5s which are both pristine along with their cleats. I have an old pair of road shoes in great shape that I can dust off and use with the speedplays but I will need to buy new shoes for the eggbeaters since my mtb shoes are kind of worn out, so cost is a slight issue. The eggbeaters are great for off road riding or having to ride through the slop but the speedplays are easier to clip back into in town when the light goes green and I need to take off. I remember that walking is a pain with the speedplay cleats if I get a flat or a serious problem but I carry spare tubes, a spare cable, basic tools, and a pump when I'm riding. Also I can always keep some cheap flip flops in my rack top bag if I'm running the speedplays.

The bike is used for around town riding, fire roads, rail to trail roads, road riding, and gravel roads so basically it's an all around bike. Anybody have opinions one way or the other?

When I was a bike commuter (before retirement) I had Eggbeaters on my commuter bike. I have Speedplay Light Action on both of my road bikes. If those pedals work for you why change?

I'm still tinkering with the bike to figure out which I like better . I like the eggbeaters because they are so versatile, but I've also had a few hangups trying to get clicked in after waiting on a light. The speedplays are practically idiot proof and provide a better platform but as I understand it they're more of a strict road pedal. Thankfully the rest of the bike is awesome so I only have this minor issue to ponder over.

Never had a pair of Speedplay, but I bought a pair of CB eggbeater 3's - and hated them. I like a little platform under my feet, just in case clipping in doesn't go so well at times for a moment. I replaced them with a set of CB Mallet 3's and was much happier. This is on my Cannondale Trigger. So I ride the same kind of terrain you do. Just my humble opinion. Best of luck in the decision.

Hey, one other thought - I'm way more like Tim Taylor than Bob Villa, and even I can swap out pedals in under 5 minutes total, counting the time to dig up my torque wrench set. So you could certainly ride with both a good amount of miles and see what works better for you. If I can do it, anyone can.

After a couple years with Shimano and never getting the right side up, I started using Eggbeaters for commuting. Now the I work in a home office, I still use Eggbeaters on my bikes. I always found them the easy to engage right away. It might take some time to acclimate to them or the new cleats might be a little tight to start; but once you have the feel for them, you can engage on the first time nearly every time. When I get to a red light with other riders, I'm typically the fastest one clipped-in when the light changes.

^^^ Here's your answer.

Why go out and spend more money on shoes if you don't have to?

I prefer speedplay myself. Plus you're out no cash so it's win win.

Double sided SPDs and you can walk in them. I know, too obvious....

Yeah but why are his mtn shoes worn out? Possibly because the OP used them a lot more often because they were better.

If the OP is going to be riding dirt roads, I'd suggest going with a mountain pedal, because my experience with Speedplays is that the cleat can get gunked up and not clip in and out right if it gets any dirt in it. The old ones would get gunked up literally by walking across dry grass, the newer ones are better but nowhere near as good as mountain bike cleats that are specifically designed to get dirty and still clip in and out.

My 2 cents.

I agree if he was only riding off road. From his quote below, it looks as if the only thing that resembles dirt road riding are the fire roads. I know of several people that use Speedplays on all their bikes, including cross bikes only because they are cheap and don't want to have more than one pair of shoes. They say that they don't have any problems with gravel roads using Speedplays. Personally, I use SPD pedals on my road bike and it doesn't go off road. He already has a new set of shoes and pedals that he likes. If that combination doesn't work well for him then he has the option of getting some MTB shoes to go with his Eggbeaters.

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If I have the model number right, the x5's were the pair I owned and they were absurdly terrible at handling any sort of dirt. I couldn't walk across dry grass without them getting sticky and having trouble clipping in. They were awful. I threw them out in exchange for the next version, the next version was much better, walking across dry grass or walking slightly off pavement no longer gunked them up.

I wasn't riding dirt roads, everything I road was pavement, and I still had issues.

If he already had a pair of shoes and pedals he liked, then they'd probably be worn. It sounds like he liked the mtb stuff better, so he wore it, so it's worn out.

Sure, if he had a newer pair of speedplays it would be a dilema. But the older pair as terrible and I definitely would not ride any dirt roads with them.

Shimano SPD

One thing to keep in mind concerning costs is that because Speedplay cleats also include the release mechanism, they are much more expensive to replace and probably much less durable than Eggbeater cleats. I have been using Eggbeaters for years mountain biking and haven't yet worn out my first set of cleats. I certainly wouldn't think that Eggbeaters are any harder to clip into than Speedplays, just different. For what it is worth, Eggbeaters are unbeatable for winter riding in the snow, regular SPDs tend to get clogged with ice