Which Egg Beaters?
 

Thinking about making the switch to the clipless pedals and people here seem to like egg beaters. Looks like there are a number of varieties, which one are the ones I want? Looks like Nashar has some $60, $100 and $130. What' the difference?

Mainly spindle material and weight. Some of the higher-end ones may have Ti springs and engagement mechanisms as well, but most of the difference is in weight, just as with other brands.

Weight and materials. The basic model is cromo. The next step up is stainless steel. They all function just about the same. I would just get the Cs unless there is a good deal on the stainless model.

You will like the pedals. Nashbar and pricepoint often have good deals on eggbeater/shoe combos.

mostly weight as they use more exotic materials in the more expensive version, thus they weight less. There is some talk about the chrome, the cheapest version, not holding up as well as the other models, thus i got the next one up, the stainless steel.

yeah like people have said the chrome model will not hold up to weather as well as the Stainless. If you mountain bike with them or scuff them hard, get them wet and dirty frequently, they may rust. (I have the chromes and I have absolutely no problems, although I don't ride in the rain).

Have Candy C's , SL's, C's and Mallet C's. Darn if they don't all work crisp and smooth. No corrosion prob yet with the C's, but they have not been taxed in the wet and mud.

You'll note that on the cheapest model, the edges of the pedal 'wings' are not rounded. I have heard of issues with these eating the bottoms of people's shoes. The SS version and higher have rounded edges and don't do this.

I have a pair of the stainless ones and I have been thinking of picking up a pair of their quattros... anyone have any experience with this model?

I have the stainless, got em on craigslist for $60. after about 1 1/2 years I've worn out the cleat, but the pedals look much like they did when I bought them. I'm using toe clips till I can buy a new set of cleats, but I highly recomend egg beaters.

I have them on my roadie, and they pretty much rule.

I had the Chromos which were great pedals while riding with a bike that has a freewheel, but they unclipped quite often when I was skidding with a fixed gear bike - which was not a "nice" feature.

I swithed to shimano spd 540's as the Shimanos do not unclip while skidding. ie. I feel safer with them. I liked the eggbeater more though in other areas... (clipping in, mud shedding, "feel" etc)

Anyone else have the unclipping while skidding problem with egg beaters? This would be a big issue for me as I'm brakeless. I don't skid a ton, but the pedal interface is my primary braking mecahnism. I was thinking they would improve my control over clips and straps with my street shoes.

Was thinking of getting a pair of those Shimano sandals for the summer and some of the more normal looking mountain shoes for when it cools off.

you only unclip if your feet twist out. i've never had them just unclip just from pulling up.

I ride with candy SL's...I used to have the stainless ones, but the semi-platform makes riding so much nicer on your feet

I can't imagine how the pedals would unclip themselves while skidding unless your doing some funky stuff by angling your heel inwards or outwards. Otherwise maybe make the pedals release later to help prevent accidently unclipping.

Yes, I think it is that. The eggbeater float so easily, so it might be that my flimsy anckles are letting my heels move while I skid. The shimanos do not float so easy -> no unclips so far.

I had some very interesting situations with eggbeaters running steep downhills and trying to reduce speed....
skip...skip...skid...UNCLIP... Holy F!!! -> no egg beater in a fixed gear for me, thank you.

no accidental unclipping while skidding with my strong leg. although, i've been trying to skip more w/ my weak leg, and it's mostly a matter of form and technique, but i've unclipped while trying to get that down.

this might not pertain to some, but a point of contention i've had is eggbeater's roll-clip-in "feature" (move foot across pedal, cleat catches spindle, click in - makes it easier). since i have toe-overlap, i usually unclip at low speeds or during a trackstand. and i've clipped-in by accident a few times. and that's no fun when you've already signaled to your body that it's time to put a foot down.

because of this, i've been thinking of going back to clips/straps or trying out those shimano spds w/ one side that has a platform.

Glad this thread came up....

I just destroyed the bearings in one of the Chromo's last night. I extremely hard on bike components, and have a tendency to break everything. I like the whole eggbeater system - it's really secure and convienient. However, breaking after only 3 months of use is unacceptable.

So are the Candies that much better?

i've got the ss beaters and ss candies and like em both. i do actually find sometimes my foot slides around on the candies platform before i hit the engagement, but with the beaters it's either in or you're not on the pedal. never had a prob unclipping while skidding or skipping, like morbot said that would only happen if you twist your foot, and then pretty much any pedal is gonna release.
i've had both for almost two years now and haven't needed to rebuild em or get new cleats yet.

They are flimsy and have a design flaw which causes them to break at the spindle. TIME "ATAK" pedals are far superior, IMO. As far as unclipping, this could also be caused by worn down cleats.

Care to share about the flaw?

As a data point: I've only ever had one unintentional un-clipping, and that was because the cleats were almost worn to nothing. BUT! I do run brakes, so stresses would be lower.

Interestingly, when switching between my bikes with the SL's and the ones w platform C's, the worn cleats feel less worn on the C bikes than the SL bikes.

eggbeaters are for weightweinies,


get some spd's or some good road pedals

YES. both skidding and slowing myself down hills.
I'm pretty sure it's from the cleat being worn out though. they didn't use to have this problem, and the cleats show a good deal of wear.

i like my eggbeater Cs and quattro SLs
never unclipped unintentionally.

Do a search, numerous users have had the pedal break at the spindle and slide off while riding. Application doesn't seem to matter, I've seen it firsthand on road bikes & fixes, but even more complaints from downhillers (they are probably the guys to listen to when it comes to pedal durability, unclipping, etc. Coming off a long drop can yank the beejeesus out of a pedal, super sudden torque) If it were just guys skidding or downhillers landing that'd be one thing, but that it has happened across a broad spectrum points to some inherent weakness where the spindle is attached to the body.

The upside is that Crank Brothers has awesome customer service and replaces broken gear without a fuss, plus their no doubt finding a fix for said problem as we type.

I'm a busted phonograph, but Time is the way to go for fixed, toughest & securest.

so you're saying that people who are using a component in an environment it wasn't designed for are having problems with said component? no f'in way!

i ride a set of 2ti eggbeaters on my ss mtb. i'm a heavy bastard (~200lbs) and i've bashed them into rocks and logs more times than i can count and they work as well now as they did new.

to the original poster:

you should also consider time atac pedals. i had a tough time deciding between eggbeaters and atacs, as both have received rave reviews from a lot of riders. i think it's important to note that atacs are extremely easy to clip into, touting their "fast step" technology. i never have to look and i've never missed - even in difficult situations like starting from a dead stop up a hill. like eggbeaters, they're rebuildable

i ended up going with a pair of time atac xs carbons because of the following reasons:
1) purportedly better bearings, with proprietary "water shield" protection
2) numerous reviews/reports that question the eggbeater's durability
3) adjustable release tension
4) larger platform - some complain of hot spots with the eggbeaters on longer rides
5) i got a fantastic deal on my atacs.

i fully believe that eggbeaters are quality pedals. however, i also tend to beleive that the design of the atac is a bit more solid and dependable.

in the end, you can't really go wrong with either, so when you're looking for the best deal you should consider both.

i have had no trouble with my eggbeaters whatsoever. they are 100x easier to clip into, to stay clipped into, and to clip out of than my SPD's. i've definitely beaten mine up a decent amount with no effect, although i'm <150 lbs.

Of course not, if you read the words directly around what you quoted you can see I'm saying a broad range of users found this flaw when their spindles broke.

+1

The only time I've ever accidentally unclipped from my ATACs has been when I've skidded like an idiot: ie. got lazy and had my weight completely back (ass on the saddle, back straight), just pulled up w/ my leading pedal and didn't force the trailing down at all. That popped my foot out of the cleat due to the stupid amount of torque on it. Other than that though, no problems at all. Another nice little feature of the ATACs is the loud "ka-chunk" engagement sound. No false entries like some other pedals.