I got some Power Grips from Nashbar for $15 for my winter bike
and they are definitely worth every penny. I think they might be
the perfect compromise between clips and straps and clipless.

Ah, Look not Time. Interesting. I saw some on a dude from Finland's Flickr page. Any idea why they're not sold here. Patent issues?

SPDs are fine, just don't use the silver cleats. I've come unclipped riding fixed once, and it was because I had the cleat set in a bad place and was flopping my foot around. I used to use the silver cleats, but switched after coming unclipped while hopping on my MTB. the silver cleats are designed to pull straight out, the black ones aren't.

They are sold here, I saw 'em in a shop locally. They're actually built on liscence from Crankbrothers, so everything is nice and legal.

I have different SPD pedals on all my bikes, never had any accidentally unclip.

I suspect riders with this problem don't have a 3mm allen key.

Times & Crank Bros are not adjustable, correct?

I have unclipped with SPDs with them really cranked down to maximum tension..yes I have a 3mm allen key. They have a greater tendency to unclip when wet. In fact I think I have only had accidental unclips when riding in the rain. I have only tried the silver cleats and can't say whether or not the black cleats will prevent unclipping.
Crank brothers pedals are not adjustable, but they are designed to tighten as you pull up on them, and there is no way to vertically pull out without literally ripping the cleat out of your shoe. I've never pulled out unintentionally with an eggbeater.

That's what I assumed.

If anyone can get your hands on one, I'd love to know if it seems to spin freer than the eggbeater.

The black ones only unclip horizontally, that must have been the prob.

I digz my Eggz. I have Eggbeater Cs on my blue bike, Eggbeater SLs on my white bike. I can vouch for never coming unclipped ever, and the cleats that are on my shoes are currently beat to ****. I'll replace them with the ones that came with my SLs, but not until they wear out. I've ridden probably 1700-2000 miles on my blue bike since July when I got my Eggbeater Cs, and they're just now starting to get a little creaky/weird and needing to be greased/rebuilt. I've ridden them in rain, snow, slush, salt, poop, landmines, and alligators and they've been awesome.

Time FTW, they are better than SPD = secure hold, durability, maintenance & work in all conditions. This makes them a better value as well.

I love my atacs as do most of my friends after their eggbeater kept consistantly loosing tension and unclipping at the most inopportune time and yes they had new cleats and everthing

one wreck in the middle of a race taking down the whole pack and the other clipped out during a skid comp raising his voice 3 octaves

I have had my atacs full of md and grass and they still held tight
only bummer is cleat wear they wear out about every 4 months daily usage
I also wear my shoes all day long on and off the bike

The newer Eggbeaters are nice and less problem-prone, but I ditched my old pair anyway, in favor of ATACs on the MTB and Aliums on the commuter.

I find the Crank Bros. designs are a bit inferior, at least in the long term. Somebody mentioned the bearing/bushing stickies (which ATACs have too, though, since they're mud pedals,) but either which, most two-sided pedals have two engagement springs, often four, while the four-sided Crank Bros. only have one. Which is sort of OK, but after a while, the two contact points wear down the tines, and the pedal gets all unspringy-like. Which is also sort of OK, if you don't mind rebuilding the pedals every year.

And using Eggbeaters offroad, they tend to unclip if you smack them on a rock or log, just by nature of their design.

Crank Bros CANDY's ! I use both these and Eggbeaters and the eggbeaters didn't do it for me. The small platform on Candy's really help guide your foot for a quick clip in.

Damn right.

The candy's are awesome for anything offroad, and because they tighten over your cleat with upwards force, they are good for skidding as well (for whatever thats worth. I think its pointless personally), but most importantly hopping your wheel over obstacles off road, and the mud resistance.

Look Keos aren't bad for the road either. I've had no problems so far in 8 months of hard training/racing.

SPD's, black cleats. Double sided pedals uber alles. Next question.

Another vote for Crank Bro Candys. It's the same as the eggbeater, but with a little bit of a platform, which is nice (and not that much extra weight, if you're worried about that). The best thing about Crank Bro pedals is that you have some float. At least more than with SPDs. I used to have SPDs and my feet would go numb after a lot of riding since you don't have much wiggle room. With the Crank Bros you can wiggle a little. In any case, my feet are comfy for long rides and don't get numb. And I have NEVER unintentionally came unclipped with them, while skidding, skipping, anything.
Also, you can get their "smarty" pedals for less money, if you are on a budget. It's the same clip-in system, but they are only slightly heavier and a lot less expensive (I saw them on sale at Performance for like $39).
** and you don't have to clean or service them, even if they get all muddy. The dirt just dries and comes out itself.

I've ridden with a variety of two-sided SPD pedal brands.

The cheaper ones did not clip out elegantly, but they never clipped out unintentionally.
I got trapped in a cheap set once during a fall.
No fun.

A very expensive and ULTRA light set of SPD pedals clipped out unintentionally twice (over a year), even though I had them adjusted to their tightest setting.
Checking out the reviews of these pedals, other people had the same experience.

I now have the new Shimano 970's, and they clip out beautifully when I want to clip out, and otherwise feel as positive and secure as anyone could want.

I have a mid-range set of Shimano pedals, SPD clipless on one side and platform on the other, on my Ice Bike.
These pedals have performed flawlessly through two brutal winters.

I think, as a system, SPD performs well.
The specific brand and model of pedal probably makes more difference than the system.

I like SPD.

I have a pair of Time Atac XS en route with FedEx right now. Truck out for delivery. Can't wait to try em out.

So, that's my vote.

Yeah, I love the way my ATACs perform, but cleat wear is a bit of an embuggerance.

The whole idea is that the soft brass cleats wear down and preserve the pedal's life, but I bought my pedals and cleats for £20, and then had to spend £12.50 on new cleats, making it more economic to have aluminium cleats and just buy new pedals.

you guys in the uk are getin a raw deal in the state atac cleats can be had for around 15bucks

I am a fan of Eggbeaters and had a good customer service experience when I first received two left pedals when I got them on Ebay and then had the problem that the grease/dust cap would loosen and felt slushy with new cleats. I sent the pedals back, they rebuild them, replaced the spindle, gave me extra caps, and sent them back. No pulling out problems but the cleats are said to wear quicker than with other pedals but they are designed that way because it is cheaper to replace the cleats than the entire pedal.

My friend just snapped a main bar on his Time pedals. He knew they were aging and pulled up hard to not get nailed by a cabbie in DC. He was already planning to replace them with a new pair for his track bike and put his old (now half dead pair) on his road bike.

I like my eb's

http://blogs.mediavillage.com/bloom/...0chappelle.jpg

"Pepsi paid me last, so it tastes better."

yeah i have met people who have had eggbeaters break on em'
i have eggbeaters candy c and have come unclipped at wrong times

I find it almost impossible to accidentally unclip from crank bros. system. Unless you have really worn out cleats, or you move your foot wildly (and/or unhumanly) while pedalling.

aTACs

In my experience, eggbeaters are great pedals:

Super easy to get into or out of
They let you pivot your ankles around a bunch which can be nice for track stands or stretching
They look cool and are light


But they have a few key problems:

They aren't all that smooth because of the bushings and single set of bearings
They have a fragile spindle
They have to be rebuilt/greased to hell pretty often
The end caps are so soft they get chewed to hell, but are the only thing maintaining correct tension inside the pedal. Really poor design choice imo.
The cleats wear fast
The release point isn't all that definitive

and the reason I won't get more eggbeaters:
They destroy your shoes. The rails on my stainless EBs have worn a groove so deeply behind the heel side of the cleat that the pedal jiggles around and I'm afraid the sole might blow out. Its probably worn away 3mm or more and there is only a wafer thin piece of plastic left. The pedals are super noisy now and barely rideable imo until I buy new shoes. I got the pedals and shoes as a combo for a good deal and have been riding them for 2 years so I can't complain all that much...

I'm looking for a set of ATAC aliums now for replacement.

I have bolts through my feet that I fasten to the pedals before I go out for a ride. No stopping , mmmmkay?

Crank Brothers Stigmata pedals