clipless pedals for fg
 

What do you ride and WHY? What do you like/dislike about them? If you had to buy new pedals would you buy them again? If not, what would you rather get and why?

I ride look road pedals and want to replace my clip/strap fixed pedals with some atb clipless. I'm not sure what to go with and am looking for some first hand reviews from fg riders.

All the threads I've seen on this topic turn into popularity contests, so don't just tell me to search. Thanks!

I use SPDs on my fixed gear because I prefer recessed cleats when I'm off the bike and walking. I used to have Look pedals on my road bike and now have the new Shimano 105s. Both of those require you to walk like a duck, which is not a big deal when you're riding for 60 miles and stopping only periodically, but that's not the kind of riding I do on my fixed gear.

Eggbeater SLs.

They work, they're easy to get into, easy to get out of, and with a grippy soled shoe (ie, not a road shoe) you can still pedal as per platform for those shaky ice patches.

4-sided entry = mash down (knowing where your cleat is) and clip right in without needing ever to look down.

There's not much to them, so there's not much to dislike. They just work(tm).

Yes, I would and have bought them again.

edit: downside I guess would be the lack of platform I guess for when I'm wearing my road shoes - sometimes I'll pre-emptively unclip rolling up to a light, but this is tricky with road shoes on as the lack of grip on the sole means slipping and sliding around, for safetys sake I may as well either clip back in or take my foot off the pedal altogether.

That being said, doing town/city/errands riding with road shoes on is incredibly impractical - I once stopped off at a mall in them and it was lethal just walking on the polished flooring, so perhaps it's more a shoe choice thing than a pedal downside.

Exactly why I'm looking for ATB pedals.

Eggbeater Candies. Nice platform but with all the benefits of the Eggbeater system. I get hot-spots without having a platform.

I use mountain shoes, SIDI Dominator 5s, and you can do both long-distance rides and even walk around in them all day just fine. They are fully rebuild-able too.

+1 for eggbeaters. You can get a set of smarties for $29 at cambria bike right now.

I usually run SPD's on all my bikes, but on the fixed it didn't seem to work to well for me. I would sometimes unclip (granted this is my faulty technique probably) but that wouldn't happen too much on the geared bikes. I am currently trying out some Time ATAC Aliums, and so far so good. It has a little more float and seems to be just a little more robust than SPD's. It is also a little wider which is nice, it just feels more solid than the Shimano's, esp when back pedaling and skip stoping.

P.s. I am not a trickster, I just like to haul ass with a fixed on public roads with little traffic and lots of lights. I do run a brake, and it does get used, but sometimes it is wise and very fun to test yourself and your skillsets on the bike. ATAC's inspire a little more confidence in this setting IMHO.

Time ATAC xs carbon w/Sidi Dragon SRS - outside of my custom wheelset, they are the greatest upgrade to my riding experience thus far. I wouldn't go back to my gr-9's and straps unless I was ****ing around in a parking lot and didn't plan on riding more than 10 miles. The clips and straps will remain in a drawer until I throw them on a beater. The difference a good pedal and more importantly, a well-fitted shoe with a stiff sole makes is huge compared to street shoes. Try climbing a hill back to back with your clips/straps and clipless. Also makes pulling up on the pedals to skid/skip much easier.

Crank Bros. Candy C's. They're on all my bikes...ATB, FG, road and tandem. They're cheap (as least in the cro-mo versions I use) and work well. I don't really have any dislikes with them which is why they've become my standard.

Roland

With CF-soled shoes like the Adistar XC (love these shoes by the way), would the platform really make much of a difference vis-a-vis hot-spots?

I've got Candies on my Exile, but I'm still shopping around for a pair of pedals for my Angus, and I was considering going with the eggbeaters, but I don't want to deal with hot-spots on my longer rides. But I figured, the sole is stiff enough that this shouldn't be an issue. Thoughts, anyone?

i think clipless pedals on fixed bikes is pretty diffrent to road bikes.

normally i would say eggbeaters or SPD's, but for skidding it has to be time atacs. with time atacs your more likely to get MTB style shoes, which i think are a much better choice than road shoes unless your competitively racing. all my bikes are now time atacs.


eggbeaters are pretty rubbish for fixed riding. theyre design doesnt lend themselfs to skidding and its easy to unexpectedly unclip while skidding. me and my friends all used to use egbeaters on our road bikes before we discovered fixed, and loved them. they are very easy to engage, which is important with fixed riding, but i say HTFU and just get used to it.

SPD's is much the same, alough ive had bad luck with very quickly wearing cleats, but i think thats circumstancial.

Currently riding Time ATAC's with Sidi Bullet's. Low cost style.

Although, after seeing the Smarty's for $29.99 I will be switching.

How do you like your Sidi bullets, looking to get some better clipless shoes soon.

Right now I have Shimano SPD M520's, work well. Only thing wrong right now, which I think is due to a worn cleat is my right foot sometimes comes off on really hard upstrokes. Happens on both my bikes set on tightest spring setting.

Either way my shoes are the 661 filter SPDs, look like skater shoes, but I hate them, my foot gets numb, no stiffness at all.


My brother has eggbeaters on his bike, they're not bad at all! I highly recommend them.

If you get the Crank Brother Candy C's, you get all the benefits of the eggbeater with a surrounding platform (I run them on my MTB and fixed). From what I hear though Time Atacs are the best. You def want a MTB pedal, not a road.

Most all my bikes are equipped with eggbeaters. Simple, one shoe/pedal system. No hassle. I also no longer use road shoe/pedal on my road bikes.

I use Time ATAC and Time Z pedals. The ATAC has quite a bit more "float" feeling than the Z which has a large(r) platform. I have never had an unintentional unclip with either of these. They're easier to clip in and out of than either of the two SPD pedals (and different cleats!) I tried. They're simply superior to SPDs.

Same situation here. I have 4 different variations of egg beater pedals in my house on 4 different bikes. Use the same shoes on all rides.

I love the Eggbeater SLs on my Pista.

Eggbeaters with Sidi Dominator 5's. This was a slow transition for me going from my 29er MTB to my road bike to my fixed gear. For me, this is an unbeatable combo. I've never unclipped during a skid so I'm not sure why that would be an issue for some people. As mentioned above, you can easily walk in the Sidis and the pedals are so easy to get in and out of I wouldn't use anything else.

Looks

My Sidi Bullets are real good shoes. I have a pair of dominator's for mountain biking but you can't beat the simplicity of the bullet's.

I ride TIME ATAC's on all of my mountain bikes and my Fixed Road. I ws thinking about getting some of the Crank Bros. Smarty's for my Fixed gear. Should I bother? Or just stick with the Time's?

Sidi Bullets on Time ATACs here too. I wouldn't bother switching to Crank Bros. Perhaps if I was just getting started with clipless, I'd try Crank Bros. to save cash. But I'm into ATACs on 3 bikes so I'm not going anywhere now.

eggbeaters and mtb shoes. that setup can be had on ebay for less thank $40

i JUST bought some egg beater C's for about $65 and pearl izumi quest MTB shoes for about $65 both at REI. couldn't be happier.

werd. :beer: