I'm going clipless for summer. I don't know if I should go with time atacs or egg beaters. Tell me your experiences/suggestions that have to do with these pedals please. I was drawn towards the atacs because of the auto tension stuff and I read that it helps not to clip out when pulling up to help stop yourself.

I really , really , like my 'eggbeater chrome' pedals. Not only are they lightweight, mine have been very durable. I tried other pedals and thought the eggbeaters were the easiest to get in (4 sided entry), and the easiest to get out of (15 degree twist of the foot). Also, the 5 degrees of float you have on them has been kind on my knees.

if you're worried about clipping out, maybe consider speedplay.

I've never accidentally clipped out from my egg beaters, I've been using them for about 5 months now and I love them.

I like my atacs, they have a really good rep among the fixed gear riders that I know. I've never used eggbeaters but I also feel like I have no need to try them. I think that you are just trying to figure out which, of two good options, is the best one for you. In all likelihood you will be fine whatever way you guy.

Eggbeaters and atacs both tighten as you pull up, so that doesn't really help to discriminate between them. I've owned and ridden fixed on both, and I found the performance comparable. Durability was a different story -- the spring in my eggbeaters snapped, and while Crank Bros was kind enough to repair them even out of warranty, it was a frustrating failure that can't be fixed at most shops, and apparently it's fairly common. I went with atacs for my next set, and I haven't looked back. Based on others' reports of higher failure rates on the eggbeaters, I'd advise going atac. Or spd -- not that you asked

I like Atacs better because they don't break all the time.

have you considered road pedals at all?

I have some second-hand beat to crap Atacs that I haven't had a chance to use, but wow... they spin smooth. Literally like butter. If you decide to go Crank Bros, stay away from the cheap stuff. It feels like there is gravel in the bearings.

I'll agree with this, I got my egg beats for free from my buddy who switched to a Shimano pedal and the pedals do not spin at all. It's pretty pathetic.

I have beat the crap out of my atacs, and they still work. (don't have eggbeaters)

I spent a very long time on eggbeaters. As others have said DO NOT buy the cheap ones! get the SL/ 3 (i think they are called now or better but not the Ti ones. That said as much as I love them and will still likely use them for CX racing (can get out easier when I want to) I was tired of bending the spindles on them. They just dont hold up to 70 gearinches up a steep hill. Also that being said, supposedly the new models fix this issue. If you look they are much like the ATACs spindles. I also like the 4 points of contact over the 2 of the ATACs.

As far as ATACs go, I recently got a sweet deal on a pair of the ATAC XS's. They are amazing, and having a tension adjuster like Shimano's is pretty nice. However, even on the lowest setting, unless I mod my cleats they suck for quick disengagement that I need in CX racing. you can buy after market cleats for this, which I will do, as I would rather use these for racing. They are much more of a slid pedal and offer a little more support too. One thing I dont like is there is no lateral cleat positioning on the shoes like eggbeaters offer. I dont like not being able to adjust my Q-factor. Another cool thing about the ATAC XS is they are rebuildable, more so than the eggbeaters even.

you can find the XS on ebay for around 50-70. if you go the ATACs route I would get a used set of XS over say a new set of aliums. Depending where you are you can get eggbeaters used for 20. I see them around here for 20 all the time. The other cool thing about ATACs is their resale value. should you not like them you will likely not have to wait long to sell them even if you bought them used.

Eggbeaters are failure-prone. I have owned various Crank Brothers pedals from various levels in the hierarchy and used them exclusively for about 6 years. In that time, nearly all of them have broken or failed in one way or another.

Crank Brothers has good warrantee service, but thats no excuse for having unreliable products.

I've used a lot of other types of pedals and none of them have ever broken or fallen apart, except crank brothers.

I have no personal experience with ATACS, but after having read comments about them since I joined this forum in 2005, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of ATACs being a much better pedal than eggbeaters.

don't buy mxr eggbeaters. i broke mine within a month. i managed to bend the spindle on one and the bearings ceased on the other one (which makes for quite the awesome foot pop-off on a fixed gear when you're spinning ~100rpm).

what does float mean?

I like the Forte Carve (Performance 50-3160). Dual entry like eggbeaters, but more substantial.

Float provides a limited range of foot angle (heel in/out) freedom. It's easier on the knees.

How much your heel can move side to side.

I found that the float on my SPD's is a bit more then I'd like. I feel like less float is better for urban riding (Read: <10 mile trips and aggressive stopping/starting)

cool, thx