Are Crank Bros Egg Beaters Any Good.

Mark Elvin

I currently used Shimano SPD pedals, but I like the look of the Egg Beater SL pedals.

Has anybody here used both & if so what pedals did you prefer?

tiny_pens

I have been using egg beaters for the last 4 years now. I like them a lot. Easy to clip in and out (although there is a breaking in period where the cleat gets worn down a bit).

I find the same bad points as everyone else really:-

- Not comfortable to ride in regular shoes but fine for just down to the shops. If this is an issue then buy a pedal spanner and change them over, it only takes a minute.

- Some wear to the bottom of my shoes due to clip in mechanism but I think my shoes will wear out before this becomes a problem.

I have mtb shoes with a reasonable thick sole so I don't find any problems with the small platform area - that said I have never bothered riding more than 70 miles in one go.

HTH

Mark Elvin

tiny_pens wrote:

- Some wear to the bottom of my shoes due to clip in mechanism but I think my shoes will wear out before this becomes a problem.

Thanks, I'll get some of the wear plates for the bottom of the shoe, that'l sort that one!!

dondare

I switched from Time Atac to eggbeaters and found that I could use the same cleats perfectly.
The eggbeaters are good. I would certainly recommend them.

Anonymous

I switched from SPDs like you to Egg beaters.

Advantages -

- Lighter,

- Look better,

- Don't clog up with mud,

- Hold the cleat more securely,

- 4 sided entry makes clipping in very easy (once you get used to it, it's a different action to SPDs).

- This is bit hard to explain, but whilst they hold the cleat more securely, the cleat moves more freely in the float part before the cleat disengages. (if that makes scene).

Disadvantages -

- I find the cleats wear down very quickly if you have shoes where the cleat rubs on the ground whilst walking. I swapped for a pair of Spesh BG Sport shoes that protect the cleat with larger grips on the sole.

- Every now and again I find them very hard to disengage, really have to twist quite hard. Not a problem if your used to riding clipless.

pastey_boy

much lighter than shimano. bearings last nowhere near as long as shimano but are very easily serviced. never ever get clogged. also i find in some emergency situations, the front of a shimano cleat can hook the front of the pedal but this does not happen with eggbeaters. also kinder to your knees. you can also upgrade to ti spindles for around £30 (ebay) which will make the sl,s 100grams lighter than xtr spd,s. only real drawback to eggbeaters is the price but in my opinion they are worth it
http://www.discountcyclesdirect.co.uk/p ... ts_id=4247

antikythera

I moved from SPD's to egg beaters - just looking for something new.

I'm a roadie using them for commuting only, so YMMV...

They work as written on the tin...

Servicing the pedals is a childs play (probably why Bikeradar made it a feature article :roll: )

The cleats are brass (If anyone has a more robust, hard wearing option - please post I'm sure others would find this useful information) and they wear very quickly. My first set of cleat clearly showed that the majority wear was when walking on hard surfaces (ie the concrete park park).

The options for float are limited, so if you prefer less float - then they may not be for you. This is the main reason I'll be ditching them when the cleats wear out next.

Mark Elvin

That's a cracking price, many thanks, have ordered a set.

Now I may get the Ti axles when the bearing need sorting.

spasypaddy

i had them, i loved them, my knees didnt.

i went back to my spds, my knees thanked me

Mark Elvin

spasypaddy wrote:

i had them, i loved them, my knees didnt.

i went back to my spds, my knees thanked me

What was the problem with the knees?

mcj78

I have a set of xtr spd's for xc duties & recently bought (cheap) eggbeaters for commuting purposes - nice pedals, i'm fairly impressed so far. One thing I sometimes miss though is the tension adjustment feature on the SPDs - unless you like the tightest setting on SPDs you should be fine though, and I actually find the SPDs easier to clip into - this may be down to using SPDs for about 10 years & eggbeaters for 10 weeks though :oops: and as previously mentioned - they ain't the comfiest if you ever have to ride in normal shoes for any reason.

Oh, and if you ever have one of those "almost" moments where you half bail & get tangled up in the pedals, it feels like being hit in the shins/calves with a claw hammer. Ow.

But despite this, I still like them.

el_presidente

FYI - they are useless for beating eggs

Mark Elvin

el_presidente wrote:

FYI - they are useless for beating eggs

I'll bear that in mind, thanks.

spasypaddy

Mark Elvin wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

i had them, i loved them, my knees didnt.

i went back to my spds, my knees thanked me

What was the problem with the knees?

pain at the back of my right knee on the outside. the massive amounts of what seemed unmanagable float did damage. only now since ive had a proper fitting using speedplays have i managed to get rid of it.

SPDs gave me less pain as the float was more restrictive.

Also i tried to ride barefoot with eggbeaters. one of the most painful things ive ever done, up there with getting hit by a car

mcj78

spasypaddy wrote:

Also i tried to ride barefoot with eggbeaters. one of the most painful things ive ever done, up there with getting hit by a car

Like stepping barefoot on an upturned plug in the middle of the night - surely that's the most painful thing known to man? :shock:

biondino

I like mine very much, and after 5000 or so miles, the only negatives are:

- cleats do wear down (easy to replace, as I have), and also I've found that after several thousand unclippings of my right shoe (I commute in them), the pedal itself has either worn down or lost tension somehow as my right foot is now too loose.

- after 65 miles of a sportive last summer I developed a very painful hot spot on one foot which I imagine was a combination of the pedal and shoe. Am doing another 95 mile sportive next weekend in the same gear so we'll see whether it was a one-off!

- they are pretty much unrideable in normal shoes, but then you'd seldom want/need to do that anyway.

For commuting, the 4-sided entry is amazing, way better than SPDs and toe-clips.

biondino

Also, thanks pastey-boy for the link

georgee

Only issue I had was clipping a rock when off roading, the cage (if you can call it that) bent and fractured, I tried to warranty them which the refused but then they rebuilt them with a new cage and posted them back. lovely chaps.

Now I pricinpally ride road bikes so I have loo keo cleats on my commuter.

rjsterry

mcj78 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

Also i tried to ride barefoot with eggbeaters. one of the most painful things ive ever done, up there with getting hit by a car

Like stepping barefoot on Lego in the middle of the night - surely that's the most painful thing known to man? :shock:

Fixed that for you.

dondare

el_presidente wrote:

FYI - they are useless for beating eggs

That depends how fast the egg is going. But would it count as a scalp? After all, it's only an egg.

Must be way down the food chain.

jonginge

biondino wrote:

Am doing another 95 mile sportive next weekend ...

Have a good one, sir.

Back-flipping the bike is only optional, I hear

mcj78

rjsterry wrote:

mcj78 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

Also i tried to ride barefoot with eggbeaters. one of the most painful things ive ever done, up there with getting hit by a car

Like stepping barefoot on Lego in the middle of the night - surely that's the most painful thing known to man? :shock:

Fixed that for you.

Haha - I reckon the upturned plug is more dangerous than lego, it's like some medieval torture device (if you ignore the iron attached to the other end) lying in the middle of the floor!