Right, I bought a new bike late January this year, the shop threw in some Crank Brothers Smarty Pedals for free (no packaging, not on the receipt as the chap selling me the bike didnt want the manager to find out). At this point I didnt expect much from them as they were pretty cheap, but I'd been on some cheepo shimano spds for about 1 year and a half so thought I'd give the Crank Bros a go.

Over the last 4 months I've probably only ridden the bike for a total of about 45-50 hours riding ranging from road riding to full on punishment in the peaks.

During the last month of so I've noticed that the pedals (both sides) have an aweful lot of play in them i.e. the wiggle and rattle around alot independantly from the axel. Seeing as the movement of the pedals has got worse I've gone back to my shimanos but I hate the performance in comparison with the Smartys.

I can't really return the pedals as I have no proof of purchase, do I try and chance it and buy another pair as they are only £15 on CRC and hope the new pair dont go in the same way? or is this actually 'normal' and considered ok from the pedals? Should I invest in some more expensive Crank Bros models? – Probably worth mentioning I dont want to spend loads on this kind of thing.

I know its hard to explain but hopefully someone STW has had the same/similar experience. Any input greatly appreciated.

Andy

there are loads of people on here who moan about the quality of CB pedals, i have never has a problem with my egg beaters, have been running them on 2 bikes for the last couple of years, much prefer them to shimano. only regreased them once in the whole time, and they are so cheap if they do give up i can go get a new set. get a new set, although i would go for egg beaters rather than smartys.

I love the CB pedals and started on the same Smarty pedals as you. These pedals are OE only and do have a limited life span. A step up to the Candys or Acids is recommended if you like the CB float and use.

Or get some XTs or XTRs that will last forever…

I personally would stick to Shimano. My boyfriend has had 2 different types of crankbrothers and had similar problems. One was the more expensive eggbeaters which only lasted couple of months. We both use Shimano XTR now, XT are a bit cheaper though.

My Shimano SPDs feel bullet proof compared to the Smartys, from reading around I feel inclined to not take my experience with the smartys as a true reflection of Crank bros pedals.

I really prefer the Crank bros float and setup loads more to the Shimano system.

If I bought a more reputable pair of Crank bros pedals would I get a longer life span (say over 12 months) before any rebuild is needed?

Merlin seem to do Candy C's £37.95, would these be better? or should I be looking at even better models?

I'd definately prefer a pedal with a cage/support thingy around it.

I bought a set of new Candys about 18months ago, I've just recently done the service/rebuild on them, mainly beacuse I thought it was about time rather than they needed it. so 12months in my experience should be fine.

Candy C's sounds like a good option then. Any other Candy C users on here with good/bad experiences?

Anywhere cheaper than Merlin?

Eggbeaters look great but I have broken too many. Had xtrs for the last couple of years and they are the best IMO. Absolutely bombproof!

I would have got XTRs but I wanted black pedals to match my bike so got XTs… 😳

i was gonna say the egg beater c just because i dont really see the point in the small outer cage, you can clip into all 4 sides more easily, i ride my bike to work with them in trainers and although its not ideal, it still works! i just bout 2 new sets of 09 models for my girlfriend for 20 quid from crc, but looks like they have sold them all, lucky i got in there 😀

Don’t get me wrong here ‘cause this is not one of those ‘what you’ve got is crap ‘cause its different to mine’ type of post as I’m not that keen on those – but both my MTB’s run Shimano pedals – the singlepeed has some 767 (xt) pedals that are several years old than the bike and that’s now 13years old – and must be about 15 years old and have been used constantly with virtually no maintenance
The pedals on my FS are original Shimano DX (the red DH pedal) platforms and are somewhere around 10 – 12 years old again with little or no maintenance – again these have been ridden on a fairly constant basis
Now both sets of pedals are showing their age and to be honest are in need of replacement – I will be sticking with Big S – as my experience is there longevity is measured in decades rather then years

or try time. feel like eggbeaters, last like shimano.

Time Atac Alium. Running for over 2 years with no maintenance.

Mud clearing as good as CB, reliability of Shimano.

Had EggBeaters and Mallets which both died in 6 months.

I generally use Shimano M520's at £15-£20 a pair, chepaer to buy new peedals than replace the cleats alone when they wear out, and I'm not too bothered if they get bashed out of shape (although has never happened yet)

Got CB Candy 2Ti on my Blur LT and XTR SPDs on my Trek 8k. I prefer the clip in action on the CBs and find my feet come out a lot easier when I slam, which is all the time on my Blur because I ride down things that I don't have the skills for all the time. The XTRs do feel a lot more robust though.

Smarties are horrific for longevity, really cheap and nasty, surprised they've lasted as long as they have!

Shimano are unbeatable in terms of durability, I use XTR through winter, then use lighter Egg Beaters through summer, they do work nicely, but need a fair bit of attention to keep them working properly! I've got some 6 year old M959s in the spares box, they've never had any attention.

The new Eggbeaters/Candys have a 5-year warranty (apart from the base models) which suggests that CB are confident that the end of 'my-eggbeaters-were-great-until-they-fell-off-the-axle' stories must be in sight. FWIW I had some Acids but I never really got on with them as I found the clipping in/out vague, and pissing about with shims to get the cleat at the right height wasn't fun.

Now have Time ATAC XSs on all my bikes, which are the DBs, if a bit on the dear side.

Andy

Edit – it looks like the base models have a 2y warranty, but as I understand it the bearings aren't water resistant below Eggbeater/Candy 2

Time Atac Carbons, 12 years and still going strong. Forget the rest.