Any one have comparitive experience of SPD's and Crank Bros Eggbeaters.

I have used SPD's on all my bikes for years and have been more than happy. Having recently become the owner of a streamlined and light road bike, i am toying with the idea of swapping to minimalist eggbeaters.

Any valid experiences gratefully received.

egg beaters are crap on road bikes, get some road pedals

other than that they are ace, far better than any spds i've had

I moved to egg beaters from spds about 3 years ago. They clear mud better. Apart from that I can't tell much difference. I tend to break a set every year, apart from that they're peachy.

I use quattros on my road bike – quite nice and you still get the float that eggbeaters give you.

I currently use both. Both have advantages and disadvantages!

SPDs are tougher, cheaper and clickier. You can get out of them easier, but you can also pull out by accident far easier. The float has a definate 'stop' to it, and I fing the cleats need more carful set-up

Eggbeaters are lighter, have lovely free, smooth float (Think standing on an ice cube) and you can't pull veritcally out of them. They are also virtually impossible to clog with mud and easier to clip into because you don't need to hit the pedal 'just so' but you can roll it under your foot until it clips in.
But they need a lot more maintainance: Grease every 3 months or so and a rebuild every year or so. And the cleats don't last as long

Road pedals tend to have a bigger platform than mtb pedals because you spend more time in bigger gears pressing on. Eggbeaters would seem to be a bit of a backwards step..

SPD are more "mechanical" when clipping in and out where as Egg Beaters are much "softer"

You can "roll off" the egg beaters if you don't engage properly

if your using egg beaters invest in some Sole Savers before you trash the sole of your shoes

SPDs allow you to adjust the release pressure required where as Egg Beaters only have 2 options (by swapping cleats over)

i don't think Crank Bros pedals will outlive Shimanos

If you love maintenance and replacement then eggbeaters are great. If you value fit and forget SPDs every time. No brainer for me – bikes should work, not break.

Thanks for all the useful feedback peoples

EggBeaters are ace on the MTB, as stated above. Keep them lubed though.

Get Look Keos for the road bike. OK so you'll have to buy another pair of shoes but Keos are really solid and have a variety of float offered by the different cleats available.

i've used egg beaters for about 5 years. just gone over to times.

With Egg Beaters, you absolutely must grease them and re-built them each year, without fail.
Fail to do so at your peril.

Last summer one pair disintegrated on me and it cost me my ride part way into an event for which I'd been training hard for.
An almost completely wasted weekend and the best part of £200 lost on b&b, petrol etc etc.

Yep if you're cycling any distance on your road bike get road pedals much bigger contact area so less pressure on your foot much more comfortable when in higher gears.

I guess I'm in the minority. I've done absolutely sod all with my smarty pedals and they're (mostly) okay. I use eggbeaters on my commuting hack because it only has one gear and never needs to do more than 40 miles in a day so I don't suffer from any sort of problems with comfort.

Ti29er – Don't you take spares along with you. For D2D I had flats and eggbeaters in my car in case of problems with the pedals already on the bike.

With Egg Beaters, you absolutely must grease them and re-built them each year, without fail.

If a pair ever survives a year I'll try and remember that.

Del – Member

i've used egg beaters for about 5 years. just gone over to times.

Time ATAC for me too

Time ATAC best of both.

EB's brake, the spring part brakes and the pedal falls off it's spindle and the bearings are hopeless on all but the most pricey Ti ones. Quite annoying if you're on a group ride and it's no-one left behind.

Times I found pretty good. I liked them for their simplicity but the cleats cannot be multi-directional released, the grip of them is un-nerving it's so tight, but I suppose you may get used to that.

So, it was back to good ol' spd's for me. 540's for the HT and 647's platforms for FS. They've been on for the past 5 years and only dabbed a bit of lube of them occasionally.

SPD engagement was better than the Times and EB's

Egg beaters are great for not getting clogged up with mud but… the cleats wear very quickly, they need lots of rebuilding/greasing, and every pair I have had ( I think it was 4 pairs) I have broken the wing part on and I am a light 10 stone rider! In the end I went back to my 7 year old SPD's which just go on and on.

SPDs for me,XTR on the full-susser,ancient XT on the hard tail.They're apest in the mud/snow/ice,but a quick stamp soon clears them.