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spd's versus egg beaters

45 posts & 38 voices | Started 2 years ago by epo-aholic | Latest reply from al_f

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epo-aholic - Member

looking for some feedback on this guys.......

been a shimano spd user since the year dot - changed to ritchey for a while but always seem to go back to shimano. Anyway the last few races have been really muddy and the pedals/cleats have bunged up and i've seen a fair few guys at the events using egg beaters as i believe they shed the mud better but are they as good an engagement and do they have loads of float (they look like they do)? CRC are doing a set of basic ones for £18 so was thinking, what the hell......

opinions, experiences?

cheers

Posted 2 years ago #
dmiller - Member

I was wondering the same thing in the snow a few months back...

Posted 2 years ago #
ratherbeintobago - Member

Can't speak for using Eggbeaters per se, but had a set of Cranks Bros Acid 1s which have the same engagement mechanism - didn't like them at all. Vague to clip in & out of, & had to shim the cleat to get it to engage properly (I appreciate this latter might not be a problem with Eggbeaters as it was due to the platform).

Also, rumour has it that the cheapo Eggbeaters don't last well in mud etc. & there are stories about of the pedal body coming off the axle mid-moor. 2011 stuff (aside from the base model, which still isn't watertight) is said to have better bearing seals.

Changed to Time ATAC XSs, which I appreciate are substantially more expensive but seem to be much more robust & make a nice clunk when I clip in & out.

Having said this, I know people that use Crank Bros pedals & get along fine with them. As I've said, the 2011 Eggbeater 2+/Candy 2+ do look better sealed & come with a 5-year warranty; the Eggbeater/Candy 2's are listed at £70 & Merlin have ATAC XSs for £79.

Andy

Posted 2 years ago #
Fortunateson09 - Member

Too many people that I've spoken to have said something along the lines of 'I thought my Crank Brothers pedals were great until the axle snapped off and gouged a hole in my leg'

I think it was around the 3rd time I heard an account like that I made a mental note to stick with Shimano...

Posted 2 years ago #
Potter - Member

i brought a pair of egg beater sl`s and absolutely hated them went straight back to spuds,the only adjustment you have is to swap the cleats over,also there is far too much float and i never really felt comfortable with them

Posted 2 years ago #
naokfreek - Member

Love them....won't be using spd type pedals again ever, just don't get on with them...egg beaters are very marmite though so maybe get some cheap/secondhand ones and see how you go, take it from there!

Posted 2 years ago #
z1ppy - Member

Go Time, loads float & clear mud better & snow than shimanos, which is why i changed to them & not looked back.
Eggbeaters are good as long as you maintain them

Posted 2 years ago #
leeson - Member

both are gay

Posted 2 years ago #
epo-aholic - Member

leeson - Member

both are gay

.........and whats wrong with being gay?

Posted 2 years ago #
flanagaj - Member

I have used egg beaters for 5 years now and have only just changed to my 2nd pair. And that was only because CRC were doing pedals and cleats for ~ £20 and cleats alone were £16!

I personally would not use anything else

Posted 2 years ago #
swallow - Member

egg beaters work fine for me - added bonus that a chav would find it extra hard to pedal away if nicked

Posted 2 years ago #
Del - Member

used to have egg beaters on 5 bikes. now on time.

Posted 2 years ago #
Pawsy_Bear - Member

egg beaters for me, never serviced em and they still going strong after 5 years and at £20 a punt inc cleats who cares how long they last even put em on my commute bike. They regularly bounce of the rocks at afan and cwmcarn and never seem to clog great simple mechanism. Light to

Posted 2 years ago #
confuzzed - Member

I have used all sorts of Crank Brothers pedals - Eggbeaters, Candies, Acids and Mallets, on various bikes. They all worked brilliantly. Didn't clog with mud, easy to clip into and out of, even when flying away from the bike mid-crash.

Unfortunately, they all seemed to fall apart. At least two pairs of Eggies fell off the axle and stayed clipped to my shoe, not too much fun in the middle of a cyclcocross race. As Pawsy_Bear says, they can bounce off rocks, but you can also bend the bars to interesting shapes.

Oh, the cleats wear quickly too and because of the shape of the bars the pedals will dig holes into the sole of your shoe - try finding some Sole Saver thingys which work well.

As I no longer race (or tend to ride) in massively muddy conditions I have just switched back to SpuDs, which I am loving.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joe - Member

I snapped/crushed several sets of eggbeaters

Try Time. They are really perfect.

Posted 2 years ago #
brakes - Member

SPDs hurt my knees and my feet so I changed to Crank Bros Candies
took some time to get used to the less positive engagement, but I much prefer them now - they engage and disengage so easily when you need them to, but not when you don't
I even use them on the road bike
no maintenance, no problems after 2 years

Posted 2 years ago #
hungry monkey - Member

Time.

end.of.thread.

Posted 2 years ago #
chela - Member

I used SPDs since the early 90s, but switched to Crank Bros about 5 years ago.

I prefer the feel of them; they're slightly less distinct, particularly on disengagement, which doesn't sound good, but it really works for me. They aren't massively different in use to be honest. I remember my first rode after switching and I had no bother getting used to them - there are just subtle feel differences.

I've used mostly Eggbeaters, but have had three pairs of Candys too, and I'd definitely agree that they ain't as robust as Shimano. But IME they're not as bad as a lot of people will lead you to believe. And I think the bearings are much better now than they were.

Both Candys and Eggies are better in mud and especially snow than SPuDs. And, for me, that and the preferable feel, lighter weight and simpler appearance make them my choice.

Cleats are still soft toss though.

Posted 2 years ago #
DWH - Member

For about five years I had eggbeaters on all my bikes. About a year ago I switched to Shimano.

Eggbeater pro's:

- Good mud/snow clearing.
- Light (well, the triple-Ti ones were).

Eggbeater con's:

- Small platform. It's a personal thing and there isn't a massive difference but SPDs feel more solid to me.
- High bearing wear. Maybe it's where I ride, maybe it's the mileage I did but even greasing them every two weeks I would go through at least three bearing sets a year (this is across four sets of pedals, not per pedal!).
- Broken axle: This was a steel axle. I should have given up at this point.
- Cleat wear: Just what do they make them from? I went through five or six sets of cleats every year, and they gouge the sole of your shoe unless you fit a ridiculous number of spacers - which incidentally makes the attachment seem even more tenuous than normal.

The only well-known 'failure mode' I didn't encounter was the one where the body comes off the axle, but then I always put a dab of loctite on the securing nut.

Posted 2 years ago #
Everlong - Member

I've been running Egg Beaters for the last 2 years and they perform really well. My only problem with them is that they are fairly soft. I've smashed 2 pedals now while riding and the impacts were not that severe.

They are really easy to service though.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that I keep breaking them I'm moving back over to Shimano SPDs which I never actually had any reason to change from in the first place .. hehe, funny how things come round in circles.

Posted 2 years ago #
gothandy - Member

Just finished Cwmcarn today using egg beaters for the first time in ages (mallets previously) and they were great, thought I'd miss the large platform but with a decent set of shoes no problem.

Must be well over 5 years since I had SPDs so can't comment on those.

Posted 2 years ago #
Young Dave riley - Member

Spuds for me.They do clog with mud,snow,ice etc,but they never break.Egg Beaters do,not all of 'em,but enough to make me stick with Shimano.

Posted 2 years ago #
loddrik - Member

I broke 3 eggbeaters in 5 months. Got fed up and bought some xtr spuds which had been superb and tough as nails. I will never ever go back.

Posted 2 years ago #
Fletcher - Member

I've been using egg beaters for years now, without any probs. I have two sets, one standard pair, and some bling gold ones...TBH I prefer the cheaper standard egg beaters.

Great pedals for the money IMO.

Posted 2 years ago #
GEDA - Member

Why do people always ask about Egg beaters? The gist of every thread is...

They break.
They don't break if you service them all the time.
They never break.

Anyway. Just get some Time pedals, a bit weightier than the egg beaters but they just work and keep on working.

Posted 2 years ago #
hambl90 - Member

Neither, get some time roc attacks, never break, never clog up, just work very well.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joxster - Member

I've been using Eggbeaters since 2001 and never had an issue, only had my first pair serviced last year. I always giggle when I hear people say how sh!te they are, I only get to do about 12-18k a year on them. So you lot musn't look after your kit, how often do you change your bikes?

Posted 2 years ago #
GEDA - Member

What do you mean look after your kit! I have never looked at my Time Pedals. They last about 5 years with no maintenance I would say. Sod servicing pedals.

Posted 2 years ago #
freeform5spot - Blocked

Like the float in the CB's. Always been a bit of a pussy when it came to clipping in but understands the benefits. The CB's give me confidence as I feel I can disengage much easier.

horses for courses!

Posted 2 years ago #
glenncampbell - Member

I tried eggbeaters for the same reason and hated the feel of them and reliability was poor. I like the SPD engagement 'feel' and I'm getting my XTR pedals serviced for the first time in 8 years of heavy use - they've been amazing.

Posted 2 years ago #
jon1973 - Member

my opinion

end.of.thread.

THE single most annoying thing someone can write on a forum thread.

Posted 2 years ago #
loddrik - Member

Fwiw my breaking of several sets of eggbeaters had nothing to do with maintenance, in each case I snapped the metal clip in bars, which apparently shouldn't break. Hmmm..

Posted 2 years ago #
willej - Member

Another +1 for Time.

Posted 2 years ago #
hungry monkey - Member

i don't like what someone said, and yet i'm going to offer nothing else to the thread

THE most pointless thing to write on a forum thread.

HTH

Posted 2 years ago #
stuartie_c - Member

Time ATAC.

Posted 2 years ago #