does my head in, i love flat pedals, especially in winter when its sloppy slidy, or when it gets steep and technical, but when it comes to trail centers, where there are jumps and drops to tackle, i prefer to be clipped in 100% as my feet tend to slide off the pedals on landing impact, so although i can clear a gap jump or fair size drops, my landing is usually erratic and ungraceful. i also prefer spds for local xc rides and for racing enduros, except when theres a decent size feature to contend with! 😕 i only have experience with shimano spuds, but have tried pretty much all the flats. thinking maybe its time to try a more DH specific clipless pedal? ones with a good platform also – CB mallets maybe? need something i can run 100% of the time, rather than changing out for certain rides. please advise…

Time DH/Freeride pedals are really good, take a beating and seem to grip when not clipped in….by accident…..I stay clipped in unless I crash for all trail features 😆

Have got some Mallets on the big bike they are great for going downhill but I’m not tempted to use them as all rounders. Like you my landings are more like impacts and the Mallets are better than SPDs in this respect

The action is a bit different as well you can kind of tear your foot out like strong velcro and clipping back in just needs a firm press. No problems with them as yet they’re maybe six months old

I tend to run mallet dh pedals though like flats in winter (mainly as they force me to ride properly and unlearn the bad habits I’ve picked up riding clipless)

So my opinions disguised as fact:

Mallet 1s are useless, the mechanism sits to far proud of the body meaning your shoes slide over them. No retention pins doesn’t help. The body is too narrow to use wide shoes (5tens in an 11) so you rib on the cranks and can’t (easily) disengage except at the top of your stroke.
2s and 3s are the same size so no good for me therefore not tried them but have pins so will prevent the riding on glass platforms feel of the 1s.

Mallet dh are lovely, wider pedal so proper movement, platform surface is closer to the mechanism height so actually supports your foot. Take care as high pins + clipped in is (near) certain death.

Tried shimano dx types, platform was too ssmall for me and they don’t play well with my winter boots – lake mx140

No clipless pedals will work as flats, the mechanism is where your weight wants to be and is not grippy without cleats clipped into it.
The mallet dh gives a reasonable amount of grip when not clipped in for a few pedal strokes or what not when remounting but it’s not comfortable for any length of time due to the mech sticking into your foot, nor is it enough to ride anything which is intimidating enough to make you want to unclip.

For me they’re more comfortable than non platform pedals (which give me foot cramp usually) but they are in no way a replacement for flats.

No clipless pedals will work as flats, the mechanism is where your weight wants to be and is not grippy without cleats clipped into it.

This.

need something i can run 100% of the time, rather than changing out for certain rides. please advise…

Doesn’t exist. If you want clips use clips, if you want flats use flats. It’s not like it takes long to switch them anyway

yeah i realise it doesn’t exist, but im just after a happy medium i suppose. it not a major hassle to change them out, but quite often ive wanted the merits of both flavours on the same ride!

+1 for Time pedals. Love mine. Think Mallets but with better build quality & lifespan IME.
Bit more float than SPDs, better snow clearance (never had trouble with mud on the SPDs myself) and easier clip in – the platform version gives a pretty reasonable support if you’re not clipped in on tech and/or steep bits (I ride in the tweed valley)

funkhouser – Member
yeah i realise it doesn’t exist, but im just after a happy medium i suppose.

even that doesn’t exist, standing on clipless pedals is just plain shit.

Really surprised by the recommendations of Times having good grip. I used them for years on a couple of bikes, as a clipless pedals they’re great but those bars are the slippiest things in the known universe!

if you’re not clipped in on tech and/or steep bits (I ride in the tweed valley)

odd thing to say, it’s places like Caberston and Thornielee that are making me think that moving back to clips is a good idea

As in after a dab…

gotcha, plenty of them on those hills 😉

would you recommend the MX’s or the DH’s?

was gonna ask about the Mavics too, but they look just the same!

need something i can run 100% of the time, rather than changing out for certain rides

one of each – perfect balance

😀 by joe youve cracked it!!

them time bars do look mighty slippy!

Running crank brothers pedals usually results in a long push back to the car at least once a year in my experience, the last ones I ran, parted with the axle, the pedal body came off the axle over the nut leaving the nut still tight on the axle.
I have gone to xt trails, not quite as easy to get in or out of but don’t have as many accidental unclips as with mallets.
I won’t go back to crank brothers again. Wouldn’t mind trying time pedals but it means buying extra cleats for different shoes again.
I’ve found my spesh shoes and boots work better on the xt’s than my flat soled 661’s, there’s more of a guide to find the cleats.

mark_rich – Member
Running crank brothers pedals usually results in a long push back to the car at least once a year in my experience, the last ones I ran, parted with the axle, the pedal body came off the axle over the nut leaving the nut still tight on the axle.

Which is the real shame about any Crank Bros kit with moving parts, as these do look like the best offerings on the market right now:

my landing is usually erratic and ungraceful

Possibly something to do with your take-off or approach to jumps/drops?

Cb pedals do need a lot of attention compared to shimano but if you keep on top of it they’re usually fine*. This is however another reason I tend to run real flats in winter.

I have an old set of time z (I think) which I never got on with really, the shape didn’t seem to offer any additional traction than my egg beaters and at the time (pre hurty foot) I didn’t need the platform for actual comfort – just the psychological side of having a platform. In the right shoes I found the eggbeaters offered enough traction (more than the mallet 1s and the times certainly) for the post dab pedal stroke or two.

*the pedal body fell off my mallet 1s without warning (great shame as I can now explain another set of dh to the good lady) though they were two or three years old with no service which with Cb pedals is a bit like saying “the fish died without warning after being removed from water”.
*I broke the spring on a 9 year old set of egg beaters this year, in the same time I’ve had two new bikes so maybe not fair to complain.

Azonic Wicked pedals great pedals & range of colours to match other bike parts