A few years ago I moved from my trusted shimano spd pedals that cost £20 with cleats to the egg beaters as I put my bike on a diet and they only weighed 260g.

I really liked the simple design, 4 sided entry etc.

However, I’ve just replaced my 2nd set as it felt the bearings had collapsed and they wobbled and made a terrible noise.

I’m now deciding on if I should buy the upgraded pedals that can be rebuilt or if I should just go buy some xt pedals and give up on them?

What do you do? Have I just been unlucky?

The pair on my commuter bike have lasted years but they have a far easier life.

Thanks

I’m prepared to put up with having to keep on top of maintenance for the way that they ride so run Crank Bros pedals and fit a rebuild kit when the body starts moving on the spindle a bit.

Other people are less forgiving of them.

Upgrade to the 2 or 3. Then it’s bearings instead of bushings. They last longer, need little maintenance and have (IIRC) a 5 year warranty. I run Candys on all my bikesy

Swings and roundabouts.

There are plenty of CB haters, who all swear by Shimano. “They can bought for peanuts and last forever”. My experience was that the Shimanos lasted 6 months and one fell to bits.

Personally I don’t like the cleat engagement on Shimano. I much prefer the CB pedals. My Candys on my hybrid, which was my commuter for 6 years, are as good as the day I put them on, they’ve lasted 4 years, and are now used for CX type riding.

I’d buy the rebuildable CB personally, but that’s because of the engagement like I said before.

It’s very easy to service egg beaters

What’s the difference between the 2 and 3? Apart from the price?

I like that diagram. I must admit, I’m pretty tempted.

I really like the original cheap version, but I found I couldn’t service the ‘1’ properly. The plastic end cap gets ruined and the bushing was very hard to remove cleanly because you can’t push from the opposite side.

So I’m now on ‘3’ Candies and Egg Beaters and find them easy to service and keep smooth.
The rebuild kits aren’t particularly expensive either.

2 is one bushing. one bearing. 3 is two bearings (one needle, one cartridge). I think the 3 has Cast rather than Stamped “wings” too.

I never had a problem with servicing Egg Beaters, a squirt of grease in the end cap from time to time and an occasional rebuild. I found the bars wore quite badly underneath and they wear grooves in shoes unless you run the Crank Bros metal plates. Never had one fail though.

It’s been a while since I used them. Between wifey and I we’re a mix of Shimano and Ritchey on the mountain bikes now, Mrs P uses Ritchey on her road bikes too. I’ve had one XTR fall apart, it was a couple of months old. I’ve had an XT lock up on a ride, never had a problem with a Ritchey though. Other people I know swear by Time pedals.

Which pedals are better? 2 or 3

Which is easiest to rebuild?

Has anyone added the titanium axles?

Thanks

The best crank bros pedals, are the ones made by time 🙂

But they’re dearer, and I’m cheap. So I use crank bros

the EB design uses seals at the ends of the engagement mechanism to close this off from the axle. the seals wear out, so once the crap has got in there and you need to start servicing them, you need to keep servicing them.
time. the engagement mechanism is separate from the axle. all of the advantages of egg beaters with none of the drawbacks. i ran EB on four bikes so changing over was not a cheap experience, but i haven’t touched any of the times in >6 years use. i’m contemplating replacing one set on the SS, as the bars are getting worn now, but that bike does ~ 60-70k, 1800m climbing per week in all weathers and is SS.

I’ve tried pretty much all the crankbrother pedals. They all wear out faster than tyres, so I just buy the cheap ones now and replace as needed.

I get Level 3 pedals, bearing replacement about once a year, just retired a pair of cheapo Cadies that were about 5 years old, been knocking round on my road bike for a while but probably a good use.

I have a pair of the original Twin Ti pedals which I ran on my main bike for over 5 years and then moved them on to my road bike. Never had any issue at all, regularly greased and never replaced any of the bearings. Also have 1 pair of the original Candy’s and again they have been faultless and still on original bearings. Same story with 2 pairs of the mk 2 Candy 3 pedals as well.

As a result I don’t get the Crank Bros pedal hate – they’ve been impeccable for me!

I have run CB pedals for years and still yet to upgrade to the newer design as the existing ones have yet to die.

My tip for longevity is to pump them full of grease from new/before you even use them and regrease them every 6months and they should last a long time.

Got a set of Eggie C’s that only just need rebuilding and must be 9years old.

^^ This! Mine must be 11 or nearly 12 years old IIRC.

And again!

I had a pair of Candies on my mtb in 2004. They are still going strong on my cx/commuter to this day!

I’ve got a few sets of Egg beater SL (same as the new 3s) that I’m about to move on (reducing my bikes) if you’re interested? I’d be looking for £25 per set + postage.

Don’t agree. The bushing versions are bombproof, lasted me years of some fairly intense cycling. Just grease them every couple of months. Just changed the bushings yesterday because there was a little play in them now, but they were still very serviceable.

I have the needle bearing 11s on a new bike now, I’ll see how long they last.

This is 100% on the money. Doing the 5 minute grease thing when new, then reasonably regularly thereafter, and they seem to last fine.