Falling out of love with Crank Brothers' eggbeater pedals

A few years back when I decided to go clip less, I search for something that was easy to clip into and easy to learn to use. I don't like the "proper cycling" shoes as you can't just jump off your bicycle and have a walk as you please, so I was looking for MTB style cycling shoes. Out of them all stood the Crank Brothers' eggbeater pedals, since they are four sided and also looked cool and simple.

Four sided : The four sided design made them extremely easy to learn to use. Simple to clip in, no flipping the pedal around to be able to clip in, e.g. just put your foot down and you are clipped in. The four sided design also meant that if you walk around in your cycling shoes or get mud on the pedals, the mud will just fall right off and you still can clip in.

Look : the eggbeater pedals just looks way cool, great design and the feel of them is like something that will last long and can handle a beating.

Simple : Being new to the game of cycling clip less and cycling shoes, back then, they looked well simple compared to others. Didn't have fancy screws here and there to adjust them. Which can be a problem for others, if you like to set your pedals up, but I was a beginner, so KISS (keep it simple stupid). There are two settings for clipping out, 15 and 20 deg angle, plenty of float which I read was good if you have knee problems. Which I have especially with my left knee, I only had to change of the angle of one cleat a bit to get it to work, well it was the first time I have ever put cleats on my shoes. In the four years I have cycled clip less I have never had any problems with my knees, so that is a win for the Crank Brothers pedals.

And on top of that, their website look very slick and the packaging the pedals come in felt and looked like this is a good investment.

I have two sets off candy C, because now and again I would like to be able to cycle with out clipping in, the candy's makes that happen for short distances, which I need. I also got one set off eggbeater SC and a set of eggbeater C on my other bicycles, you can get by cycling with normal shoes on the eggbeaters but you can easily slip.

In the last 4 years I have used both the candy and eggbeater pedals I have gone trough two set of each. That last pair of candy's I got just managed to clock up just under 3000 miles before they broke*). That is not very long compared to other pedals out there. Many of my cycling friends use SPD's and do many more miles than I do before they need service or new pedals.

*) that is mainly commuting with one week long tour over the last 6 months. And definitely not been knocked or banged as they are on my new pride and joy, the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

I don't do MTB'ing or drop my bicycle onto the road or push hard on my pedals I use the gears. Most of my cycling is commuting in London and the odd cycle tour. And therefore I would like my pedals to last quite a bit longer than 3000 miles before they break on me.

What breaks all the time is the ball bearings, the spring and "hooks" hold on much longer. Though I did break one "hook" on one eggbeater but that is probably linked to the massive pedal strike I had on my fixed a half year before. And with only 3 hooks and therefore only 2 sided the pedal lasted a few more months before the bearings went.

I contacted Crank Brothers last year when my last pair died, and their answer was ...

As to your comments on not having to buy rebuild kits; Crank Brothers pedals are designed to be rebuildable as this will provide the longest lifespan of the pedals. Other brands may appear to last 'forever' but after they break they will need to be replaced as a complete unit. A simple regrease of the spindle every now and then will reduce bearing wear significantly and reduce the need to do a full rebuild.

Well my argument against this is the friends I know who got SPD's or the like, pretty much fit and forget their pedals and get many more miles out of them before they even have to think about servicing them. I talked to a friend the other day and he told me that he had a set of TIME pedals which have been going for ten years without service.

I should have some left over bits from my last repair and should hopefully be able to fix the candy C's. I also do hope that the eggbeaters SC I just got will clock up more miles than just 3000 miles before they fall apart.

I really don't know if this is linked to the price I pay for them, as I can't afford the high end titanium pedals that Crank Brothers produce and therefore have to go for the lower end pedals.

The worrying part is that while I was writing this up I checked out ,citycycling always a good read and .anth is top bloke too. In his post on the blog "second fall in as many weeks" he tells us why he came off. He have come of his bicycle the other day because his Crank Brothers (candy) spindle snapped. I'm lucky and haven't come off any of my bicycle when the pedals have failed but .anth came off quite dramatically. Lucky it was only a scrape to the bicycle and his jacket, though it could have been much worse since it was in rush hour traffic. Sadly as he report no one stopped to ask if he was ok when he was laying on the road all tangled up in his bicycle.

I really don't fancy splashing out for 3-4 set of new pedals and cleats for my shoes, but if the pedals from Crank Brothers still fall apart I have to. Because I don't fancy a drop just like .anth because my pedals have failed and I have had four sets fail in the last four years, that is too much.

Raitings:
I would have loved to give Crank Brothers more but because of so many failing in the last four years I can't. Though the easy of use, when they work, and their look still pulls the rating up. If you still want Crank Brothers do spend a lot of money on the pedals as I do hope that the top end last a longer than the low end pedals. Which I can't afford to test out for you.

LINK : Crank Brothers