Crank Brothers or SPD's

[jcosh]

Hi

Following on from thread about what size frame fro my new Stumpy can anybody offer me a suggestion about whether to stick with the Crank Brothers Smarty pedals that are supplied with the bike or to change for an SPD. I see there are a few of the Crank Brothers pedals on ebay, is this because they are no good or just cause people don't like to move away from the SPD system?

Cheers

[hot66]

I have used Time Atacs for years .... personally I much prefer them to SPD as they offered a little bit more float which helps with my Knee problems

I'm currently riding with these on my Yeti :

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Time_Z_Freeride_... ... although originally I was going to get some of these :

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Time_ATAC_XS_Car...

I also have a set of older style Time ATAC's on my Cannondale Jekyll

[JPJ]

Crank Bros pedals are a great design, and offer probably the most float and best mud-shedding capabilities of any of the major manufacturers. However, their bearings are made of cheese, and the pedals require routine, regular maintenance to replace the bearings so that you don't have catastrophic failure.

Time's get great reviews, but are often quite expensive, Shimano last well, have models for all budgets but are probably the most likely to clag. However, this is usually easy enough to scrape off and keep going. It might depend on where you do most of your riding.

[cannondale]

I definitely prefer SPDs to the Crank Bros.

Clipping in and out of the Crank Bros just doesn't seem right. If you want I might sell you my Crank Bros pedals that have been used on a couple of rides only.

SPSs from now on for me!!

[pdV6]

Another vote for Time ATACs - switched to ATACs from SPDs years ago due to dodgy knees.

The only real issue I have with them is the non-compatibility of the Time cleats with SPD pedals; it makes riding somebody else's bike a pain (i.e. either ride not clipped in or else have to swap pedals / cleats).

[LRdriver II]

I have crank bros eggbeater fitted to all my MTB's. means I only need one pair of shoes to ride them. Road bike has Keo's.
Crank bros are a little vague when you click in though.. no solid "clunk" like the SPDs. Otherwise rode Atacs, but they are too heavy for what you pay.
Its a good point to mention, What do your mates ride?.. you may want to swap bikes with them, or swap spare cleats with breakdowns etc..

[jcosh]

I think that SPD is the way to go. I already have an existing bike with these and most mates have the same, so that seems to be the way to go. Most, not all, seem to think that there is no real improvement by going with the Crank Brothers that are supplied with the bike. Will call shop and ask them to change to SPD XT before I collect.

Cheers

[ewenm]

pdV6 said:

Another vote for Time ATACs - switched to ATACs from SPDs years ago due to dodgy knees.

The only real issue I have with them is the non-compatibility of the Time cleats with SPD pedals; it makes riding somebody else's bike a pain (i.e. either ride not clipped in or else have to swap pedals / cleats).

Exactly that for me too.

[g77]

- 1 for Crank Brother Smartys

I've got a pair of Crank Brother Smartys on my Sirrus road bike and they are terrible.

I've had them for about 9 months and about 20 miles a week (so very low mileage) and the left hand one is b*ggered.

Initally they were great and the fact that they had a small platform / were two sided was ideal for town riding and allowed short journeys in normal shoes too.

But build up of dirt and debris seems to be preventing the mechanism / spring from behaving as it should do.

And the Smarty is not rebuildable.

Recommend that you either consider the Candy (which is rebuildable) or something else completely

[Mandog]

+1 for CBs. Much simpler than SPDs. No cleg build-up. They wear ok.

I like the mallets best.

I've been riding flats for the last 6 months however.

[MATRS]

Just gone to CB's having used Shimano for the past 15 years, had a few offs still attached to the bike

[v8 jago]

I was using egg beters and thought they were great. The only thing that stopped them been 10 out of 10 was if you caught the pedal on a rock they unclipped my feet. I eventualy bought some time attack carbon and i wish i had gone to these ages ago. They clip in and out perfect and dont seem to get clogged up either and are so comfy to use. Must be an 11 out of 10

[Hard-Drive]

I have blinged my bike up quite considerably with carbon this and tubeless that but I just use the cheapo Shimano M520 SPDs...you can get them for about £20 on eBay, and I once got a set for £8 brand new!

They are only a smidge heavier than XT/XTR level, and whilst I know that the sealing is not as good, I have yet to get any noticeable wear at all from mine, and that includes a lot of boggy bridle way abuse as well as proper trail centre stuff. Whack a rock and you won't be crying, in fact won't even notice if you buy silver not black. I keep meaning to buy XTRs "next time" but at 4x the price I just cannot justify it.

Even got a set on my roadie!

Never ridden CB stuff but from what I hear their top end stuff is very good indeed but there is a big difference with the cheaper stuff, Shimano is more consistent.

[Floor Tom]

The real killer for me is the fact that you can whack a shimano pedal off a rock and it will more than likely be ok. Do this with a CB pedal and you can easily bend one of the arms, thus rendering you unable to clip into one side of the pedal.

[thepickle]

M520’s are great pedals. Cheap and can take some abuse as well. They came standard on my RM Slayer (so they initially took some good rock hits at CyB!) but I’ve changed them over to my fully rigid and they’ve done 1500+ miles or so in the last 6 months without any issues at all, just fit and forget.

[carbonjunkie]

egg beaters are excellent pedals, yes they feel 'sloppy' at first but after a couple of rides i will never go back to spds.

[GHW]

thepickle said:

M520’s are great pedals. Cheap and can take some abuse as well. They came standard on my RM Slayer (so they initially took some good rock hits at CyB!) but I’ve changed them over to my fully rigid and they’ve done 1500+ miles or so in the last 6 months without any issues at all, just fit and forget.

Another thumbs up for M520s from me. Got them on my singlespeed and my fun bike, and I used them in Morzine this year too. They just keep going without any fuss!

[WylieCoyote]

Went over to flats (DMR's) and FiveTen shoes afer some issues of joint pain using Spuds and will never go back. Ride a sinlgespeed and fs bike.

[Rob Mk2a]

I've got Crank Bros Candy's on my Tomac XC bike no problems at all. There is plenty of float so no knee problems. I probably prefer them to my Look's on my road bike.

Rob