Dual Sided Platform/Clipless Pedals

I am currently using the crank brothers Mallet1, no complaints here.
PD8640.jpg

Love my Mallets-even ride'em barefoot to the beach.
 
Love my Mallets-even ride'em barefoot to the beach.

What is the advantage to the eggbeaters over SPD type pedals? :hmmm:

In addition to that question, are eggbeaters adjustable? i've been riding with 545s for 4 years. Maintenance free as of today (I just screwed myself...). I ride about 2-3 time a week and love them. Is there a reason to switch to eggbeaters?
 
i fixed that noise i was having with my 545s. Not sure exactly what I did.... i took the pedal apart to inspect everything and found out the hard way that the steel ball bearings are free floating... so they proceeded to fall all over my work bench. I reset everything, loaded them up with grease, tightened the cage screw and put them back together and problem solved. Beat up on em today and no clicking- i have a feeling one of the balls wasn't seated properly from the factory.


But.... i have been planning on getting new shoes. So if there is a notable advantage to eggbeaters I would give them a thought. My wife already has an awesome set of SPD shoes, so i can always pass on the 545s to her if I feel the need (or my buddy eric 😀)
 
In addition to that question, are eggbeaters adjustable? i've been riding with 545s for 4 years. Maintenance free as of today (I just screwed myself...). I ride about 2-3 time a week and love them. Is there a reason to switch to eggbeaters?

I was just doing some quick research and came across the following:

1) Eggbeaters are better for muddy riding (but we're all good people here and dont ruin the trails when they're muddy right? 😀)
2) Eggbeaters are not adjustable like SPDs
3) Eggbeaters give you a more floaty feel than SPD's... some people like it and some dont (i like being "one with the bike"... so i may stick with SPD :hmmm🙂

back to searching.... will let ya know if i find anything else
 
Thanks. I will stick to what I got, since I love them and have no need to fix what aint broke.

Just read the "V" blog about getting the "wings clipped". I have shrinkage just thinking about it!!!!!
 
Well.. bringing this back up...

One of the end caps for the 545s must've fallen off the last time I went riding. So today when I was getting my bike ready for the season and riding around using the cage... the cage bent because it wasn't supported on the outside.

So... Back to square one :hmmm: (yes, im pretty sure i can get a new cage & cap and rebuild it.. which i'll probably do and give them to my wife since she doesn't ride as much).

I was actually thinking of giving up on the clipless/platform pedal combo and just getting some Candy C's. But then I read all of the great reviews on Time pedals... and it looks like Time has the best of both worlds between Shimano SPD and Crank Bros...

What do you guys think about the Time Sport Z-Control?

Time-Z-Control-Mtn-Pedal-2.jpg


Edit:
Forget about the Sport Z-Control... upon further inspection they're just the Sport Z with a machined surface, which i like... but not for $30 more! So i'll probably be going with the Sport Z's
 
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Exactly what I said. Shudda put some glue on it.

lol the first thing that came to mind was your post! i thought id notice it coming loose before it actually fell out... i guess i was too concerned with keeping my fingers warm the last time i went riding..
 
Crank bro mallets

I have them on my long travel bike and love them. They will eat any rock up. It's all about shoe and pedal combo. If you wear xc race shoes you won't grip on the platform but if you wear skate style 661 or five10s they stick like glue and the non adjustability con is out the window.
 
I have them on my long travel bike and love them. They will eat any rock up. It's all about shoe and pedal combo. If you wear xc race shoes you won't grip on the platform but if you wear skate style 661 or five10s they stick like glue and the non adjustability con is out the window.

so you use these as your platform pedals without clips, or are you always clipped in?

i was wondering 'cause i didn't know if 5.10 has a clipless sole available.
 
They don't yet but coming in April is the 5.10 Minnaar SPD shoe.
Minnaar.jpg

I don't really see the point. If I want to be clipped in, I'll wear my spd shoes. If I don't want to be clipped in, I'll wear my flat bottom shoes. I would rarely see an instance where I would want to be clipped in then switch my pedals to flats in the middle of a ride. Unless I'm missing somehting.

EDIT: Ok I actually read the thread and it looks like the point is that you can ride with flat bottom shoes on Mallet type of pedals. I guess it would make sense if you don't want to be sometimes clipped in on those kind of pedals. Doesn't the little cleat connection sticking out of the pedal bother you when you use flat shoes on those pedals?
 
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I don't really see the point. If I want to be clipped in, I'll wear my spd shoes. If I don't want to be clipped in, I'll wear my flat bottom shoes. I would rarely see an instance where I would want to be clipped in then switch my pedals to flats in the middle of a ride. Unless I'm missing somehting.

i could see it being useful. think of riding the sourlands or something similar. 99% of riding there is totally groovy in spd's... but if you're gonna hit something bigger, like drop one of the larger boulders, or maybe take a new line that you haven't tried yet, i wouldn't mind having the option to do it with immediate bail-ability at my toe tips versus being locked in. sometimes a mid-air dump of the bike is necessary if you're going for something stupid.

i'm back on flats all the time and sometimes miss the extra umph i can drill out with a clipless pedal setup on climbs. but on the downhills, i don't miss them at all. a shoe like this would be nice as long as the platform was good.
 
i could see it being useful. think of riding the sourlands or something similar. 99% of riding there is totally groovy in spd's... but if you're gonna hit something bigger, like drop one of the larger boulders, or maybe take a new line that you haven't tried yet, i wouldn't mind having the option to do it with immediate bail-ability at my toe tips versus being locked in. sometimes a mid-air dump of the bike is necessary if you're going for something stupid.

i'm back on flats all the time and sometimes miss the extra umph i can drill out with a clipless pedal setup on climbs. but on the downhills, i don't miss them at all. a shoe like this would be nice as long as the platform was good.

Do you think you would feel comfortable hitting a big drop on a pedal similar to the Mallet (i.e. has the cleat thing sticking out) and shoes that have a cleat sticking out?

I dunno, I've tried those double-sided SPD pedals, and because of the cleat on the shoes, even if I am on the platform side, I can feel metal rubbing against metal. With the BMX type pins in the pedal, it actually sticks pretty good (even with the metal on metal), but it's not very awesome or anything.

These are the pedals I've experimented with (but mine have pins on both sides):

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_175197_-1_201502_10000_200410

These are the shoes I use with that pedal:

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_197266_-1_201485_10000_200383

Those shoes have a pretty flat bottom. Regular MTB shoes don't work with the pedals cause of the irregular surface and plastic-ness of MBT shoe bottoms.

I'm not a very good technical rider and this setup used to help me to try out rock gardens more than I would have clipped in. Now I feel better about being clipped in and will try more stuff even while clipped in. But sometimes, I still feel like I clip out pre-maturely because I have a fear of not being able to clip out in time.
 
Do you think you would feel comfortable hitting a big drop on a pedal similar to the Mallet (i.e. has the cleat thing sticking out) and shoes that have a cleat sticking out?

...

I'm not a very good technical rider and this setup used to help me to try out rock gardens more than I would have clipped in. Now I feel better about being clipped in and will try more stuff even while clipped in. But sometimes, I still feel like I clip out pre-maturely because I have a fear of not being able to clip out in time.


it probably wouldn't be comfortable, but you could size something up, or go for it loose and not locked in... i never thought of the comfort thing. you may not hook up with the pedal well enough either... who knows.

as far as clipping out early goes - commit. the more you commit the more you get through. if you're in a rock garden and you fall, unless you are going absurdly fast and/or land awkwardly, you'll just get some bumps. the more aggro you get, the better of a chance you have of making it through.
 
one of my big things is trying to jump back on the bike in a hairy situation... like an immediate climb or descent... when i had my M520s i would miss the clip part of the pedal which often resulted in a failed climb attempt or not being able to enjoy the decent for fear of slipping off.

since having the 545s ive fallen in love with the platform/clipless combo. now, i just hop on the bike in any situation and if i miss the clip, well, it doesnt phase me... i just click in when i get the chance.

fwiw; im MORE confident always being clipped in. so i dont use these pedals as a means to ride flats...ive never desired to clip out on the trails. however im just more confident diving into something technical knowing that i have a platform there if i miss...
 
so you use these as your platform pedals without clips, or are you always clipped in?

i was wondering 'cause i didn't know if 5.10 has a clipless sole available.

I ride with the 661's filter. I'm always clipped. I ride like that at the mountain parks too. The bike just goes with you.

With the mallets you will feel the pedal engagement when you wear regular shoes. The SPDs platforms don't stick up though. I never really ride flat pedals except on the dirtjumper so I don't really care for the engagement sticking up. But the mallets is as the name implies.
 
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