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Permalink Reply by S on September 13, 2009 at 5:02pm

I've used eggbeaters and quattro ti pedals. I've had fairly good experiences with both and they do a great job dealing with dirt and mud on your shoes or pedals. You can usually get a the eggbeater sl or a candy for about 50 bucks or so. If you want to ride without bike shoes, you'll probably want a pedal like the candy or acid since they have a platform which makes it a little easier to use without cleats than the eggbeater.

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Permalink Reply by yellow jello on September 14, 2009 at 3:37am

I personally use SPDs and while I didn't choose them (Christmas gift years ago), I haven't had any real reasons to try something else.

Not familiar with the Bontrager ones, but the Crank Bros ones seem nice. I would def. consider getting ones with a cage/platform if you're using it as a commuter/winter bike.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 14, 2009 at 4:22am

I had the eggbeaters. I liked that they were lightweight, affordable, and shed mud reasonably well. Here's what i didn't like:

Small surface area.

Only one set of bearings, which leads to faster wear and tear.

No tension spring adjustment.

There is an inconsistancy to the audible "click" when you enter and exit the pedal. Not a big deal in casual cycling, but in a race situation you have to double check to see if the cleats have acutually engaged with the pedals.

There is also no way to minutely adjust the cleats, only toe to heel as the shoe allows. Shimano cleats can be adjusted to be angled, moved left and right, and toe to heel.

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Permalink Reply by dan brown on September 14, 2009 at 4:46am

personally I love the power straps for city riding. I've used many different cleat/pedal combinations
(Look, Keywin, SPD, Time) for racing : but I love these 'cuz I can where any shoe (even flip flops and combat boots) and can lock
it down really tight. just my $.02

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Permalink Reply by XV on September 14, 2009 at 7:52am

I like the specialized Taho (sic) shoes, very walkable.

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on September 14, 2009 at 1:05pm

Egg Beaters are a great 'first' set of pedals if you're just starting out as they have four sided entry, which is great if you're just getting used to a clipless system. They have lots of float and no spring tension adjustment (as I believe another poster mentioned) but if you're just starting out that may not be a big deal. If you pick up your bike and carry it around a lot (like up or down stairs) expect to get jabbed by them if you're careless (I have incurred more then one bruise on the legs this way). I would invest the money to get one of the better pairs of Beaters though as the cheaper end ones are made of softer less durable material and will eventually crack, snap, or wear out as they are of lesser quality. Above all practice disengaging/engaging in a door way and then in a grassy field if you still need practice. Dont be surprised if it takes you a full season to feel truly comfortable. When you first get on the road just constantly remind yourself to disengage as you're approaching a red light, as you're not used to having to do it. Eventually you'll get better and will only need to disengage on the non-drive side. Also the cleat system will only work on mountain shoes, not road shoes, so if at some point you want to switch to a road pedal, you're going to have to buy road shoes.

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Permalink Reply by mattbikes1 on September 14, 2009 at 1:15pm

Very helpful! Thank you.

chixieonfixie said:

Egg Beaters are a great 'first' set of pedals if you're just starting out as they have four sided entry, which is great if you're just getting used to a clipless system. They have lots of float and no spring tension adjustment (as I believe another poster mentioned) but if you're just starting out that may not be a big deal. If you pick up your bike and carry it around a lot (like up or down stairs) expect to get jabbed by them if you're careless (I have incurred more then one bruise on the legs this way). I would invest the money to get one of the better pairs of Beaters though as the cheaper end ones are made of softer less durable material and will eventually crack, snap, or wear out as they are of lesser quality. Above all practice disengaging/engaging in a door way and then in a grassy field if you still need practice. Dont be surprised if it takes you a full season to feel truly comfortable. When you first get on the road just constantly remind yourself to disengage as you're approaching a red light, as you're not used to having to do it. Eventually you'll get better and will only need to disengage on the non-drive side. Also the cleat system will only work on mountain shoes, not road shoes, so if at some point you want to switch to a road pedal, you're going to have to buy road shoes.

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Permalink Reply by Morgan on September 14, 2009 at 2:09pm

egg beaters are a great alternative to "real" eggs, being lower in cholesterol. however, i have learned to my dismay that the "egg whites only" they sell in a carton is NOT recommended for baking angel food cake, as it is heat-processed. i would not recommend wading or stepping in either variety.

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Permalink Reply by mattbikes1 on September 14, 2009 at 3:59pm

That's a pretty good one, I think h3 and notoriousDug have a thing or two to learn from you Morgan.

Morgan said:

egg beaters are a great alternative to "real" eggs, being lower in cholesterol. however, i have learned to my dismay that the "egg whites only" they sell in a carton is NOT recommended for baking angel food cake, as it is heat-processed. i would not recommend wading or stepping in either variety.

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Permalink Reply by S on September 14, 2009 at 5:01pm

chixieonfixie said:

Egg Beaters are a great 'first' set of pedals if you're just starting out as they have four sided entry, which is great if you're just getting used to a clipless system. They have lots of float and no spring tension adjustment (as I believe another poster mentioned) but if you're just starting out that may not be a big deal. If you pick up your bike and carry it around a lot (like up or down stairs) expect to get jabbed by them if you're careless (I have incurred more then one bruise on the legs this way). I would invest the money to get one of the better pairs of Beaters though as the cheaper end ones are made of softer less durable material and will eventually crack, snap, or wear out as they are of lesser quality. Above all practice disengaging/engaging in a door way and then in a grassy field if you still need practice. Dont be surprised if it takes you a full season to feel truly comfortable. When you first get on the road just constantly remind yourself to disengage as you're approaching a red light, as you're not used to having to do it. Eventually you'll get better and will only need to disengage on the non-drive side. Also the cleat system will only work on mountain shoes, not road shoes, so if at some point you want to switch to a road pedal, you're going to have to buy road shoes.

You can use road shoes with eggbeaters since quite a few road shoes have spd mountings, you can also get the 3 hole to 2 hole adapter for the cleats and there are the quattro cleats which are designed for road shoes. Depending on the variant, you can get some pretty durable pedals and there are rebuild kits available for not too much although I hear that some of the pedals are not really worth rebuilding.

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