Lightweight, but breaks down easily and not shoe friendly

By Varaxis July 27, 2010

Note: I actually rode the Stainless Steel version, a slightly lower end version, but they more closely resemble this model than the MXR version.

Pros:

Egg Beaters the best pedals for weight weenies looking to outfit their bike with the absolutely lightest pedals available. This model is extremely light, only the higher end Egg Beaters (4 ti) and pedals modded with lighter axles are lighter.

The four sided entry makes locking in a bit simpler. There's a much higher chance of encountering the pedal on an entry side, but being four sided doesn't magically make entry much easier. You still have to spend many many hours getting the feel for it before you will lock in on the first pedal stroke. Despite riding clipless for over 10 years, I still spent weeks rolling the pedal with my feet before finding the ideal entry angle.

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Cons:

Egg Beaters aren't made to last, sadly. The "wings" can break, though I'm not sure if newer or higher end models address this issue or not. I notice that a lot of pedaling pressure goes into the inside of pedal (crank side) and that's where they break in my experience (I only weigh 135 lbs). Also, the bottom of your shoes will be damaged by the wings, unlike the flat SPD types (option shoe guards available for about $10). You will also feel the need to repack the bearings every so often (usually every few months), due to side-to-side play developing, which is a fairly simple process if you look it up and have some grease laying around. There are also rebuild kits available for $10-20 if you want to replace the bearings.

I like to ride bumpy root and rock filled North-eastern trails and like to not have my feet bounce and jar around into an unideal position or slip off unexpectedly. I've had a few accidental releases, one when I "cheated" on a hop to get my rear over a log, which was really scary and almost caused me to crash. Another on a pedal strike on a rock in a technical climb (not what broken the wing, but instead seemingly unsprung the wing that kept me clipped in). My riding style, trails, and my bike (hardtail) simply doesn't allow me to use platforms. My feet simply get jarred off out of position on platforms, even with high quality $100+ pedals and typical skate shoes (Nike 6.0 style... I doubt FiveTen soles would really help with an alum hardtail).

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My experience vs SPD:

I went with Egg Beaters instead of SPDs, since they were the latest and greatest with lots of great initial reviews. Now that time has passed, I see a lot have the same misfortunes I've had. I happily went back to Shimano SPDs and don't miss the four sided entry nor mind them being over 50% heavier (XTR PD-M970@325g $143; XT M770@340 $83; M540@346g or 352g for bronze $54; M520@380g $33 Amazon prices; compared to 218g for these). I went over 10 years without putting a tool to my Shimano 747s except to transfer them to a new bike. Most I did was drop in some chain lube on the springs after lubing my chain. I only needed to replace them since they were worn so much that they were releasing accidentally a bit too frequently for my tastes (10,000+ off road and road miles), but never during a pedal strike. I admit that they released during a jump after worn out though, but their platform was large enough to provide a stable landing. I actually kept the 747s as a back-up, which came in handy after the Egg Beaters died. That's the kind of long term reliability I want.

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Conclusion:

If you do buy these, save everything in case you need to file a warranty claim. Don't mention rock strikes or anything that would make them think it was abuse. Crank Bros. is aware of the issues and will likely honor their warranty. I used mine as I would my SPDs until one day I felt way too much wiggle and float and unclipped to discover the wing broken. Google "Broken Egg Beater" and you'll find many pictures, some similar to mine, some with wings broken on the outboard side, even some with broken axles. I tried the same with "Broken SPD Pedal" and "Broken Shimano Pedal" and saw no results, though I hear the low end pedals (520) have rather poor bearings and don't spin as smoothly.

View Details: Crank Brothers Egg Beater 2ti Pedal

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