mtb shoes

[heliski]

I will be moving to the BC Rockies soon and plan to trade saddle time on my road bike for mountain biking.  Looking for shoes and peddles.  What's with these "egg beater" peddles?  What do others recommend?

[paddleboy17]

I do not use egg beater pedals.  

There have been semi passionate debates over how much float is really needed.  My position is that if your shoes are done right (proper cleat position, proper foot beds if you need them, cleat wedges if you need one), that you don't need float.  So I would never use an egg beater pedal on a road bike.  I might use them on my mountain bike if clearing mud was an issue.

I run SPD-like mountain pedals on all of my bikes.  I find Shimano's SPD road pedals ill concieved.  I use a single release SPD cleat on my pristine SPD compatible shoes  designated for the road bikes.  I use a multiple release SPD cleat on my grungier shoes designated for the mountain bike.  Someday I will retire the current bike mountain bike shoes and reassign the current road bike shoes to mountain biking.  Then I will buy a new set of SPD shoes for road biking.

That is my system.  Your free to come up with your system.

Danno



Danno

[DaveB]

The debate about float is never ending but, except in rare cases, it's nothing but beneficial.  

My MTB/beater bike pedals are Shimano SPD's with what ever shoes fit your feet and budget.  These pedals are relatively inexpensive, durable, clear mud and debris well and replacement cleats are readily available.

I have no personal experience with Egg Beaters but I've heard reports that the cheaper versions have serious bearing problems.  The better ones seem well liked by the couple of people I know who use them.

BTW, Speedplay Frogs are wonderful road pedals but dreadful for off road use despite being advertised as MTB pedals.  The cleats clog instantly in mud or gritty conditions.  

[staehpj1]

I hear that Egg Beaters are less prone to problems when packed with mud than most, but I prefer a pedal that offers minimal float.  I have always used spd on the mtb and touring bike and been happy.  I want my feet to automatically be in the same position.  I see no reason for more that 4 degrees of float unless you are unable to adjust your cleats properly or have some weird orthopedic problems.

[Successor to the Professor]

Float aside, the egg beaters have a few nifty features, and a few annoying features.  They shed mud better than most pedals thanks to the four entry points, however, the platform is very small and they are not very forgiving if you miss the clip in.  I'm a bigger fan of the Time ATACs and the CrankBros Candy SLs.  They have a larger platform for quick jumps on the pedals, and also have great mud shedding characteristics.  While the egg beaters are very light (depending on the model you choose), there isn't a huge jump in weight gain from those up to a larger platform pedal.

[Michaelbgood]

Egg beaters are an elegant design, but may not work for riders of all sizes.

the cleat has small metal tabs that are also the bearing surface between the shoe and pedal.  In addition, the contact area on the pedal is relatively smaller than all other pedals.  This concentrates the load on the footbed of the shoe to the small contact area for the cleat on the ball of the foot.  It is possible to deform or cave in part of the shoe on the bottom if you exert enough force and the load isn't evenly distributed.  This throws your biomechanics and alignment off.

Its best to have a nice, large stable surface area-especially for touring.  SPD pedals bearing surface is on the bottom tread or sole of the shoe, which makes for a more stable surface.  The downside is that this surface wears down when you walk around on it, so your foot may be canted and alignment thrown off when the sole wears down.

The advantage of Look and Shimano road cleats is that the contact area is a large area on the cleat itself.  If the cleat wears unevenly, you simply replace the cleat. You can also shim and adjust Shimano and Look cleats if you have alignment issues.  Downside is that they are hard to walk around in.

Every pedal has its advantages and disadvantages..

M

[Moondoggy]

Go Shimano pedals and Sidi Dominators shoes