Crankbrothers V Shimano

timrob

Likes Dirt
Cranks bros are an excellent concept but poorly executed, good float, easy engagement.
CB has the ability to engage into your foot from any direction (heel then toe, stright down, toe than heel etc) where as shimano are limited to toe in, heel in much like a road clip.
Flip side is a Shimano peddle (and more importantly cleat) will survive a holocaust in a fully functional manner.

I have just trashed 4 sets of cleats and a new pair of candy 3's after 12 months of riding, im heading back to shimano trail pedals XT or XTR.

If you have the cash to burn give candys a go, but once you get sick of replacing/rebuilding buy some Shimano's!

Pedal on.
 

ADD

Likes Dirt
Cranks bros are an excellent concept but poorly executed, good float, easy engagement.
CB has the ability to engage into your foot from any direction (heel then toe, stright down, toe than heel etc) where as shimano are limited to toe in, heel in much like a road clip.
Flip side is a Shimano peddle (and more importantly cleat) will survive a holocaust in a fully functional manner.

I have just trashed 4 sets of cleats and a new pair of candy 3's after 12 months of riding, im heading back to shimano trail pedals XT or XTR.

If you have the cash to burn give candys a go, but once you get sick of replacing/rebuilding buy some Shimano's!

Pedal on.
I know someone who just snapped the end of the spindle on an XTR trail pedal. Right where the thread is.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
There has been a bit of an issue with the current XTR pedals. Pushing the boundaries at the top level is sometimes going to backfire. XT & below are as reliably bombproof as ever.
 

pistonbroke

Eats Squid
I know someone who just snapped the end of the spindle on an XTR trail pedal. Right where the thread is.
My xtr's did the same. I was about 30km from home and probably 15 from the nearest town. Luckily I could get to a road and had patchy phone service. Riding with 1 leg sucks.
 
I recently switched from the Crank Brother Candies to Shimano Xtr platforms.

I found with the CB's i was regularly changing the cleat on the shoes or adjusting them. The actual platform was not that great to stand on when wet, though they did not get too clogged up (in fact barely). The xtr i have found gets clogged easily in muddy conditions, but is a joy to get in and out and stand on the pedal in these conditions.

Though the jury is still out on the durability of the xtr, as i have gotten low a few times and nicked rocks and the damage is already showing on the platform. Where as the CB took a pounding over the years when i used them and they are still are in good condition.
 

Jack Mcinnes

Likes Bikes
DH Pedals.

Alright be straight out with ya.. Shimanos are shit....

I Had Shimano SPDs for half a season till the pedal ripped straight out of the housing, i then moved to the CB mallet DH race (the new red ones) although they are a little heavier, they are a lot better. The problem i had with the Shimanos are that every time i clip in it changes in both how hard it is to clip out and how much room i have till it clips out, The pedals were never the same. With the CrankBrothers its always the same and both pedals feel equal. if i want to stay into the pedal and have no movement when clipped in i just cranked the pins up into my shoes. makes it feel a lot better under you foot when riding.
I Cannot say about cross country riding with the egg beaters or candy cause i never have tried them.
So For me I give my suggestion to CrankBrothers
 

SummitFever

Eats Squid
I put around 60,000km on a pair of Shimano M540's. They are amazingly bullet proof and are still in use on another bike. Zero maintenance in 8 years and only 2 sets of cleats.

To save some weight I switched to Xpedo XMF08TT pedals. They are very light with ti spindles and bodies (218g). They have replaceable cartridge bearings and have so far been reliable, although I've only got about 12,000km on them. Cleats are SPD compatible but seem to wear faster than the Shimano cleats. I am currently worried that the non-replaceable part of the Ti body is starting to wear and that's why I'm changing cleats more often. If this is the case then I'll probably go back to Shimano SPDs and just cop the weight penalty. The Xpedos do have a more stable platform feel to them than the M540's as the cleat rests on a couple of metal pads on the pedal body.

If I had $50 to spend I'd get M540's. If I had $150 to spend for race pedals where weight is everything then I'd go the Xpedos.
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
I've been running Shimano SPDs for 8 years. Never replaced one set, all four sets between 2 and 8 years old have been bulletproof and maintenance free.
The balance of opinions would suggest that SPDs are likely to be the toughest pedal out there but do not have the best weight or the most float available.
 

redbruce

Eats Squid
Alright be straight out with ya.. Shimanos are shit....

I Had Shimano SPDs for half a season till the pedal ripped straight out of the housing, i then moved to the CB mallet DH race (the new red ones) although they are a little heavier, they are a lot better. The problem i had with the Shimanos are that every time i clip in it changes in both how hard it is to clip out and how much room i have till it clips out, The pedals were never the same. With the CrankBrothers its always the same and both pedals feel equal. if i want to stay into the pedal and have no movement when clipped in i just cranked the pins up into my shoes. makes it feel a lot better under you foot when riding.
I Cannot say about cross country riding with the egg beaters or candy cause i never have tried them.
So For me I give my suggestion to CrankBrothers
Wow, an opening statement like that and I expected a litanany of evidence. Instead its one solitary experience and one that seems completely at odds with the collective experience in this (and any other on the net I suspect) thread.

Finally your endorsement for CB, after you concede you have no experience with eggies or candies, the two most common CB's used.

Then I got it, your opening statement is one of those encrypted sentences like they use to send covert messages.
 
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I have been looking at getting some CrankBros 2013 Mallets, as I want the option to ride clipped or not, with a good platform.

Does anyone have experience with these yet - I know they are fairly new, but I am hoping somebody has used them.

Thanks.
 

T-Rex

Template denier
The problem i had with the Shimanos are that every time i clip in it changes in both how hard it is to clip out and how much room i have till it clips out, The pedals were never the same.
Jack, your issue here with lack of a consistent feel with SPDs sounds like a shoe to pedal interface problem. Loose cleats, or cleat recessed too far in the shoe, something like that. The inherent float in a CB cleat will tend to mask the issue, especially when the CB cleats are new. As I and others have said in this thread, using them for DH, be careful as they are brass and they wear quickly , they can release unexpectantly.

EDIT: And as for this part of your post:

"I Had Shimano SPDs for half a season till the pedal ripped straight out of the housing"


If you mean the axle nut coming undone and you find yourself walking around with the pedal still attached to your shoe, yeah, it's a bit of a known issue with DX's, pretty funny the first time it happens, then you learn to check that the axle is tight as part of your routine maintenence, and it doesn't happen again.
 
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Bodin

GMBC
The Time XS pedals share a similar design to Crank Bros and have the same ejection flaw.
Nope. No they don't.

I've been using time for about 10 years on all my bikes, with the XS model being the go-to pedal for my XC rides. Ejection flaws are not an issue with Time XS pedals, as the leading edge of the underside is protected by the pedal body, completely unlike ALL CB pedals, where the bars are completely exposed.

I would encourage everyone to completely disregard this claim. It's just not true. It's a major flaw that exists ONLY with CB pedals (and the Look clones) and no other.

Also, I had my first Time XS retention bar finally give way late last year... after buying them at least 6 years ago and using them heavily ever since. Even still, I'm using them with no issues, as it's hardly a catastrophic fail - they still work well (no unexpected "ejections").

You'll find very few people who have gone to Time have ended up going back. Some people cite the cost as a deterrent, but they last forever, so pay you back many times over.
 
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