Dual platform pedals: clipless and SPD

[Steve O]

I had Shimanos on my bike that was stolen. They were on so long, that I don’t even remember the model. I love them, because I use my bike for so many different things, so being able to ride in street shoes or clip in is great.

I went to Performance and bought Forte Campus pedals. I regretted it immediately. Whatever model Shimanos I had before were designed to hang a particular way. So to clip in you would put your toe on the top and push forward. It was always the identical motion, so once you created the kinetic memory, clipping in was automatic. When wearing street shoes, you put the middle of your foot on the top and pushed back to set your foot on the flat side.

The new ones are always just any which way. I miss the old automatic way.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 64149 wrote:

+1. Yeah, crank bros are garbage. The pedals only last me 1 year and that is with regular grease injection. They are cheap, but not worth it (apparently it has taken me 5 pair to learn this). Tech support says that you are supposed to rebuild (new bearings, seals) every 6 months. Who has time for that? I am wearing through my last pair and then switching to my mtb pedals (Time Atac) on the commuter.

Well that settles that…

[mstone]

@Steve O 64159 wrote:

Whatever model Shimanos I had before were designed to hang a particular way. So to clip in you would put your toe on the top and push forward. It was always the identical motion, so once you created the kinetic memory, clipping in was automatic. When wearing street shoes, you put the middle of your foot on the top and pushed back to set your foot on the flat side.

The new ones are always just any which way. I miss the old automatic way.

Both the A530s and T780s behave like this. It definitely becomes a reflex if you’re aware of the way it works.

[vvill]

RE: Crank Bros, I’ve had the same pair of pedals on my road bike for over 7000 miles with no maintenance.

But that’s just one data point I guess.

[mstone]

@vvill 64169 wrote:

RE: Crank Bros, I’ve had the same pair of pedals on my road bike for over 7000 miles with no maintenance.

But that’s just one data point I guess.

Certainly many people are fine with them, I just thought that if someone was torqued over maybe having to service a pedal, they should know the crank brothers aren’t magic. (And, honestly, there have been enough broken spindle reports to scare me a bit, though it’s still statistically unlikely.)

[UrbanEngineer]

I used to ride with the M324’s. The pedal would often times flip over. It can be a real pain in the ass when trying to clip back in and your pedal has flipped over with the platform side up. Metal cleats up against a flat metal surface will slide right off. Dinged my leg a few times too many because of these pedals. I don’t recommend them at all if you ride places where clipping in/out frequently is a must.

On a side note, SPD’s are a clipless pedal.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I have a pair of Crank Bros. Mallets with about 4000 miles and a pair of eggbeaters with about 2000 miles (I think) and haven’t had any issues. I do need to learn how to service them, though.

Update: I took the mallets apart, cleaned the spindles, and added new grease. They turn a little smoother. The seals seemed fine.

[hozn]

@ShawnoftheDread 64178 wrote:

I have a pair of Crank Bros. Mallets with about 4000 miles and a pair of eggbeaters with about 2000 miles (I think) and haven’t had any issues. I do need to learn how to service them, though.

Update: I took the mallets apart, cleaned the spindles, and added new grease. They turn a little smoother. The seals seemed fine.

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that “1 year” on the commuter bike is probably around 6k miles. Failure usually begins with just loud clicking, but I have had two pedals come right off the axles while riding. To be fair, these get ridden in snow and rain and dirt/offroad. But my Time Atac pedals have been bomb-proof on mountain bikes and from everything I have heard the Shimanos are too.

You can probably get a rebuild kit for the mallets, though, that would include new bearings and should extend their life a little too. And Crank bros makes a grease port/fitting that screws into the end of the pedal making it easy to purge the dirty grease without disassembly.

[americancyclo]

Has anyone used the Nashbar version of these pedals? The Nashbar Soho Pedals are on sale right now for $29.99 and I’m wondering if I should bite, or if it’s worth waiting for the Shimanos to go on sale.

[KLizotte]

I’ve never used the Soho pedals and can’t comment on Nashbar branded quality. I did buy a generic version of dual platform pedals at HTO a couple of years ago and had to return them because the weighting of the pedals were all wrong meaning the clip side wouldn’t stay up when I stopped. They were also hard to clip in and out of. Fortunately HTO took them back when I complained. I then ponied up the money for the Shimano version (PD-A530) and have been very happy since. Very easy to clip in/out and they are properly weighted so which ever side you are using stays up when you stop.

Like I said, I don’t have any experience with Nashbar quality so these may be fine; I’m just more cautious now having been burned by a cheaper generic pedal.

[consularrider]

KLizotte – were yours the Wellgo version? I believe Wellgo makes the Nashbar and Performance Forte pedals (nothing to cite to for confirmation though).

[peterw_diy]

@KLizotte 66697 wrote:

I’ve never used the Soho pedals and can’t comment on Nashbar branded quality. I did buy a generic version of dual platform pedals at HTO a couple of years ago and had to return them because the weighting of the pedals were all wrong meaning the clip side wouldn’t stay up when I stopped. They were also hard to clip in and out of. Fortunately HTO took them back when I complained. I then ponied up the money for the Shimano version (A530 I think) and have been very happy since. Very easy to clip in/out and they are properly weighted so which ever side you are using stays up when you stop.

I’ve used the Nashbar Rodeo pedals for commuting for years. They’re weighted so that they hang at an angle, with the clipless side to the back and below. I think this works really well. When using street shoes, you step down from in front of the pedal. With cleated shoes, you kick up & forward from below just like you would on classic Look clipless road pedals. Factory assembly isn’t great — the cones have been tight on half of the Rodeos I’ve used. If you don’t mind turning a wrench, they’re a good bargain. If you don’t have time, the Shimano pedals are probably worth the extra $15.

[PotomacCyclist]

I just realized that the title of the thread doesn’t make any sense. What idiot is responsible for such a messed-up title… wait a minute… Oops.

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 66729 wrote:

I just realized that the title of the thread doesn’t make any sense. What idiot is responsible for such a messed-up title… wait a minute… Oops.

Yeah, we should also probably add the kind with those little clippy things.

[KLizotte]

@consularrider 66698 wrote:

KLizotte – were yours the Wellgo version? I believe Wellgo makes the Nashbar and Performance Forte pedals (nothing to cite to for confirmation though).

Unfortunately I don’t recall the brand since it was over a year ago. They were half the price of Shimanos and I wouldn’t use them even if they were given to me for free. HTO shouldn’t be selling them. I love my A530s.

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