Crank Brothers Candy/Acid pedals

[Catrin]

Any advice on the Crank Brothers Candy or Acid pedals? How easy are they to get in/out of? Is the spring tension at all adjustable? Are the cleats adjustable from side to side? I am not interested in Eggbeaters as they just don't provide a large enough surface for my feet, but both Candy and Acid pedals do appear to do so.

I've been looking on Crank Brothers site but haven't found what I needed - yet :)

Thanks in advance!

[Eden]

My team used to have Crank Bros as a sponsor (before they dropped their road pedal line), so I've used many a pair. The spring tension is not adjustable, but every pair I ever had was super easy to get in and out of. The design doesn't rely on tension to keep the cleat engaged, so they don't have to be tight to be reliable. You can change the release angle (how far you need to turn your foot), depending on which shoe you put each cleat on. The cleats do not have a lot of side to side play.

[emily_in_nc]

+1 on everything Eden said. Another nice plus for Candies -- they come in cool colors to coordinate with your bike! :D I have Carolina blue bar tape and Candies pedals on my white Bike Friday.

Love my Candies!

[Catrin]

Good to know, will mention this to my fitter. He is strongly resisting the idea of Frogs for me, and he hasn't steered me wrong yet...

[Aggie_Ama]

DH and I both hated the Candy line. His were not durable at all, he is not super heavy at 180 but they would only last six months at most before the metal part bent. Tried them twice and said nope, going back to his first love of Time. Plus the brass cleats wore out quick for both of us. I found I never got a consistent release on the Candys I had on my mountain bike. I crashed more than once because they simply would not unclip. DH thought I was insane, then he rode them checking each of the 4 sides and sure enough one of the four was noticeably much tighter than the others. I got rid of them for Time Atac and have had zero crashes in two years because I couldn't unclip in time. I did like the Smarty pedals I had on my commuter bike but you won't catch me on Crank Brothers again for mountain biking. I have no faith in them and you need a lot of confidence in your equipment when you ride.

[Catrin]

I am actually just going to wait and not worry about this for now. The BMX pedals are going back on my mountain bike, and will get shin/knee guards for the clinic. I think I would need to be totally comfortable on the clipless pedals before I used them at the Clinic, and what I am hearing from the organizers is that it would be far better to not clip in. Whatever practice I get on the Jamis between now and then should be on the same pedals that I will use at the clinic.

I just think that is too much to learn at the same time on the mountain bike. My fitter will check out the new pedals I have to see if there is some mechanical problem with them - and I love my platform/SPD combo pedal so I know I can use SPD pedals. Just trying to save time, energy, and money. Perhaps I will go for it and try the Speedplays or Crank Brothers on my Gunnar as an experiment, but will wait to see if we can get this new pair of SPD pedals working properly before I do that. It just does not make sense that those pedals are THAT much more difficult over my other pedals - and I used my older shoes with the cleats that I use on the LHT so it isn't a "new cleat" issue.


Aggie, thanks for your experience with the Candy pedals - that is helpful information.

[emily_in_nc]

I agree with not going with clipless on your MTB as a beginner.

However, my experience on my roadie with Candies was very different than Amanda and her DH's. I've been using these pedals since 2004 with no problems. These are the Candy SL line, which are better than some of the lines (for instance, Candy C are a lower-priced model). I have replaced my cleats a couple of times, but those are inexpensive. The only difficulties I've ever had was clipping in with the second foot when I used to wear a Cannondale biking shoe with a lot of tread, like a hiking boot. Had to carve out a bunch of the tread or I just couldn't clip in. But even with those, never had a problem clipping out. I used Candies on my MTB as well; admittedly, I rode easy trails, nothing too technical, but they worked fine for me there as well.

In the Keen sandals, no difficulties clipping in or out and no tread shaving required either.

YMMV, of course!

[withm]

Good to know, will mention this to my fitter. He is strongly resisting the idea of Frogs for me, and he hasn't steered me wrong yet...

I am very curious to know what his objection to Frogs might be. They are probably the easiest of all pedals to clip/unclip. Just because he has no experience with them does not make them a poor choice for you, but his objection seems to highlight his unfamiliarity, and therefore his predudice, with the product.

I don't know, but when someone tries to talk me out of something I want a better reason than "I don't have any experience with it." How can he base his objections if he knows nothing about it?

[TsPoet]

Another huge eggbeater fan here.
One thing, though, I prefer eggbeaters over Candies. Like you, I initially thought candies would be better because of the platform. But, with cycling shoes, no platform is needed, and the eggbeaters are easier to get in/out - I think because the sole of the shoe does rub on the platform. The eggbeaters also have absolutely nothing to collect dirt/mud.
If you want a platform for occasional rides without clipping in, the candies really have too small of a platform and the eggbeater in the middle sticks up. Oddly, I do like the candies for riding in Vibrams, they feel good and work fairly well. But, in street shoes, I hated the center area and found them extra hard to ride on.

[Catrin]

I am very curious to know what his objection to Frogs might be. They are probably the easiest of all pedals to clip/unclip. Just because he has no experience with them does not make them a poor choice for you, but his objection seems to highlight his unfamiliarity, and therefore his predudice, with the product.

I don't know, but when someone tries to talk me out of something I want a better reason than "I don't have any experience with it." How can he base his objections if he knows nothing about it?

He has experience with them, just dislikes them for me. I've some special problems with feet and ankles that require the ability to adjust the cleat from side to side - and you can't do that with Frogs. He really thinks SPD is my best bet for that reason - but I haven't made my mind
up yet. If we can't get my new pedals adjusted like I want them then I will either go with Candys or Frogs. Thankfully I've decided to stick with bmx pedals on the Jamis for now so I do have time.

Sadly there is little about my bike fit that is in the "norm" and my ankle flexibility issues and foot reconstruction really does complicate the pedal issue. If I did say he wasn't familiar with them - that was a mistake.

[ASammy1]

Hi Catrin. For what it's worth, I really like my SPDs. I have them on both the roadie and LHT. They are very easy to get in and out of. I chose those because I like being able to walk around in my cycling shoes without the constant worry of messing up my cleat. My hubs on the other hand prefers a wider pedal. He tends to get "hot spots" on the small SPD. If you have a wider foot, you might want to take this into consideration.