More Mountain Pedal questions

Ok..I actually searched the threads on mountain bike pedals before asking these questions. If there is something I have missed please let me know.

It seems to me that there is a lot of variance on the pedals due to preferance. There seem to be two camps the SPDs and the Crankbrothers from what I can tell.

So my questions are these...

1. I have the look Keos on my road bike and I love them. For a mountain bike set up do you need a full platform on the foot? (This is one thing I really like about the Looks). If you do not, Why not?

2. As a result of my Looks I have become addicted to my Sidis so I guess, I would really like the Sidi mountain shoe. Will the SPD, or any other brand, work with this type of shoe? Or do I need think cleat first shoe second?

I think that is it for now. If I have more questions I will be sure and ask. Thankyou for your collective help.

Red Rock

I'm a bit hazy at the mo but i'll give this a shot..

You don't need a full platform pedal & can use Crank Brothers eggbeaters.

My SIDI's work on my Brothers Pedals..

Will come back when i'm feeling a bit better..

typically with mountain, you don't need the full platform set up. I don't know much about the look, but with mountain, you really need to be able to pull out of the pedals to put a foot down with relative ease.

mountain shoes are usually different than road. t

I hope I am not confusing you in how I have asked my questions but I will try to clarify here a bit. I hope this helps.

I am basically looking at what clipless pedals to use to begin with. My only experience so far is what I have on my road bike. Those are the Look Keos. And I love my Sidis. Sidi makes a mountain shoe(s).

From the other threads I have read there are the two camps of what people seem to like. In the mountain clipless area there are no "large platform" clipless pedals. So I was asking why? What is the reasoning behind that?
Will the SPD or Crank brothers work on a Sidi shoe?

I have been hedging toward the SPDs although I have never used them. What is the difference between the SPDs and the Crankbrothers, or any other brand of mountain clipless?

Red Rock

SPD's will work with Sidi mountain shoes just fine. A SPD pedal will have float with some the ability to adjust tension. The Crank Brothers pedals have some float also; but you can't adjust the tension.

There are platform pedals for both companies. Crank Brothers has the Mallet. Shimano has multiple platform pedals (PD-324, PD-424 and a couple of others). When truly mountain biking, I feel the platform pedal is just another part that can get caught on something like a rock or root.

I'm not sure about your shoe question, but I just went through the pedal debate myself. I have spds on my road bike and crank brother mallets (big downhill platform) on my mountain bike. I also tried basic egg beaters on my road bike, but returned them. The small plain egg beaters felt really small (you'd at least want a rather stiff mountain bike shoe) and I HATED how loose they were. I prefer less float on a pedal, and you can't adjust an egg beater like you can an spd (so i have snug spds on the road bike). The mallet is basically an egg beater integrated into a large flat pedal, and since I can be a chicken s*** rider I prefer to be able to clip out completely, and still be able to easily keep riding. And I don't have float issues with the mallets...I think because i have a sneakery mtb shoe and between that and the flat part of the pedal I get enough friction to keep pretty steady and feel secure.

just my two cents! this is the 'less competitive mountain biker' opinion i think, lol!!

I use both standard spds for mountain and a combo spd/flat pedal.

Why would some people use a combo? Mainly, you can stand on it without being clipped in. If you are doing anything technical, on a rocky trail, downhilling, or just need a broader comfort zone, it gives you more options than a regular SPD. Some people like them as an option in between true flats and a straight clip in. I keep mine on my "adventure" bike that I do small jumps, easy ladders and so on. I find that doing technical riding, sometimes that extra split second it takes to get clipped in can really mess up your timing.

I've never heard of them being a disadvantage in terms of getting whacked on things, but they do weigh more.

As for shoes, I've had the race style plastic soled shoes ( SIDI rampa) and have switched to a more skate/hiking type bike shoe. The main reason is those hard race plastic soles absolutely suck for hike-a-bike. If you are on rocks at all you will get no traction, and if you are on slickrock, you will go skittering and land on your ***. Ask me how I know this. I suppose if you are racing they'd be preferred,but I don't race.

Thankyou for all of your inputs. I did not realize that one could adjust the float on the SPDs. That is very good information to know.

Now that it has been mentioned on the platform issue, I can understand not having one. It would not be fun to be riding along and some twig became stuck in the cleat and ends up putting you on the ground.

Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

Shoes-Irulan, what shoes did you actually end up going with? I have debated this issue a bit myself, that is the hike n' bike situation. We have a lot of slick rock around here and I could see falling on that would not be fun!!

Thankyou,
Red Rock

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Originally Posted by Red Rock

Thankyou for all of your inputs. I did not realize that one could adjust the float on the SPDs. That is very good information to know.

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Actually, no: you can adjust the tension, NOT the float. There is a some float on the SPD mountain pedal, and you can't change it. The tension is translated in how hard it is to unclip.

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Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

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If you have a chance to see them in person, you can try spinning them on their axle (better pedal spins more easily), that would make a difference. Some pedals are also known to shed mud more easily than others, you can read about that on the MTBRreview web site... Weight I guess would also be part of the price difference.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Red Rock

t would not be fun to be riding along and some twig became stuck in the cleat and ends up putting you on the ground.

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do such things happen?Never seen it in all my years on a mountain bike. I've gotten sticks in my derailler, but never my cleats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red Rock

Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

Shoes-Irulan, what shoes did you actually end up going with? I have debated this issue a bit myself, that is the hike n' bike situation. We have a lot of slick rock around here and I could see falling on that would not be fun!!

Thankyou,
Red Rock

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Sure you can pay a lot for a lighter, more cool pedal. I'm lusting after some dangerboy blue anodized myself, but they only come as flats. But some generic nashbar cheapies do the same thing.

Shoes, I went with a specialized Taho. I forgot to mention that if you have a stickier sole, you can stand on your flat pedals easier that with hard sole shoes.

I.

I also haven't gotten anything other than mud stuck in my cleat. I think Red Rock was referring to getting something stuck in the platform pedal.

I have customers regularly complain about smacking their platform on a rock or root while riding. With how some of their pedals look, I know that has definitely happened.

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Originally Posted by bike4ever

I have customers regularly complain about smacking their platform on a rock or root while riding. With how some of their pedals look, I know that has definitely happened.

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yes, duh on my part. I don't ever really think about it unless I'm threading through some rocks and pedal up/down makes a difference - but ya, mountain bike pedals do get smacked. It's just one of those things. :p

My .02....

Road vs. Mountain Pedals:
Road pedals have a large clip in surface whereas mountain have a small. To me, the reasons are as follows. First, when road riding, you don't move nearly as much as you do mountain biking, so you have more of a tendancy to create a hotspot, so you you need a larger surface to distribute the force. Mountainbiking, you're moving around a lot so a hot spot just isn't as much as a problem. Also, for mountain biking, shedding mud is a HUGE priority. Road pedals would be awful at that, so mountain pedals have small cleat surface, more open design to allow mud to shed.

For mountain pedals,
spd vs. crankbros
Me, I'm a crank brothers girl. I don't think any pedal sheds mud as well as an eggbeater. I've ridden both and just like the feel of the clip in, clip out motion of the eggbeaters. This really comes down to personal preference. The only reason I would recommend the crank brothers to anyone over the spds is if you ride in muddy areas. Other than that, either will do, but I had a VERY bad experience with the entry level spds, so I would recommend going one step up (read the reviews on mtbr.com, they were impossible to clip out, no matter how much the tension was adjusted. This was a few years ago though, so the problem may be resolved). The spds do offer adjustable tension, but I find the tension of the eggbeaters to be perfect

Platform vs no-platform
Platform is great if you plan on riding without your clipless shoes. Personally, I never do, so I don't bother with the platform. DH uses his mountain bike for trail riding and commuting. His commute is short so he doesn't bother using his mtb shoes and likes having a platform (he has the mallets). I've tried the mallet and I find the clip in/out efforts a little bit higher. If you don't plan on riding without the clipless shoes, I honestly dont think a platform is needed.

Entry level vs. High End
Typically, when you go from the very entry level to the next step up, you get better bearings and it's definitely worth it. You can easily feel the difference when rotating the pedal. From there up, you are normally paying for weight. I know for Eggbeaters, the entry level pedals are not servicealbe, so I would start with the C, not the MXR. I'm not sure on the spds.

Shoes are all personal preference. If you like Sidi, get Sidi. They make great shoes!

Hope that helps a little!

Jenn

Checking in again...

SalsaMTB-thankyou for your explanations. I can better understand my "dumb" question of platform vs. hardly any.

I think Red Rock was referring to getting something stuck in the platform pedal.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I wrote this statement.

I checked out some of the Specialized Tahos, and they look "cool". I can understand with the "grippy soles" being nice. The sole is also firm too which is needed for cycling.

Has anyone used the Sidi mountain shoes? I know they have the tread on the bottom. How has that worked for the gripping situations? The specialized are not as expensive as the Sidis but as Zen has said many times, you get what you pay for. This is true with anything these days though.

Thankyou for your continued thoughts. You are all educating me on this.

Red Rock

a few more thoughts on platforms, more properly called flats. Some people just prefer them over any kind of clip in, for comfort and security ( is, NOT being clipped in) Many mountain bikers that go this route often wear a shin guard as a flat will pretty typically take chunks out of your shins. What I see as the main difference is that you don't have the pedaling efficiency of being clipped in, but at the same time that gives you freedom of the feet.

As for shoes, find the style you like and then go for fit, that's important. SIDIS have tread shaped configurations on the bottom but it's not a terribly sticky plastic.

Red Rock - I've used Sidi dominator's for years. I absolutely love them. They have been completely covered in mud and would come clean just fine. I've not had any issues walking with them. Last summer when I went to Colorado for a 5 day mt bike ride, we had multiple hike a bike situations. No problems with the shoes for those hikes - it was just that we were so tired and the bikes became very heavy to carry.

I adore my Sidi's! And I do a fair amount of hiking. I find that the amount of traction on the bottom is just fine for that.

I'm curious to know if any of you have tried the Crank Brothers Acid pedals? It's got a smaller platform than the Mallet, so it's a bit lighter, and I think the smaller platform would be enough for the rare moments where I might be unclipped (getting back on the bike without any lead-up to the next technical section, basically). I do a lot of muddy riding, so I'm completely sold on the eggbeater style.

If you've got any experience with the Acids, do you find them any easier to clip in/out than with the Mallets? Any other issues?

I'm a MTB girl who *just* bought a road bike a week ago. At the suggestion of my trusty mechanic, whose opinion I trust completely, I put Shimano M520 SPD pedals on the new road bike. These are the same pedals that I have on both mountain bikes. They are inexpensive, but I have had no problems so far, even with lots of miles and abuse on the mountain bikes.

I also bought a pair of Sidi mountain bike shoes that I'm using for both my new road bike and mountain bike. While I haven't used road shoes/pedals, I am very happy with the M520s and Sidi mountain bike shoes on the road bike. Already came in handy when I found a stray dog on the bike rail and had to walk with it and my bike a mile up the trail to its owner. :-) Really like being able to get off the bike and walk, when needed.

I've never tried Crank Brothers pedals, but have seen other riders bend/break them in situations where they shouldn't have been under undue stress. Also, while my SPDs don't have a platform, I can unclip from them and there's enough surface area to rest my foot on them and pedal if I need to.

Sorry I have not posted hear recently, I have had a test to deal with which is never fun.

Thankyou for your help and information Duvers. I am the opposite of you in this case. I have been a road rider for a LONG time and am switching to mountain or rather adding mountain to the collection.

I have been debating between a smaller pedal-crankbrothers, I think and the Shimano SPD.

Shoes, I found Sidi Bullets which look more like entry level shoes which are good. I have thought about having a second pair of the Specialized for seroius off roading. What do any of you think on this?

Thankyou,
Red Rock

why do you think you'd need two pairs of mountain biking shoes? Unless you are one of those "shoe" people....:D

My MO is to get a pair I like, then wear them out and then get another pair.

I.

I think the operative word here is thought about. I have not actually purchased anything yet.

I guess one can always dream right??!

Red Rock