ATAC

I've had both over the years and I prefer the time over the eggbeaters unless you plan on getting REALLY muddy go with eggbeaters.

Hm, I've had both and I'd go with the ATACs for durability.

Nothin' wrong with some SPDs. I've got cheap crank bros pedals and while they more or less work, I wouldn't really recommend them.

Can we just get a Time ATAC sponsorship/banner ad up in here already?

i got eggbeaters and im happy with it, although i just got it last week so i still haven't mastered clipping in consistently yet

Go with SPD.
Get some M-520s and be done with it.

i love my Doms + Crank Bros ('beaters and Candys)

eggbeater suck my ass. i've never heard of anyone using them for any extended period of time without some kind of catastrophic failure (axles breaking, pedal body coming off the spindle etc.) The bearings suck too.

People hate Shimano for a whole bunch of reasons but their mtb pedals still set the standard for best bang/buck. I have a pair of their cheapest spd offering with over 30 000km on them (a good portion of which was in the snow) that I plan on using for at least another season.

Gonna try atacs next cuz I bought a pair for 5$.

these are the ones. used them for cross and mtb too without any issue.

I use em for everything too. In all weather and on muddy ass MTB trails. Awesome pedals for like 35 bux or whatever. I have three pairs.

now you have.

i've put multiple thousands of miles and/or kilometers on my 'beaters, with no issues.

WELL LA-DE-DA!

Totally agree except for the catastrophic failures. Tried them, they felt like a 1:1 mixture of shit and snot, went back to the rock solid good old SPDs. Shimano whatever-240 is the model I have now. Basically, I found that eggbeaters suck when clipping in, when riding and when clipping out. On the plus side, they are light and look cool...
Maybe ATACs are good, I never tried them. Wouldn't recommend eggbeaters unless you'll ride in knee deep mud all the time. Or if you like shit & snot I guess.

Truth. Say what you want about the rest of Shimano's stuff, but they make an ass-kicking pedal.

I have never had a problem with Eggbeaters, but I have the SLs. I am not sure I would trust the cheapies.

I have tried ATACs a few times, and while I thought they were fine pedals I did not think they were quite as great as most people seem to.

take that mr. snuggles!

another thing that bothered me with my extremely limited experience with 'beaters is that unclipping feels really weird. most pedals allow for a certain amount of float with a set limit beyond which a significant force is required to move your feet (this tension is adjustable) and produce a satisfying SNAP when the foot is released. With 'beaters your foot is free to float pretty much without any resistance until you it goes past a certain point and it's suddenly free.

different strokes for different folks

yeah, i like the (semi-)infinite float. feels good, l'homme.

been riding SPDs for a while. cheap, simple. good.

going to try out bebops soon, will report back

SPD's: not all that great, but I always end up going back cuz they just work. When the cleats wear (6mo for me) I don't like them.
Speedplays: suck. All models.
Crank Bros: running some $5 Quattros right now with worn cleats. So far so good. I like that one cleat fits all models. Hopefully I love them after a while, and I can move all my bikes over.
SPD-R: BAD ASS but NOT walkable, so reserved for special bikes.

This. My cheap ass smartys are exactly like this. It never really bothers me when I'm doing commuter-type riding, but it's scared the shit out of me a few times while trying to maneuver in more tricky singletrack on the MTB.

A friend of mine has some of the nicer ti eggbeaters and when I tried them out they felt much snappier than the mash potatoes 'n gravy feel of the smartys, but still not quite as sure as how I remember SPDs (though in all honesty it's been a while).

I'd have to check my pc at home, but I've got at least 1700mi on my egg-beaters. No problem. Basic chromoly lowest level egg beater. I hear complaints about smartys and candys as being cheapy throw away pedals... but don't know the difference between them and eggbeaters. They look like just an added plastic surround.

I'm happy I have them every time I have had to put my foot down in mud/sand for some stupid reason. (did you know that a freshly rained on volleyball court at sunrise looks EXACTLY like concrete?). Over all, very happy with eggbeaters... just bought new set of cleats, and about to order a set of pedals so I don't have to swap one pair around.

EDIT: I get the feeling stated above when cleats are worn... hence buying new ones. I consider them a wear item (brass cleat, hard metal pedal)

the new look MTB pedals look really badass.

get eggbeaters if clearing mud is the issue

get atacs otherwise

I almost ordered a set of the look quartz pedals. Then I checked the reviews online. At least 9 out of 10 were negative. All complained about coming spontanious unclipping. Also lots of complaints about mounting the cleats. Lots of shims and trial and error.

Got another set of ATACs instead. Just the Aliums. Josh says the higher end models clear mid better. Mine can get clogged when the mud is really sticky.

I have SPD on all my bikes and they work just fine.

The only complaint I have is that in extreme mud they don't like to clip in sometimes, and occasionaly they'll unclip when I'm pulling up really hard.

crank brothers candy sl's have been good to me so far. the pedal body started coming off the spindle of my smartys though.

time atac has float separate from spring tension. its pretty baller.

The obvious answer to "which clipless" is that it varies.

I've only ever ridden Time Aliums for MTB pedals, so I'm pretty biased.

Brent got some of these used:

He said they feel waaay better than the older aliums he used before before.

Time pedals are a lot more expensive new though, so it's good to wait to find a used pair if you can.. They will last forever.

Crank Bros are definitely gonna be a lot cheaper.. And the egg beaters will shed mud and are much lighter.

I bought some Specialized mountain shoes at the start of this year. Super comfy, light, stiff (carbon sole) and a shitload cheaper than Dominators in Australia (1/3 the price or something). The pair I got kinda look shit (silver), but whatevs, they are awesome. Would definitely buy again.

'splain.

Got a pair of pedals and was thinking about finding some shoes.

fat cleat

time atac aliums. cheap, work great, feel good man.

+1
Specialized makes amazing shoes.

I want some nicer ATACs now. My Aliums work just fine, but I'm becoming a weight weenie. Actually, I've never had a problem with mud clogging up my pedals. It's always the bottoms of my shoes - and thus the cleats - that get caked with dreck. And I spray on a ton of Pam, but still the caking... I don't get it.

Big cleats mount to the bottom of a flat soled road shoe. I mean, you CAN walk in them of course, but I wouldn't want to spend all day walking around like that. MTB shoes with a recessed 2-bolt cleat are made to walked in.

my first clipless shoes were road x SPD-SL

then i tried Doms x Crank Bros

would never, ever go back to FAT CLEAT for commuting/'round-towning. shit sucks.

Ah, not viable pour moi. Too bad. The pedals I have are nice.

Anyone need some Shimano SPD-R's?

Agreed. I love the feel if the pedals and large surface under the feet, but fuck a bunch of walking around off the bike.

So far, my Crank Bros are feeling good. Gonna try and snag a pair of Eggbeaters and see what difference feels like.

Them's SPD-SL.

SPD-R is a failed design and looked like this:

Please report back.

I've been riding on the mavic razor shoes for a bit and I like them, obviously they're not Sidis, but they're fairly cheap and get the job done.

splain

halfway between road and mountain. not a big/strong clip for sprinting, and wasn't nicely recessed like a mtb cleat. worst of both worlds. hence the lance armstrong x shimano x look collabo

Crank Brothers are trash. I've owned five pairs of various Crankbrothers pedals from all over the heirarchy. I've had 2 catastrophic failures, another pair the axles bent after 1 ride, another pair fell apart (non catastrophically), and another pair had a severe manufacturing defect that rendered the pedal non-functional. Crank Brothers were cool about all these problems and replaced/fixed all of them, but wouldn't it have been better to have pedals that just worked without falling apart?

One the other hand, I have owned 5 pairs of shimano SPDs..also from all over the heirarchy. All of them are still working, with no failures or problems.

I've never tried ATACS, but if it comes down to choosing CB versus Shimano, its not even a contest.

i like spd-sl.
kinda funny to walk in but you know, i ride my bike so i don't have to do much walking. a quick stroll through the grocery or something is fine with the cleats.

no contest, SPD-SL rides a hell of a lot nicer than SPD. even low-end old look road stuff rides better than SPD.

but yea not so much walkability

I thought about going for these to give my pedals a try: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360202544571&ssPageNa...

Or should I not waste my time with SPD-R?

i'm pretty sure SPD-R is out of production

that could lead to a big pain in the ass

Those are definitely not SPD-Rs. Those are old Look cleats. And anyway, they clearly take 3-bolt (aka road) cleats, so any real road pedal (Speedplay, SPD-SL, Look, etc) will work fine.

And yes, fuck SPD-R, they are out of production and weren't worth it in the first place. Either get real SPDs and some mountain shoes so you can walk around, or get road pedals and start scowling.