John Curtis — Mountain Bike Racer

Eggbeater Candy SL Pedals

Introduction

The Eggbeater Candy SL from Crank Brothers is a brutally tough, lightweight pedal system that offers a stable platform to stand on unclipped.



Overview

I’ve been racing and riding with the Candy SL’s for about two years now, and I still love them. I made the switch from a Ritchey SPD system that I was pretty happy with, other than some trouble in muddy conditions and occasionally pulling out of them during hard efforts. These problems, and the fact that I wore the SPD’s into the ground to the point where the body would barely spin on the spindle sent me questing for a new pedal system.

James at New Revolution Cycles turned me on to the Candy system, as this was what he was racing with on one of his bikes. I liked that it only weighs 294 grams and is still at an affordable price point.



Durability

I have attempted to destroy these pedals in every way imaginable and they still work as well as the day that they were new.

I bash them into rocks at a high rate of speed, run them through creeks, pack them with mud and demand that they still work, forget to clean and lube them for weeks, and generally beat them like a rented mule.

Not that mules should be beaten, mind you. A friend of mine raises mules and has nothing but great things to say about them, even the troublemakers in the herd. flock? gaggle? what is a collection of mules called anyway?

I only have one complaint, which is that the pedal body did come off of the spindle during a ride. I’ve heard this is a common problem, but it only happened to me once, and now I always check that bolt as part of my pre-race tuneup and have not had a problem since.



Weight

Candy SL

294g, $95

Eggbeater SS

266g, $98

Shimano 959

346g,, $149

Speedplay Frog S

250g, $135

Note: I just pulled what looks like a good price from a QBike search. I have no doubt that things are selling for a different price today.

Value

At $95, and still functional after 2 years of racing, how can you complain? Value is one of the most important factors for me. If I feel like a product’s price is more than the value that it brings I won’t buy it, no matter how badly I need it. It turns into a bit of an obsession to scour the internet and local bike shops to try to find the item at the price that I personally think it should be sold for. That said, the return on investment was obvious for these pedals and I did not hesitate to buy them — twice.

Looks

I own a set of grey and blue, and they both look fantastic. I had the blue ones on red cranks and that was not cool, but once I swapped out those cranks for a silver set everything clicked.

Ease of use

Clipping in is easy and intuitive, as it does not matter which way the pedal is oriented due to the 4 sided design. There is a decent amount of float without being too wiggly, or restricting. Engagement yields a positive *click*, so you know when you’re locked in.

Ease of installation

Easy as any other pedal system. They can be installed with a pedal wrench or an hex wrench on the back side.

Cool factor

These are a workhorse pedal that still has the looks. For ultimate cool, upgrade to the quad Ti version for mucho dollars. I’ll gladly race the Ti version and let you know what I think if they magically appeared in my mailbox.

Disclaimer: The product reviews on this site are entirely my own opinion. I have not been paid by anyone to review anything. Although, I would gladly accept free product as long as the manufacturers don’t mind be being honest about what I think.

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