Thread: Crank Bros: the trail of fail

Originally Posted by coreshot-tourettes

Anyone that is happy with CB pedals, it can be safely said they don't ride much.

Got ignorant statement?

Originally Posted by AKbruin

Time Atac folks, which models are you using? I need some new pedals and was thinking of making the switch. Atac XS Carbon? I bash my pedals on rocks on pretty much every ride, so durability is an issue.

Get one of the less gucci models with the round bars vs the flat ones. They last longer. The more stylish ones develop play in them that can't be remedied. It takes a few seasons but still.......the other ones last forever. I've never had a single issue with bearings. I've bent a spindle and broken a cage hitting rocks on my Zs on my dh bike but that's it.

Oh, and can Time and CB pedals be used as a bottle opener?

I've seen plenty of happy CB users. I don't see how they could fuck up a handle bar.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Oh, and can Time and CB pedals be used as a bottle opener?

Time cleats will open bottles.

Originally Posted by kidwoo

Get one of the less gucci models with the round bars vs the flat ones. They last longer. The more stylish ones develop play in them that can't be remedied. It takes a few seasons but still.......the other ones last forever. I've never had a single issue with bearings. I've bent a spindle and broken a cage hitting rocks on my Zs on my dh bike but that's it.

Like these? (ATAC Aliums)

Originally Posted by toast2266

Time cleats will open bottles.

hawtness
......

Originally Posted by Dickeymotto

The above statement = FAIL.
It's okay though, you gained a ton of interweb cred by making assumptions of people's riding habits based on pedal choice. Go you.

Originally Posted by Roxtar

Got ignorant statement?

This and this. I really think CT is smarter than that...or maybe not.

Shimano pedals fit/remove a bottle cap like it was a design imperative. Try it!

Are you guys not bringing weed and a lighter along on your rides?

Originally Posted by kidwoo

I know there aren't any in tahoe where you ride but in tahoe, some trails have these things called 'downhill sections'. It's pretty unique so you may not have heard of them. Pretty specific to tahoe. Sometimes it's nice to not have your toes locked into a straight ahead position on these kinds of sections. We do things like 'manuals' 'leaning the bike over', sometimes even 'jumping.' As mountain biking progresses I think we'll see more of these types of sections. They actually go 'downhill', just like the name would suggest. Crazy I know, but wait till you see one. It's nuts.

I thought you used flats for the RADGNAR

Besides, SPDs have enough float for my heels to smack the chainstays on the inner side, and I can't envision an advantageous riding position that involves going more pigeon-toed than SPDs let me.

But then again, I ride a 29er and they only go uphill, so what do I know?

Originally Posted by Spats

I thought you used flats for the RADGNAR

Besides, SPDs have enough float for my heels to smack the chainstays on the inner side, and I can't envision an advantageous riding position that involves going more pigeon-toed than SPDs let me.

But then again, I ride a 29er and they only go uphill, so what do I know?

I mostly ride flats on dirtjump bikes. Clips everywhere else.

I do want to try some new shimanos. I know they ain't what they used to be.

Originally Posted by grskier

I've been on ATAC Z for about 5 years now and haven't even touched them.

wow. you've ridden for 5 years without touching your pedals? that's some crazy yoda shit right there...

Originally Posted by Roxtar

I loved my ATACs. I used them right up till CB came out with the orig eggbeaters. I liked the design and tried them.

That's why it's hard for me to read about all these failures without thinking it's either bullshit or "friend of my 2nd cousin's wife said he was almost killed by them" type stories.

They just don't line up with my experience.

I've been riding CB pedals since 2004 on both road and MTB bikes and I've had one pair completely crap out on me with not many miles on them( early version of Candy). I think much of the bad press is from some design problems early on when they started making more than just the classic eggbeater. Since pedal failures pretty much entirely screw up your day, it doesn't take many to create a lot of bad press.

Purchased a bike this spring that came with Eggbeaters. Figured I give them a try rather than buy my go-to's: Time Atac. God dammit they suck. I hate them.

I saw some mallets shear off a couple weeks ago (during a race). Number of people at the finish line who were surprised: 0

I ride flats because of terrible experiences w clip less. Now I realize that I only rode cb's. Is it time to get some shimanos and shoes?

sent from the future using my mind powers

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Oh, and can Time and CB pedals be used as a bottle opener?

I've seen plenty of happy CB users. I don't see how they could fuck up a handle bar.

I used this logic for a recent handlebar purchase. I hope I dont find out.

Originally Posted by smslavin

wow. you've ridden for 5 years without touching your pedals? that's some crazy yoda shit right there...

I just sit on my fat ass and let gravity do the rest

the point of the thread was not to re-hash the 'crank bros pedals vs other pedals' meme, which has been done to death, and always reduces down to, essentially, 'lots of riders like the release feel of the crank bros design, but the reliability of their pedals has been problematic for many riders...and other riders have had no reliability issues'. I don't see why someone's personal anecdote somehow trumps the more statistically relevant conclusions within an industry as a whole, or within a high-volume bike shop. Hell I have a pair of 10 yr old Mallets that still get used occasionally...doesn't mean I can't recognize the fact that many many riders have had shit reliability w/ crank bros pedals.

the point of 'trail of fail' is: based on the poor track record (and here I'm referring to actual, statistically significant track record...the kind that an experienced bike mechanic at a good shop can relate to) of so many Crank Bros products (i.e. NOT just pedals), the eyes of the industry were staring hard at CB's new post, wondering if CB was finally about to release an innovative but reliable product. In the period prior to the release of the Kronolog, most of the online/magazine previews focused on The Question: would it, or would it not, have the shit reliability that has become synonymous w/ the overall brand?

Given that scrutiny, which was coming from so many places, the marketing dept and engineers MUST have had some conversations along the lines of 'OK so have we tested the hell out of this? Our intro is very high profile...given the track record of the Joplin, and us screwing up headset design for crissakes, and selling expensive wheels for years with inherent freehub issues it took a while to fix, and don't get me started on our pedal issues....we simply can't afford to see mainstream magazines, let alone the idiots on mtbr, conclude that the Kronolog is Krap.'

So essentially I'm just wondering what sort of internal conversations went on inside CB. Are they in denial? Delusional? Is it the same set of engineers failing repeatedly across their product line, or have they had turnover inside their design dept? Do they not have adequate $$$ budgeted for product testing?

Why spend money on testing when the consumers will pay you?!

Frorider they relied on sufficient numbers of morons taking it lubeless. TGR is a representative subset

I broke another set of CB pedals yesterday.

Can't wait for my Kronolog to come in the mail!