What Pedals Are You Using For Gravel/CX?

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Point
Posts: 255
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:35 pm

by Point

My pedals are on the way out and thus the search for a new set begin.

I've been using the Shimano SPD M520's for ages, they're great budget pedals but I'm thinking I could do with something better this time around.

It's hard to find any real feedback on pedals for Gravel/CX so I'm hoping there'll be more insight here.

Crank Brothers pedals intrigue me.
Shimano SPD is a safe bet.

Is there anything else I should look at?
Road - Burls Custom Ti
All Year - Rove ST
Gravel - Carbonda CFR 696
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Thanos
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:49 pm

by Thanos

I use Time ATAC XC 12 Titan Carbon Pedals, much prefer ATAC to SPD's.

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jfranci3
Posts: 1572
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

I use SpeedPlay Frogs for everything. No complaints aside from yearly cleat replacement and bearings every two years. IIRC, I found the eggbeaters too be too vague on engage/disengagement.

DutchMountains
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:16 pm

by DutchMountains

XPedo M-Force 8 Ti and XPedo M-Force 4 CR work well for me, they use SPD-like cleats so you can use MTB shoes. The plastic Look KEO cleats that I've also used wear out rather fast if you often need to walk some in terrain.

jemima
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Location: Perth

by jemima

Frogs.
Curve Grovel ti.

RussellS
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by RussellS

Shocked and surprised by the people using Frog for cyclocross, with mud. My Mom used Frog pedals so I know how they work. There is a lot closer tolerances, and precision, with the Frogs. Unlike SPD and the others, its not just a spring that clamps around the cleat. You have to position and then maeuver the Frog cleat into the pedal. No clicking and stomping down to engage. Much more procedure, finesse involved. How on earth would Frog work with mud on the cleats and/or pedals? I don't think they would work worth a dam in cyclocross that was not perfectly dry and free of dirt. Frog would be fine for gravel. Nothing in gravel to clog anything.

jfranci3
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

I don’t CX, but I haven’t had a mud issue. They seem to be the easiest I’ve tried to pedal unclipped when things don’t go right

Marin
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Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Ritchey single sided SPDs.

For gravel, you want shoes you can walk/climb/run in comfortably.

NickJHP
Posts: 462
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:22 am
Location: Canberra, Australia

by NickJHP

I bought a couple of pairs of Speedplay Syzr when the bearings in my Eggbeaters started to go. So far, I'm really happy with them - they clip in and out easily, and you can adjust the range of float to as much or as little as you want - I use the little adjustment grub screws in the cleat to get the shoe at the exact angle I want and have them set so there's no float at all. The pedals also have a built-in grease port, so re-greasing the bearings takes only a couple of minutes.

They're also available with different spindle lengths to accommodate toe in/out and different L/R stack heights to accommodate leg length differences.

One downside that some people will encounter is that because the float is built into the cleat rather than the interface between the cleat and pedal, the entry angle into the pedal is same as your last exit angle. So if you have any amount of float in the cleat, you have to put your foot at the same angle as you twisted it to release in order to re-engage. I haven't encountered this problem because I have the float screwed down to nothing.

Multebear
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Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm

by Multebear

I'll say it depends. If you're doing real gravel, and you're absolutely sure that you never have to get of the bike, then I'd simply pick road pedals.

I don't think the mud issue is a big concern if you're doing gravel. Many riders ride gravel, because they don't want the hazzle with mud. And if that is out of the equation, then you can ride just about all kinds of pedals. But Shimano SPD is the safe bet. And if you are concerned with the known issues with SPD, then just pick the XT or XTR level.

jeanjacques
Posts: 349
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Location: France

by jeanjacques

There are two problems with SPD (and mtb pedal in general): the cleat interface is too small and the lack of lightweight and stiff shoes.

Marin
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Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

jeanjacques wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:31 pm
There are two problems with SPD (and mtb pedal in general): the cleat interface is too small and the lack of lightweight and stiff shoes.
Many big brands - for example Sidi - have the same shoe in Road and MTB version with the same upper and carbon sole, the only difference being the drilling and the added tread for the MTB shoe.

I never understood why the size of the cleat interface should be a factor. I have 2 bikes with SPD and 2 with Time pedals and I don't think there's a difference. The Times have nicer float though, but the walkability is more important most times.

jeanjacques
Posts: 349
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Location: France

by jeanjacques

Didn't see any mtb shoes on the Sidi website that looks light and not bulky, do you have a model ?
I was with SPD pedal on my gravel with Shimano RT4 shoes (746g size 45), great for walking, good slick look but with a terribly lack of stifness.
Now with the same system than the road bike (Time Xpro, Shimano RP9 (505g size 45)), night and day on the bike but no more long walk so I'm still looking for a solution.

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jgadd
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by jgadd

Shimano SPDs are great, but I always suffered mud clogging issues while racing CX. Switching to Eggbeaters solved this completely (and they're lighter!), but the connection isn't quite as solid. It was worth the trade-off to me, so I've been riding Eggbeaters ever since. A set of stiffer shoes (I wear Giro Gauge) helps with this a bit.
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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

jeanjacques wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:31 pm
There are two problems with SPD (and mtb pedal in general): the cleat interface is too small and the lack of lightweight and stiff shoes.
My Giro Empire's are every bit as stiff as my road shoes. I'd agree with the small cleat interface, but I'm using the larger platform M8020 pedals, so It's not a huge issue if I miss a clip, still pleanty of platform for my foot until I can get clipped in.
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