Egg Beater end caps too soft

[Ivar Hesselager]

My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
simplicity of bicycle technology in general. Last winter I bought two
new pairs of Egg Beaters - slightly different versions and from different
dealers. But they had a problem i common.

Recently, when I wanted to service them with grease, I discovered that the
end caps on both pairs were made of soft plastic and impossible to
unscrew. No matter how careful I was, I could not help damaging the slot
with the screwdriver and still couln't get the end cap loose. Eventually I
spent hours cutting and digging out the end caps from all four pedals. A
very nasty feeling for a dedicated home mechanic.

I sent Crank Brothers an e-mail with a fotography of the misery. They
sent me new end caps, made of a harder plastic. Now I like my Egg
Beaters even better. But I expect there will be other Egg Beater owners
that will have the same problem. And I expect Crank Brothers will help
them as well.

Ivar of Denmark.

 

[Smokey]

Ivar Hesselager wrote:
> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
> simplicity of bicycle technology in general. Last winter I bought two
> new pairs of Egg Beaters - slightly different versions and from different
> dealers. But they had a problem i common.
>
> Recently, when I wanted to service them with grease, I discovered that the
> end caps on both pairs were made of soft plastic and impossible to
> unscrew. No matter how careful I was, I could not help damaging the slot
> with the screwdriver and still couln't get the end cap loose. Eventually I
> spent hours cutting and digging out the end caps from all four pedals. A
> very nasty feeling for a dedicated home mechanic.
>
> I sent Crank Brothers an e-mail with a fotography of the misery. They
> sent me new end caps, made of a harder plastic. Now I like my Egg
> Beaters even better. But I expect there will be other Egg Beater owners
> that will have the same problem. And I expect Crank Brothers will help
> them as well.
>
> Ivar of Denmark.

Crank Brothers customer service was great for me, too. I had a set of
the original 'beaters with the rubber plugs in the end. I lost one of
the plugs and called them up. They not only sent rubber plugs, they
also sent a bearing replacement kit because they said dirt might have
contaminated the bearings. This was all free gratis. Their tire lever
is also a great product. You can tell when you use their products that
these guys really ride and work on their own bikes.

Smokey

 

[Nate Knutson]

Ivar Hesselager wrote:
> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
> simplicity of bicycle technology in general. Last winter I bought two
> new pairs of Egg Beaters - slightly different versions and from different
> dealers. But they had a problem i common.
>
> Recently, when I wanted to service them with grease, I discovered that the
> end caps on both pairs were made of soft plastic and impossible to
> unscrew. No matter how careful I was, I could not help damaging the slot
> with the screwdriver and still couln't get the end cap loose. Eventually I
> spent hours cutting and digging out the end caps from all four pedals. A
> very nasty feeling for a dedicated home mechanic.
>
> I sent Crank Brothers an e-mail with a fotography of the misery. They
> sent me new end caps, made of a harder plastic. Now I like my Egg
> Beaters even better. But I expect there will be other Egg Beater owners
> that will have the same problem. And I expect Crank Brothers will help
> them as well.
>
> Ivar of Denmark.

It sucks that they sent you more plastic endcaps, because the rebuild
kits come with replacement aluminum ones that make this much less of a
pain.

I've been using Eggbeaters and Candies for a while (I've come to like
Candies more) and really am starting to wish for a pedal whose bearings
just go and go. Crank Bros pedals seem to be pretty far down there in
this regard.

 

[[email protected]]

Ivar Hesselager wrote:
> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
> simplicity of bicycle technology in general.

Just wondering - what is there about Eggbetaers that makes them better
than, say, 2-sided SPD pedals. Mine have lasted over 15,000 miles
without any bearing problems. Granted, I ride on the road, not in mud.

BW

 

[Paul Hobson]

[email protected] wrote:
> Ivar Hesselager wrote:
>> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
>> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
>> simplicity of bicycle technology in general.
>
> Just wondering - what is there about Eggbetaers that makes them better
> than, say, 2-sided SPD pedals. Mine have lasted over 15,000 miles
> without any bearing problems. Granted, I ride on the road, not in mud.

The spring isn't what keeps you locked in, it's the cage itself. IIRC,
trying to pull straight out of an eggbeater will only tighten it's grip
on the cleat - My four friends and I who have them have *never* pulled
out of them by accident. But getting purposefully out and in is 99.99%
effortless. Four-sided entry, I feel, is much easier than two sided.
The design itself is quite elegant, low maintenance, but easily
serviceable when necessary.

my 0.0157356412 Euros
\\paul
--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

 

[Paul Hobson]

Nate Knutson wrote:
> I've been using Eggbeaters and Candies for a while (I've come to like
> Candies more)

Just curious: what about the Candies do you like so much?

> and really am starting to wish for a pedal whose bearings
> just go and go. Crank Bros pedals seem to be pretty far down there in
> this regard.

Do you mean that you've had to overhaul your pedals a lot? How often?
How did you know when you needed to do so?
\\paul (about at the 1 year mark on eggbeaters of bought used and of
unknown age)
--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

 

[Nate Knutson]

Paul Hobson wrote:
> Nate Knutson wrote:
> > I've been using Eggbeaters and Candies for a while (I've come to like
> > Candies more)
>
> Just curious: what about the Candies do you like so much?

The larger contact area feels more secure and also more comfortable,
especially since I'm an SPD sandal dork (SPD sandal soles aren't as
stiff as most bike shoes). I haven't used SPD or SPD-clone pedals all
that much and am thinking about trying some - Eggbeaters have quite a
bit over the SPD design IMO, but I'm not so sure about Candies. I still
use both Eggbeaters and Candies though, and being able to do so with
the same shoes is nice.

One of the things about Crank Bros pedals that drew me in is that the
cleats absorb almost all the wear. It seemed cool, but after about a
year and a half of this, I'm not really into it anymore. Cleats don't
really stay in fully functional condition very long. To be honest
though, there might still be nuances to living with Crank Bros pedals I
haven't figured out yet.

>
> > and really am starting to wish for a pedal whose bearings
> > just go and go. Crank Bros pedals seem to be pretty far down there in
> > this regard.
>
> Do you mean that you've had to overhaul your pedals a lot? How often?
> How did you know when you needed to do so?
> \\paul (about at the 1 year mark on eggbeaters of bought used and of
> unknown age)

I don't keep them as well maintained as I should - the develop a bit of
play after not all that long, which Crank Bros says is Bad and A
Sympton Indicating Overhaul. I don't really know what I think about it
all, but their design definitely does not encourage very long bearing
life.

 

[Chris Z The Wheelman]

My Egg's are new enough that I have only had a chance to regrease them
once. but I too noiticed the problem you stated, the end caps having all
the consistancy of albumen (pun intended).

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to write C.B.'s to get a more
substantial set, before I have to resort to my Swiss Army Knife to
remove them!

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

 

[Chris Z The Wheelman]

Group: rec.bicycles.tech
Date: Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 9:39pm (EDT-3)
From: [email protected] (Nate Knutson)

>The larger contact area feels more
>secure and also more comfortable,
>especially since I'm an SPD sandal dork
>(SPD sandal soles aren't as stiff as most
>bike shoes).

Have you checked out the EggBeater "Mallet" yet? These have an even
bigger platform. I use them on my MTB so that I never have to worry
about getting onto the pedals in a hurry, even if I do miss the
"clip-in" at least I know my foot will be firmly on the pedal.

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

 

[Marian]

Paul Hobson wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> > Ivar Hesselager wrote:
> >> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
> >> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
> >> simplicity of bicycle technology in general.
> >
> > Just wondering - what is there about Eggbetaers that makes them better
> > than, say, 2-sided SPD pedals. Mine have lasted over 15,000 miles
> > without any bearing problems. Granted, I ride on the road, not in mud.
>
> The spring isn't what keeps you locked in, it's the cage itself. IIRC,
> trying to pull straight out of an eggbeater will only tighten it's grip
> on the cleat - My four friends and I who have them have *never* pulled
> out of them by accident. But getting purposefully out and in is 99.99%
> effortless. Four-sided entry, I feel, is much easier than two sided.
> The design itself is quite elegant, low maintenance, but easily
> serviceable when necessary.

Data point -

My bad leg toes inward and gets worse when I'm tired. At the very
worst my right foot is at nearly a 60 degree angle to the rest of me.
And while there is a chance that the underlying problem could be fixed
with surgery the assosciated risks plus the likelihood of it coming
back means my orthopod is currently against the plan.

Since the pull out mechanism requires turning your foot, I probably
pull out by accident about once a week. More if long trips are
involved.

For example, in April I did a 260 km weekend trip and about 40 km from
home my foot was pulling out of the pedal every fifteen minutes or so.
An hour long tea break, elevating my leg and massaging it reduced this
to every thirty minutes or so. I didn't hurt and I wasn't even tired
enough to limp but my foot was sufficiently turned in that the cleat
wasn't staying engaged.

This hasn't happened to me while mountain biking (yet) but I've only
had a mountain bike for the last ten days.

-M

 

[Paul Hobson]

Marian wrote:
> Paul Hobson wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>> Ivar Hesselager wrote:
>>>> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
>>>> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
>>>> simplicity of bicycle technology in general.
>>> Just wondering - what is there about Eggbetaers that makes them better
>>> than, say, 2-sided SPD pedals. Mine have lasted over 15,000 miles
>>> without any bearing problems. Granted, I ride on the road, not in mud.
>> The spring isn't what keeps you locked in, it's the cage itself. IIRC,
>> trying to pull straight out of an eggbeater will only tighten it's grip
>> on the cleat - My four friends and I who have them have *never* pulled
>> out of them by accident. But getting purposefully out and in is 99.99%
>> effortless. Four-sided entry, I feel, is much easier than two sided.
>> The design itself is quite elegant, low maintenance, but easily
>> serviceable when necessary.
>
> Data point -

No. 60 degrees?!? What's below is less a valid data point and more of
a total anomaly. Any other pedal would be worse for you (save
Speedplays, etc).

> My bad leg toes inward and gets worse when I'm tired. At the very
> worst my right foot is at nearly a 60 degree angle to the rest of me.
> And while there is a chance that the underlying problem could be fixed
> with surgery the assosciated risks plus the likelihood of it coming
> back means my orthopod is currently against the plan.
>
> Since the pull out mechanism requires turning your foot, I probably
> pull out by accident about once a week. More if long trips are
> involved.
>
> For example, in April I did a 260 km weekend trip and about 40 km from
> home my foot was pulling out of the pedal every fifteen minutes or so.
> An hour long tea break, elevating my leg and massaging it reduced this
> to every thirty minutes or so. I didn't hurt and I wasn't even tired
> enough to limp but my foot was sufficiently turned in that the cleat
> wasn't staying engaged.
>
> This hasn't happened to me while mountain biking (yet) but I've only
> had a mountain bike for the last ten days.
>
> -M
>


--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

 

[Nate Knutson]

Chris Z The Wheelman wrote:
> Group: rec.bicycles.tech
> Date: Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 9:39pm (EDT-3)
> From: [email protected] (Nate Knutson)
>
> >The larger contact area feels more
> >secure and also more comfortable,
> >especially since I'm an SPD sandal dork
> >(SPD sandal soles aren't as stiff as most
> >bike shoes).
>
> Have you checked out the EggBeater "Mallet" yet? These have an even
> bigger platform. I use them on my MTB so that I never have to worry
> about getting onto the pedals in a hurry, even if I do miss the
> "clip-in" at least I know my foot will be firmly on the pedal.

Nah, Candies and SPD Sandals seem to be a pretty ideal combo for me...
I'd be more interested in Mallets for my purposes if they weren't so
heavy. I do like that the option exists, though.

> - -
> Comments and opinions compliments of,
> "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
>
> My web Site:
> http://geocities.com/czcorner
>
> To E-mail me:
> ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

 

[Marian]

Paul Hobson wrote:
> Marian wrote:
> > Paul Hobson wrote:
> >> [email protected] wrote:
> >>> Ivar Hesselager wrote:
> >>>> My Egg Beater pedals are my favorite bicycle components. I find their
> >>>> functional simplicity particularly beautiful - just as I see beauty in the
> >>>> simplicity of bicycle technology in general.
> >>> Just wondering - what is there about Eggbetaers that makes them better
> >>> than, say, 2-sided SPD pedals. Mine have lasted over 15,000 miles
> >>> without any bearing problems. Granted, I ride on the road, not in mud.
> >> The spring isn't what keeps you locked in, it's the cage itself. IIRC,
> >> trying to pull straight out of an eggbeater will only tighten it's grip
> >> on the cleat - My four friends and I who have them have *never* pulled
> >> out of them by accident. But getting purposefully out and in is 99.99%
> >> effortless. Four-sided entry, I feel, is much easier than two sided.
> >> The design itself is quite elegant, low maintenance, but easily
> >> serviceable when necessary.
> >
> > Data point -
>
> No. 60 degrees?!? What's below is less a valid data point and more of
> a total anomaly. Any other pedal would be worse for you (save
> Speedplays, etc).

Traumatic injuries are by definition an anomaly.

I picked eggbeaters because I had heard good things about them and
because Nashbar had a package sale with shoes included. Bonus points
for not having to use my then far more limited Chinese to tell the bike
shop I was ready to try clipless.

-M