Okay, let’s talk about these egg beater pedals I slapped on my bike recently.
Getting Started – Why Even Bother?
So, my old pedals, the regular clipless kind, were starting to really tick me off. Every time I hit a bit of mud, which happens a lot around here, they’d get jammed up. Clipping in became a nightmare, sometimes couldn’t get in at all. Clipping out was getting sticky too. Heard some guys talking about egg beaters, how they’re great in the muck because there’s not much to get clogged. Sounded good to me, so I decided to give ’em a shot.
The Swap – Out with the Old, In with the New
First step, obviously, was getting the old clunkers off. Found my pedal wrench, the big flat one. Remembered the golden rule: right pedal unscrews normally (counter-clockwise), but the left one is backward, gotta turn it clockwise to loosen. Man, they were stuck on there good. Put some elbow grease into it and finally broke them free. Felt good to get those off.
Next, I cleaned the threads on the crank arms. Just wiped ’em down, got the old grease and grit off. Didn’t want any crunchiness putting the new ones on.
Opened the box for the egg beaters. They look kinda funny, right? Just four little bars sticking out. Way different from my old pedals. Grabbed some bike grease, put a decent amount on the threads of the new pedals. Don’t want them seizing up later.
Started threading the right pedal in by hand first, clockwise. Made sure it wasn’t cross-threaded. Once it was snug, used the wrench to tighten it up properly. Not crazy tight, but firm. Did the same for the left pedal, remembering it threads in counter-clockwise. Easy peasy.
Shoes and Cleats – The Other Half
Right, pedals on the bike, but that’s only half the job. Needed to put the new cleats on my cycling shoes. Flipped my shoes over, unscrewed the old SPD cleats. They definitely showed some wear.
The egg beater cleats are small. Lined them up on the bottom of my shoes where the old ones were. You can adjust the position a bit, forward, back, side-to-side. I just aimed for the middle ground to start. Tightened the little screws down.
First Impressions – The Test Ride
Okay, moment of truth. Put my shoes on, went out to the driveway. Straddled the bike. Tried to clip in. It felt… different. Instead of pushing forward and down like my old pedals, it felt more like just stepping straight down onto the pedal. Heard a little ‘click’. Took a few tries on each side to get the feel for it. Felt pretty secure once I was in.
Getting out was simple. Just a quick twist of the heel outwards, and ‘pop’, foot came right off. Seemed easier than my old pedals, actually.
Rode around the block a few times. Felt a bit weird having less pedal under my foot, more ‘float’ maybe? Like my foot could wiggle side-to-side a bit more. Wasn’t bad, just different. Need to get used to that.
What I’ve found so far:
- Installation was straightforward, just like any pedal swap.
- Clipping in takes a slightly different technique, stepping down more than pushing forward.
- Clipping out feels really easy.
- There’s noticeably more rotational float.
Haven’t hit the trails yet, that’s the real test, especially the mud. But so far, so good. Curious to see how they hold up long term and how they handle the slop they’re supposed to be good at shedding. I’ll keep riding them and see how it goes.
