The Egg beater Chrome is new from Crank Bothers for 2003 and fits in at the bottom of the range bellow the Steel version, the MRP for these is £65 but can easily be found around the £45 mark online. Although cheaper that all the other Crank Brothers pedals, the price places them at the top end of some peoples SPD range and around middle of Shimano's range. Unlike some of the competitors pedals, cartridge bearings are used throughout. Crank Brother claim a weight of 294 for a pair of pedals (147g each if you can't do the math) this puts then 50g lighter than Shimano's top of the range M959.

The First thing that hits you about the Egg Beater Chromes is the quality of the packaging, none of this throw it in a cardboard box it's all nicely laid out with foam packaging, didn't cost a lot but it gives you a feeling of quality.

To impress you even more more only have they included Pedals, Cleats and bolts but a set of shims are included incase the rubber on the bottom of your shoes should interfere with the pedals, and not only that but an additional set of slightly longer bolts are included for use with the shims, makes some other pedal manufactures look very tacky. All 2003 Crank Brothers pedals also come with a grease port adaptor what helps you grease the internals of your pedal, you can do it without but this just makes it easier.

It took me a little time to get these up and running on my bike as the soles of my Specialized Mountain Sports did in fact interfere with the edges of the pedal, but once the shims were on every thing was fine. The Manual (OK piece of paper) that comes with the pedals is also with note, as not only is it written in English (not translated from japanese from by some kid who only speak's korean) but English is the only the only language on it, full details of how to strip your pedal down for a rebuild are included.

I was a little disappointed to note a little play in one of the pedals straight out of the box, dismantling the pedal did nothing to remove this but as the pedals are fully rebuild able I am not going to lose any sleep over it.

First Ride

The engagement of these pedals is different to that of SPD's, with the addition of the heal -toe method that is used with other Clipless pedals you can also brush past the pedal and they will auto engage. The three methods of engagement are shown below

This takes some getting used to as this is alien to how you expect to engage after using SPD for so long. But initial impressions of clipping in are good but I think that a full '1 month on' addition will need to be made as most of the time I seem to be quick and easy .. but sometimes required a little thought (something all SPD pedals require I suppose)

One thing that really did strike me on my first ride was how well my foot seemed to be supported, despite their small appearance the egg beaters are more substantial than they look, and if you actually look at the bottom of your shoe when engaged they do in fact support your foot all the way across

My second ride out with these pedals was far more posative, once you learn that if you miss clip (come on everybody does) just move your foot away and then ram it back again clipping becomes far far faster then SPD, am i in, no try again. The only real problem that I have with these pedals is that I now wanted them for all me bikes .. damn

Conclusion

Overall the design seems to have significant advantages over the standard clipless design that we have come to know and love over the last few years, more ways to clip in, improved mud clearance and a simple design are all win win win advantages. The only thing that goes against these pedals is the price and the small amount of play in the bearings, although they are totally rebuild able and Crank Brothers do a rebuild kit, english weather does have a tendency to destroy the weak