Crank Brothers Candy Pedals
July 31, 2010
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While most often seen on mountain bikes, the Crank Brothers Candy pedals are an excellent option for touring. Building on their popular Egg Beater pedal, the company's Candy series has a small platform, measuring 3" wide by 2.5" long, to give you some additional pedal support while touring. They also make it easier to do short commutes in everyday shoes.
You can clip into these pedals on both the bottom and the top, so you don't have to flip the pedal around to find the entry point. They also have some of the best mud-shedding capabilities of any pedals I've tested. This means you can walk around in the mud without worrying about having to spend a few minutes chiseling out the mud from around your cleats.
Premium brass cleats, which won't rust, are included with the pedals, and are compatible with all Crank Brothers pedal systems. Initially, you may find the tension to be a little bit stiff and the cleats hard to click into the pedals. In the meantime, during the brief break-in period and before they click in smoothly, you can apply some light grease to the cleat and install the provided cleat shim to reduce friction from the shoe.
For 2011, there will be four levels of the Candy series. If the vast majority of your riding takes place on dry roads, the Candy 1 is a great choice; the price of $60 includes pedals, a composite platform body, and a two-year warranty. If you see yourself spending more time off-road, or in wet conditions on the road, it is worth spending the extra money and getting the Candy 2 pedals ($90). They are more durable, with an aluminum body, fully sealed internals, and a five-year warranty. The Candy 3 and 11 series pedals are designed for competitive performance, and might be overkill to use for touring.
If you're looking for a larger platform, be sure to check out the Crank Brothers Acid and Mallet pedals.
Photo by Josh Tack.
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TOURING GEAR AND TIPS is written by Joshua Tack of Adventure Cycling's member services department. It appears weekly, highlighting technical aspects of bicycle touring and advice to help better prepare you for the journey ahead.
Comments
Bill Z., CB redesigned the spindle on the new Candy pedals featured here - they have a smooth transition from the crankarm to the narrow end, which eliminates many of the stress risers that the original Candy spindle had. The pedals are certainly up to par now, and I plan on taking the new version on as many long rides/tours as I used the old version on.
Hi folks, I am writing to caution against the Crank Brothers pedals if you are a larger rider. I am a fit, but heavy (240 lbs) active commuter, weekend rider, and cycling tourist. Prior to experiencing several failures on different Crank Brothers pedals, including the "candy”, I used them exclusively on my tandem, commuter/touring bike, and weekend go-fast bike and loved them. They're inexpensive, light weight, are easy-in/easy-out, and the folks at Crank Brothers are nice enough to work with if a problem occurs. Unfortunately, I have experienced broken spindles on two different sets of Candys, a failed bearing during a Pacific Coast Tour last year on Candys, and a broken retaining spring on the pair of egg beaters I purchased in Mendocino during the tour to replace the broken Candy. All products used had CrMo spindles, which per the Crank Brothers web site do not have weight limitations. Because of the failures I no longer ride on Crank Brothers pedals. They might be fine for a lighter rider (I'd still worry about bearing failure), but most of us cannot afford a failure during a tour to a remote location. These days I am riding on Time Atac SX pedals and will monitor their longevity.
I really dig the look of the new Candy series. I've many different varieties of CB's pedals and I love them all. Highly recommended for any purpose!
I like the idea of having these pedals for touring, I never saw them except on mountain bikes and their price is still reasonable.
I rate it a great tip and proceeding to make it.
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