Crank brothers mallet pedals?

I'm thinking about getting a travel bike, and wondering what pedals to
put on it. I normally use Speedplay Frogs, which are wonderful, unless
you leave your shoes at home and have to pedal on them in sneakers.
Like I did last month...

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?

Pat

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:
I'm thinking about getting a travel bike, and wondering what pedals to
put on it. I normally use Speedplay Frogs, which are wonderful, unless
you leave your shoes at home and have to pedal on them in sneakers.
Like I did last month...

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?

If you like, you could invest $20 or so in a pair of
nondescript VP 196 flatties, and see where that
takes ya. No cleats, no clips. Just plain flatties
that do the trick pretty good for what they are.

If you really want cleated pedals that are do-able as
platforms, IMO nothing beats the old Shimano 636's.
As long as you don't mind having huge, lumpy,
fire engine red pedals on your bike. You could
smash through rotten tree stumps with 'em. 0r
crack walnuts.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

have Mallet on my MTB, and they work fine with both cleated and tennis
shoes.

They also provide an easy, secure target when you need to get on the
pedal quick, like when starting out from a somewhat technical spot on
the trail, without having to worry if your foot will slide off because
it isn't quite clipped in yet.

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

On Sun, 4 May 2008 00:23:22 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?

If you like, you could invest $20 or so in a pair of
nondescript VP 196 flatties, and see where that
takes ya. No cleats, no clips. Just plain flatties
that do the trick pretty good for what they are.

Yes, except I do want clipless.

If you really want cleated pedals that are do-able as
platforms, IMO nothing beats the old Shimano 636's.
As long as you don't mind having huge, lumpy,
fire engine red pedals on your bike. You could
smash through rotten tree stumps with 'em. 0r
crack walnuts.

Aside from cracking walnuts, do the Shimano 636s have decent float? I
went to Frogs from SPD because I couldn't handle the "gentle"
correction.

Pat

Email address works as is.

On Sun, 4 May 2008 18:17:05 -0400, (It's
Chris) wrote:

have Mallet on my MTB, and they work fine with both cleated and tennis
shoes.

They also provide an easy, secure target when you need to get on the
pedal quick, like when starting out from a somewhat technical spot on
the trail, without having to worry if your foot will slide off because
it isn't quite clipped in yet.

Great, thanks for the feedback. That's what I was looking for.

Pat

Email address works as is.

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:
On Sun, 4 May 2008 00:23:22 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?

If you like, you could invest $20 or so in a pair of
nondescript VP 196 flatties, and see where that
takes ya. No cleats, no clips. Just plain flatties
that do the trick pretty good for what they are.

Yes, except I do want clipless.

If you really want cleated pedals that are do-able as
platforms, IMO nothing beats the old Shimano 636's.
As long as you don't mind having huge, lumpy,
fire engine red pedals on your bike. You could
smash through rotten tree stumps with 'em. 0r
crack walnuts.

Aside from cracking walnuts, do the Shimano 636s have decent float?

Yes. At least, they /did/ when they were retaily available.

If you Googled on "Shimano 636" chances are you'd find all
kinds of lamentations & eulogies about 'em, they were so
beloved because they had the very qualities you seek and
desire.

Previously-owned pairs are still available. Maybe even
redundant, "new" inventory at some locations. If I were
to return to using cleated pedals, I'd look for a set of
636s first.

But cleated pedals that are do-able as platforms are
gonna have some mass. Boy, did 636s have mass!

I went to Frogs from SPD because I couldn't handle the "gentle"
correction.

I went from Time ATACs to 636s because it seemed
like a good idea at the time. I think it was.
In our densely wooded off-road trails it's good to
have some heavyweight pedal sticking out beyond the
side of your foot.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

In article , Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:
On Sun, 4 May 2008 00:23:22 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?


If you like Crank Brothers pedals, you'll like mallets. Clipped
in there is no noticable difference between them and
Candies. If you use a really soft thin soled shoe w/o cleats
the "eggbeater" part is uncomfortable after a while[1], but in any typical shoe
you'd use for biking they are unnoticable.

It is possible to ride a bike w/o cleats and just the lighter Candies
and/or Smarties, it depends whether you want "emergency" or
everyday usage w/o cleats.

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- I have them on my "errand" bike.

In article ,
(Booker Bense) writes:
In article , Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:
On Sun, 4 May 2008 00:23:22 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In article ,
Patrick Lamb writes:

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?


If you like Crank Brothers pedals, you'll like mallets. Clipped
in there is no noticable difference between them and
Candies. If you use a really soft thin soled shoe w/o cleats
the "eggbeater" part is uncomfortable after a while[1], but in any typical shoe
you'd use for biking they are unnoticable.

It is possible to ride a bike w/o cleats and just the lighter Candies
and/or Smarties, it depends whether you want "emergency" or
everyday usage w/o cleats.

Just to enhance your testamonial, there's a postive
write-up about Mallets at this site:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?...003/news/jun13

Looking at the accompanying picture, they do appear
to be a reasonable compromise (cleats + platforms.)

They don't look very good for cracking walnuts or
pounding nails ;-) But for their intended purpose
as bicycle pedals, I'd be willing to try them.

I guess progress has been made in the quest for
clipless pedals that are also do-able as platforms.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On May 6, 3:46*am, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * (Booker Bense) writes:
If you like Crank Brothers pedals, you'll like mallets. Clipped
in there is no noticable difference between them and
Candies. If you use a really soft thin soled shoe w/o cleats
the "eggbeater" part is uncomfortable after a while[1], but in any typical shoe
you'd use for biking they are unnoticable.

It is possible to ride a bike w/o cleats and just the lighter Candies
and/or Smarties, it depends whether you want "emergency" or
everyday usage w/o cleats.

Just to enhance your testamonial, there's a postive
write-up about Mallets at this site:
* * * *http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?...003/news/jun13

Looking at the accompanying picture, they do appear
to be a reasonable compromise (cleats + platforms.)

They don't look very good for cracking walnuts or
pounding nails *;-) *But for their intended purpose
as bicycle pedals, I'd be willing to try them.

Hey Tom, you could try growing pecans. (Although I haven't had a crop
in about four years now -- six months of extreme drought following the
Easter freeze took care of last year.) I can crack them in my hand,
and then I can use pedals to, well, pedal.



Pat

Tom Keats wrote:
Patrick Lamb writes:

It looks like the mallet pedals, with their larger platform, might be a
good way to go -- the benefits of clipless pedals; walkable shoes, I
think; some free float; and a platform in case I forget the shoes when
packing.

Anybody tried them? Are my catalog fantasy points anywhere near right?

If you like, you could invest $20 or so in a pair of
nondescript VP 196 flatties, and see where that
takes ya. No cleats, no clips. Just plain flatties
that do the trick pretty good for what they are.

Bah, I didn't evolve all this extra cash in my wallet to ride plebian
old flat pedals that *anyone* could use.

If you really want cleated pedals that are do-able as
platforms, IMO nothing beats the old Shimano 636's.

I do *lurve* these pedals. I picked up a used pair last time I hit
Firehouse bicycles in Philadelphia and have been commuting exclusively
on them for quite a while. I think one of my favorite things is even
when I miss clipping in or bounce out of the pedal on a bad landing/bump
I still have plenty of platform to hold on to.

As long as you don't mind having huge, lumpy,
fire engine red pedals on your bike. You could
smash through rotten tree stumps with 'em. 0r
crack walnuts.

They do seem pretty indestructable. Mine are a touch scratched up, I've
been thinking about disassembling them and repainting them.

I went and looked to see if any were on fleabay, but no luck so far.
I'll have to wait I suppose.

--
Dane Buson -
She's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.
-- Mae West