Improving entry with Eggbeaters?

I have Eggbeaters (with easy release cleats) and I have a hard time getting into them in a hurry.
My friend has eggbeaters (with normal cleats) and says that with a little cleat adjustment, he basically only needs to step on them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for improving pedal entry with Eggbeaters?

I didn’t know eggbeaters had different types of cleats so I don’t know which ones I had. I found it was just practice, but I did like them. I had Look Keo cleats and I never liked them. My bike shop recommended eggbeaters as an easier option. I felt much safer clipping in and out.

I liked them because you could ride when you got going again without clipping in. It gave me time to clip in and not rush. In the end it became second nature.

After a few years I moved back to road cleats.

I don’t have eggbeaters but crankbrothers pedals with a platform but I think the mechanism is the same. It took me quite a while getting used to them (and a few falls) moreso than spd, spd-sl and look keo but now they are just like any clipless system

I tried the CB candy pedals for ~2 years (after hearing many positive stories). But I never really got used to them… Maybe because I started using SPD 25+ years ago, maybe because it’s just a bit different, maybe some other reason. But it still took me (after 2 years) more effort to clip in, more misses, more fumbling. And I also could not get used to the gradual unclipping, there is no defined release point, you’re just out after a certain angle…

So after 2 years, I decided to go back to spd on my new bike and I love it, never anything else :smiley:

(so the moral of the story, I guess it’s mostly personal preference and what you are used to)

Practice for sure. When do you need to get in them in a hurry, are you doing CX? I’ve been on eggbeaters for 5 years and race XC, so the start of the race is the only time this is a concern.

In any case, make sure you are stepping down and pushing forward. Don’t just step down. Think about setting/grabbing the front edge of the cleat then stepping down into it at a 45 instead of a 90 degree angle.

For race starts, I always clip the foot (left) that I’m less proficient with as well. For practicing, every ride you do make sure to clip and unclip numerous times throughout the ride until it becomes second nature. Spend 5 mins before your ride hopping on and off then quickly clipping in.

Check the spacing from the bottom of your shoe to the pedal. Perhaps you need to add the supplied spacer under your cleat to give more clearance. I bought new shoes last year and needed to add the spacer to clip in properly. My old shoes were fine without the spacer.

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What wjwlitespeed said. I actually made an additional spacer/shim and that was the trick. Needlessly difficult to clip in before.

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This.

Similarly, the lugs on the bottom of your shoes could be interfering as well and may need to get shaved back.

The issue is trying to get clipped back in before gnarly trail sections on my XC hardtail with a high post. lol.

I’ve been using them for a year already. They’re a crapshoot. It might be because one of the two wings is much smaller than the other one, so there’s a 50/50 chance you will be able to easily get your cleat aligned properly.

Pulling back into the cleat is sometimes easier, but it takes more force than you would expect.

According to the spacer measuring tool, my shoes don’t need a spacer. I also worry that using one would make the cleat scrape on concrete even worse than it does now.

I wonder if maybe I don’t need a spacer, despite what the sizing tool told me, since the wings are wearing a grove into my sole behind my cleat.

I didn’t find eggbeaters / candy’s to have good feeling since the mechanism can move relative to where the shoe side lugs make contact. You just push down and hope.

If you’re looking for float, give Look X-track with the Easy Cleat a try. I found this to be the easiest to find and have decent free float.

I didn’t need a spacer. Adding a spacer just reduced the release force to a ludicrously low level.

You can get some Crank Brothers Shoe Shields to stop this happening. I’ve used them for years with quite a few different systems as they not only stop shoe damage, but also give a more floaty feel.

Once the Grove gets quite deep it can have affect the float and release of the pedals.

Mike

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