Crank Brothers Egg Beater 3 Pedals

While the youth have never known an era without Crank Brothers' mud-shedding Eggbeater 3 Pedals, the old guard remembers the times when really sloppy trails made clipless pedals as useful as… well, they weren't useful. At all. As in you may as well have screwed some potatoes into your crank arms and just pushed your bike home. The aptly named Egg Beaters feature a wide-open structure that not only dumps muck, but also doubles the entry points of standard mountain pedals to four.

Like the original Eggbeater SL, the Eggbeater 3's body and wings are made of stainless steel to exacting tolerances; however, in a change from the SL, the 3's spindle is forged from super-strong chromoly steel, meaning that anyone can use these as there's no weight limit. The come-all-ye ease of use extends to clipping in, too, as the four-sided entry mentioned above places Egg Beaters among the easiest pedal systems to clip in and out of. Thanks to the four-sided wing of the Eggbeater, it's virtually impossible to not clip in with lightning quickness as soon as the bottom of your shoe hits the pedal, especially since the Egg Beater wing rotates either forward or backward under the pressure of your foot to quickly and smoothly engage the cleat.

The included brass cleats recess flush with the tread on the bottom of your shoes for easy walking, and they're designed for two release angles (15 or 20 degrees) depending on which cleat you bolt to which shoe. Crank Brothers recommends the 15-degree setting if you're new to clipless, but going for the gusto with the 20-degree configuration will allow more body english on the bike without the worry of an accidental release.

Igus LL-glide bearings keep the Egg Beater 3 Pedals spinning smoothly and represent a marked improvement compared to the bushings used on OG Egg beaters. When the time does come for an overhaul, you can take solace in the fact that nobody else's pedals are as easy to service as Crank Brothers'. The pedals include protective shims and all the hardware you'll need for installation.