Any idea what the threaded knob that comes with the cleats is for? It looks like a small bottle top with the thread on the outside and a flower shaped edge!

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

Yup - bump side down.

"flower-shaped thing" is the grease injector for your pedals. It screws into the outboard side of the pedal body, and you need to use it regularly if you don't want to have the pedals fall apart.


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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Fredly, thanks for confirming that. I shall now put them on the boots. I shall also have to make use of the grease injector over the weekend!

Cheers.

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

Not saying that you don't shouldn't grease the pedals, but I haven't for two years on my MTB and they still are the best working pedals I've ever owned. Crank Bro's rock.

"Not saying that you don't shouldn't grease the pedals, but I haven't for two years on my MTB and they still are the best working pedals I've ever owned. Crank Bro's rock. "


you're either lucky, you don't ride much, or it never rains where you live.

I have eleven sets of Crank Brothers pedals, and all of them need to have the bearing//bushing sets replaced, or simply be thrown out. On average, if I am lucky, I will go through 2 sets of these pedals in a single 4-month cross season (4 this season.)

I still use the Crank Bros pedals, but "sturdy" they ain't; there was a great post from Simon Zahner on the WW cross board, where someone asked why he had stopped using them; his response was something along the lines of "I would use them if someone gave me a new set every month." I'm pretty much at that point myself; as soon as my supply of free pedals runs out, I'm switching to something else.

For as long as they last, I really like these pedals, but they wear out really fast (at least in the wet,) and when re-built they don't ever seem to function quite as well as they did fresh from the factory. If you grease them regularly, they last longer, but I still don't get a full season out of a set.

Straight out of the box, these are my favorite Mtn.Bike pedals...


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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Huh. I must be lucky with this pair. I rode them hard for one year, the past year I've not ridden them much (started triathlon). I hardly ever ride in wet/muddy conditions - not a fan.

They are I think second from top of the line, if that makes any difference.

Have you tried the Looks? I bought a set and am using them with my CB cleats. I don't have enough miles on them yet to know how long they'll last. However, they engage properly and should be more reliable since I think they have bearings rather than bushings. I love the simplicity of CB pedals and they were great while I worked since I could commute in snow and clip in and out when necessary much more easily with the SPDs I used for years before the CBs. On the other hand, I too find they don't last very long.

I would never ride the Look pedal.

Look replace the bushing on the C Bros. pedal design with a bearing set, and to do this they need to bring down the axle diameter rather significantly; perhaps not coincidentally, I have seen more than one of the Look Pedals break at exactly this point on the axle. Too scary for me.



*Edit*

Ya' know, upon reflection, it occurs to me I should append something to this. Thinking back, I can't remember if I actually measured the axle diameter on the broken look pedals I saw, or if it was more a case of "gee... these all broke at the bearing seat; sure looks like a smaller diameter axle than the crank bros." This was several years ago, and I honestly can't remember!

So, in the interests of fairness, I can't honestly say that the Look has a smaller diameter axle at or because of the bearing, I can only say that I remember that to be the case, and that I have seen several of these pedals break right at this point, and therefore choose not to ride them - and heck, who knows, maybe Look has changed the design since then!


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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/