old mountain goat

A few weeks back I tried some very technical terrain that was beyond my current ability. At the time I had the pedals installed on the Yeti and found that I never clipped in all day as I was a bit nervous about the obsticles I was having to navigate.This pretty much led me to decide to give straight platform pedals a try, and my search led me back to Crank Bros.

I bought the 5050 pedals from Jenson USA as they were on sale and they are also located in my hometown so I could get a good look at the pedals before I bought them.

These pedals were the answer I was looking for.  As simple as these are, they made me a better rider. Now I could try hard stuff and bail out if I didnt make it. Riding is fun again.

Engineering wise, these pedals ‘suffer’ from the usual design process at Crank Bros. In other words, they are very good. The size of the pedal is just right. The platform itself is 3 3/4″ x 3 3/4″. They have the normal allen set screws as pins for traction and they are placed in the right spots as your feet never move on accident.

Most will say they are heavy.  Sometimes weight isn’t an issue when comfort is involved. They are listed as around 600g’s (317gm’s each to be exact, or 11.2oz’s each) . They are heavier than either the Candy Sl’s or the Mallet 2′s that I have. But holding them in your hands the difference isn’t too bad.

UPDATE: 9/16/08 After running a Super D race with these pedals I have gone back to the Mallets. To make the Mallets a little easier to get out of (unclip), I played with the angle the cleats were mounted on my shoes. More on this in the .

Please keep in mind these are great pedals. I decided to try the Mallets again as I felt I gave up a bit of time on an extended climb using the 5050′s. Im not sure if it was the weight or the lack of being clipped in, but I will see if I can determine the ultimate reason with a bit of further testing.

Update: 9/24/08 I put the 5050′s back on the bike a few days ago to continue this evaluation. I’m beginning to think that I’m a platform pedal person as I’m much more comfortable with these on the bike.

With regards to the time deficit mentioned earlier, it must have been other factors as I can consistently match my lap times that I did when clipped in on my normal training loop.  It is possible that I ride a little harder with these as my comfort level for taking risks is much higher than when being clipped in. Whatever the reason, these will be staying on the bike for awhile.

By the way, you will enjoy these pedals alot more if you get yourself a pair of skate shoes. They are flat bottomed and narrow and let you move around alot on the pedals. Vans, Etnies, DVS, take your choice, but give a pair a try. The fun factor is worth it.