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review
Pedals
Crank Brothers Candy 1 pedalCrank Brothers Candy XC pedals

Crank Brothers Candy 1 pedal

6
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published May 5, 2011

4
£45.99

VERDICT:

6
10
Decent budget pedals for mixed use, watch out for the cleat bolts though
Weight: 
270g
Contact: 
www.2pure.co.uk
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The Candy X is about the cheapest Crank Brothers pedal you can buy: they're £45 RRP but you can have them for a lot less than that online. Our test pair have put up with plenty of abuse despite only being resin-bodied, but watch out for the cleat bolts and take good care of the bearings.

At the heart of all the Candy range is Crank Brothers' 4-sided Eggbeater pedal, but with a small platform added to aid stability which effectively makes them 2- rather than 4-sided. The Eggbeater mechanism is free to rotate within the body and engaging the cleat is normally fuss-free. Once you're in you have either 15 or 20 degrees of float, depending on which way round you fit the cleat. That's more than most systems so if you suffer from knee problems they're worth considering for that.

You're not held as tightly as a road cleat, or even an SPD, but although the contact can feel a little vague at times I never once pulled the cleat out of the mechanism when yanking on the pedal. You have to twist your ankle quite a long way to disengage, which is worth remembering the first time you roll up to the lights...

Be careful when fitting the cleats, as the bolts are pretty low quality and it's easy to round them off even with a good Allen key. You'll need to pay close attention to the bearings too, they're fine when they're adjusted properly but they can work loose over time. they're pretty easy to service - there's one bushing and one cartridge - and taking the spindle out gives you an opportunity to slap some grease in there. If you do break the Candys, they're warrantied for 2 years.

Weighing in at just 270g they're certainly light, and with the exception of the cleat bolts they're decent quality for the money. They work as a road pedal and they're good off-road too, so if you just one one platform for all your bikes it's one to consider. It's fair to say the feel of the Eggbeater pedal divides opinion somewhat, so I'd give them a go on a friend's bike if you can before jumping in.

Verdict

Decent budget pedals for mixed use, watch out for the cleat bolts though

road.cc test report

Make and model: Crankbrothers Candy 1 pedal

Size tested: Black

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

spindle forged scm435 chromoly steel

body one piece composite

wings stamped steel

spring 300 series stainless steel

inner bearing bushing

outer bearing cartridge

cleat premium brass cleat

shims included

release angle 15' to 20'

warranty 2 years

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
6/10

Point off for the cleat bolts, other than that they're not bad for the money

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
6/10

cleat bolts and resin cage aren't that sturdy, but they're fine for road use

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10

Very light

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

They're not cheap at RRP but you can get 'em for less online

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Pretty well, the Eggbeater platform isn't my favourite but it does the job just fine

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Light weight, lots of float

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Clipped-in feel a bit vague, cleat bolts are a bit shoddy

Did you enjoy using the product? Mostly

Would you consider buying the product? Maybe

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe

Overall rating: 6/10

About the tester

Age: 38  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Crank Brothers Candy 1 pedal
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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4 comments

Avatar
Wardy74 | 12 years ago
0 likes

Re the comment about the bolt heads. I found that a slightly larger imperial allen key(found in cheap multi-bit tool kits) fits better than a metric one, even if the hole is rounded-out.

Avatar
risb98 | 13 years ago
0 likes

15 quid chainreaction cycles, no brainer really

Avatar
Chuffy | 13 years ago
1 like

Ah, so that explains why the old style Candys have been on Chain reaction at 70% off. I bought two pairs. 4

My whole fleet has either Candys or the Quattro road pedal. I've heard bad thing about Eggbeater reliability but so far this fat knacker hasn't managed to break them, and I'm hard on kit.

Avatar
bristoltraffic | 13 years ago
0 likes

Candy pedals are good in mud, but a key issue with them is when they fail (i.e. when the eggbeater part breaks), they fail on all four clipin options, leaving you with a pedal that doesn't work. Whereas SPDs will fail on one side at a time.

Also: the bushing is mediocre. At least you can hook up a grease gun and lube the pedals, but when you service them you realise the bushing is pretty low quality.

I use them in winter on the MTB for the mud, but with shimano bolts.

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