Tested - Crank Brothers Mallet C's

Leave it up to a company that lists Ferrari as one of its influences to come up with a product as fuctional as it is funky. It’s hard to argue against the fact that Crank Brothers has come up with some of the most unbelievably useful and yet equally beautiful cycling components in years.When the Laguna Beach, CA company unveiled the Eggbeater two years ago, naysayers passed it off as an odd looking pedal too small to be useful for mountain biking. But as reviewers and consumers starting seriously riding the original four-sided Eggbeater, those naysayers quickly faded away as thousands of cross-country and road riders began to realize the benefits of the Crank Bros. product - most notably its light weight and mud shedding ability.


Unfortunately, for those of us who choose plastic armour over lycra, the tiny Eggbeater didn’t offer enough of a platform to be considered useable.

Thankfully that all changed this year when Crank Bros. released it’s next generation of the Eggbeaters, including a pair of platform pedal lines - the Candy and the Mallet. While the colourful Candys do feature a platform, it was the Mallet that caught the attention of downhillers and freeriders - especially those with previous Eggbeater experience.

Having started this season with the ‘02 Eggbeaters on my GT I-Drive Team XC bike and then switching to the ’03 Eggbeater S partway through the summer, I felt I was ready to try swapping the platform pedals off my Norco VPS to test the new Mallet Cs.

The first thing one notices upon the arrival of just about any Crank Bros. pedal is the impressive packaging. Forget a simple cardboard box, the creative company ships most of its pedals in packaging worthy of fine jewelry. The Mallet Cs, which consist of an aluminum platform and a chromoly spindle, come packaged with one pair of cleats, two sets of traction plates, a complete extra set of cleat bolts and cleat spacers.

As with any clip-in pedals, cleat installation is important because the angle of the cleat on your shoe changes the release angles.
My first ride with the Mallets came on a fairly built up shore-style trail with lots of sharp little hills and enough man-made goodness to put the pedals to a proper test. My initial impression after a couple of hours of riding was that the Mallets are definitely harder to get into and out of than with traditional Eggbeaters, but of course the design of the new pedal makes that almost unavoidable.

Compared to platform pedals, having the Mallets made hopping small logs along the trail incredibly easy. Unfortunately that ‘one-with-your-bike’ feeling doesn’t feel so good if you’re on a skinny and fall uncontrollably (much to the amusement of your riding buddies).


After a few rides and a few cleat adjustments clipping in and out definitely became easier. There was enough of a platform that if you didn’t want to be clipped in, you could still transfer power easily enough. My overall impressions of the pedals are that Crank Bros. are definitely on the right track.

While the Mallets might not be ideal for some freeriders, especially those who spend much of their rides high off the ground, downhillers who already used clip-ins will love the Mallets.

Two thumbs up for design and for the concept. I can’t wait to see what improvements are made after another full season of real-life test rides.

Mike's Notes:

I too have been thrashing a set of the Mallet C's since early October and have come away more than impressed with their function and design. These pedals have seen use in mud, snow, dust and just about everything in between and (once dialed in) released consistently and on cue every time.

Wanting to mimick the platform pedals that have been gracing my current rides, I installed the larger plates included with the Mallet. Even using the supplied spacers, entry was a tough negotiation with my old-school flat-soled Answer shoes. After re-installing the smaller plates and keeping the spacers, I found the pedals as consistent in entry as in release. Even spaced, the cleats remain well recessed for those hike-a-bikes and the pedals (though not as nice as the real deal platforms) gripped admirably when ridden unclipped. They kind of look purty too!

A winner right out of the gate!