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As time permits, in-depth musings on myriad subjects will be posted. Abbreviated adages will be announced via Twitter.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Crank It!

I'd been fighting the urge for a while, but, today, I decided to actually purchase new pedals for my TT bike. It's the perfectly logical thing to do the day before a race: Change something. However, this change was not entirely unfounded.

For several races, I'd been wanting to improve my bike mount/dismount, but the Time Impacts were not permitting me to do so. Being a single-sided pedal, and with the Sidi tri shoes having their slick, carbon base, it was difficult to hop on & off the bike without slipping. The Eggbeater pedals I'd installed on my commuter seemed to remedy this, but the eggbeater lacked the broadness of base I needed for truly putting the hammer down.

Enter the Crank Brothers Quattro SL.

After much research and drooling at the upper end of the spectrum, I decided to give the Quattro pedal a try. Given my limited budget, I opted for the SL model, as its weight was comparable to the Impacts I'd ridden with on my TT bike for so long. A series of phone calls found a pair on the other side of the world, but N--- was willing to take a ride with me, as long as I was willing to take a ride with her when we returned from the shop. Twist my arm a little harder, why don't you?

Twelve seconds short of eternity later (gad, I hate the North side), we were back on my side of town, picked up my "packet," which is to say, my race number and swim cap, for Spenco and were back at home. The Quattros were quick to set up on the bike, as were the cleats, so after ten or fifteen minutes, N--- & I were rolling. And were we rolling.

Since my re-entry into cycling eight or so years ago, I've tried a lot of pedals -- just ask the guys at Bicycle Heaven. Literally, every pedal system on the market. I settled on Time, although the Campagnolo Pro-Fit system ran a close second. Both of those now get bumped down a notch, as the Quattros are one rocking pedal system. Why? Well, there's...
  • Low weight (yeah, the SLs are on the heftier side, but at a C-note for a pair, you cannot do any better at that price)
  • Double-sided entry for easy entry -- exit is quick & painless, as well
  • Broad platform
  • Rock-solid locking -- and with decent float, too!
  • 3-hole cleat system offers decent walking (or running, for racing scenarios)
  • Cleats are cross-platform compatible, so I can use any shoe with either my commuter or TT bike. Nice!
In all, I don't think I've ever been more impressed with a pedal system. I'll contemplate a set of the titanium-spindled jobs for the C-dale (the Quattro Ti feature a red spring, as opposed to the SL's blue), providing the SLs hold up well enough in tomorrow's race. In the meantime, I need to eat. Tomorrow is going to be a busy, busy day. Thanks for reading.

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