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Crank Brothers’ Mallet DH/Race Pedal Gets Official, Now Shipping

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Crank Brothers' Mallet DH/Race Pedal Gets Official, Now Shipping

Originally teased to us back in August, Crank Brothers’ redesigned Mallet DH/Race pedal is now official, and headed to a shop near you. Built specifically with input form some of the best World Cup Downhill racers, the Mallet DH addresses issues like wider platforms, longer spindles, more traction and better mud clearance. The original Mallet has been on the scene for years, but when Crank Brothers redesigned the Mallet in 2011 it featured a slimmer body that became very popular with the All Mountain crowd, but left the downhillers wanting the wider platform of the original. Rather than redesign or replace the Mallet that has become so popular for AM duties, Crank Brothers is offering the Mallet DH/Race as an all new option that sits next to the Mallet 1-3 in Crank Brothers’ line up.

Continued…

Crank Brothers' Mallet DH/Race Pedal Gets Official, Now Shipping

Most of the riders on the original Mallets already thought Crank Brothers had a good thing going, so instead of reinventing the wheel, er – pedal, CB improved on it with new features. In order to improve mud clearance, the pedal body is now more open which also reduces weight. Traction has also been improved with the addition of more traction pins – two more per side. To accommodate flat riding shoes and improve clearance of the shoe to the crank arms, the spindles of the Mallet DH/Race are 5mm wider per pedal, resulting in a 10mm increase in q-factor. Even though the spindle is longer, the new spindle tests 50% stronger than the original. Finally, the new construction of the pedal should allow for better sealing of the pedal’s internals resulting in greater durability.

During the development of the Mallet DH, Crank Brothers worked with a bunch of the best DH riders around including Bryn Atkinson, Danny Hart, Tracey Hannah, Duncan Riffle, Emmeline Ragot, Fabien Cousinié, Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat, Andrew Neethling, Mick Hannah, Myriam Nicole, Steve Smith, Damien Spagnolo, Justin Leov, among others. Definitely some fast company.

Crank Brothers' Mallet DH/Race Pedal Gets Official, Now Shipping

 

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Steve Martin's Grampa Baby
Steve Martin's Grampa Baby
11 years ago

Funny, the only part that appears to be revamped over the last generations is the body, and that’s the only part I haven’t broke multiple times. The broken spindles are the scariest. 50% stronger than the first generation? NOT ENOUGH.

The wings look the same, the springs look the same, and the skinny diameter of the spindle that inserts into the wings looks the same.

I love the feel/function of CB pedals, but someone ELSE out in the field can pay to do their R&D.

I need more reassurance than marketing words to guarantee these things will not break.

KJR
KJR
11 years ago

Boy, Crank Brothers stuff always looks so good. Then you use it…

Ploutre
Ploutre
11 years ago

How come $140 = 140€…….. hate that ‘over-the-atlantic’ exchange rate …. :/

Grunto
Grunto
11 years ago

KJR – Right?

BT
BT
11 years ago

At least CB has great customer service!

greg
greg
11 years ago

they have great customer service because they have so much practice. same with sram.

Joshua Murdock
11 years ago

Regardless of what I think about the pedals, I have a lot of respect for a company that reads comments on articles about its products and then responds to them. That’s really cool.

Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

I sweared off buying anything from Crank Brothers, no matter how good it looks in a catalog.

And those pedals do look great.

Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

… I mean, I broke half a dozen egg-beaters – kept buying as I loved the function.. Opium headset had an internal sharp edge that ate my steerer. Foam grips tore up in two weeks (but they are nice and lite). Joplin went dead twice, replaced and sold it off. I just lost trust.

fanboy
fanboy
11 years ago

Joshua Murdock – Interesting how Crank Brothers read the comments here and replied (to defend their pedals).

Strange though, how they have stayed noticeably quiet regarding the wave of negative comments about the latest failure in their attempts to design a dropper post.

Makes you wonder huh…

JMH
JMH
11 years ago

They look a lot sexier than previous versions! Might finally give these a go.

Steve Martin's Grampa Baby
Steve Martin's Grampa Baby
11 years ago

Thank you for responding. It’s good to see you’re listening. I love the function of your products. Once you work out the service life issues, I am confident you will have customers for life.

nick
nick
11 years ago

don’t care, as long has they come in pink

captain shredfinder
captain shredfinder
11 years ago

crankbrothers AKA junkbrothers

ds
ds
11 years ago

Heavy and doesn’t look strong. Better out with Spesh in this category.

We had many troubles with CB products in many domains. Not saying that all products are bad.

But my 2cent is : avoid.

ds
ds
11 years ago

@ CrankBrothers : Since you read our comments, will you fix my TWO droppers that are leaking oil in my garage that doesn’t lock when you lift your bike by the saddle ? Very dangerous. I thought of giving them for free but I cannot find any day in the year without empathy to give this terrible product to anyone.

If someone still wants the Joplins I’ll give them for free. Even to my enemy.

Daver
Daver
11 years ago

why make them Red? i mean come on. if you are going to do fancy colours, do some normal ones that don’t make you look like a 1995 throwback.

Surly Shawn
Surly Shawn
11 years ago

My only complaint about CB pedals are the colors. I have matching pedals for all my bikes except for the Moonlander. I would love a black & blue combo. Other than that, I have no complaints. My oldest pair (Candy) is over ten years old with no problems whatsoever.

I would try a dropper if I could afford one.

Hey, ds…how do I get you my shipping info privately?

Rob
Rob
11 years ago

as someone who has suffered through all the eggbeater/candy/eggbeater problems and more than my fair share of Maverick/Joplin post explosions, i would like to offer an alternative point of view to the ranting about CB. 1st, and most important: what are your other options in a dh-specific clipless pedal? Shimano m424? yeah, right. The point is, CB is a small company, working hard to win in a world where Shimano could buy them out hundreds if not thousands of times over. They look to a need in the market, and go after that shit. So, props to a company that produces something everyone else will not touch, probably because its not really a very big market segment. Second–with respect to other CB pedals, specifically using in xc and cx applications: for sure the shimano pedals are more durable. Hands down, an SPD is the durable answer. Ride and race those in the heavy mud all season, though, and you sure will take another look at CB–even if you occasionally have a pedal failure–because upwards of 80% of the time on SPDs can be considered pedal failure when riding in some conditions. If it is dry and rocky where you live and/or you ride 75million miles a year, go shimano. if it is muddy/adverse conditions where you live, buy Crank Brothers and put your spare change in the piggy bank so you can buy a new set of pedals every season. And the seatposts? Big big props to Maverick for bringing the dropper post into the modern age; what was that, like 2005? Your other option was what, GravityDropper? Jesus… Again, pretty big product issues, but Maverick was like a 4 man operation back then. Then, CB buys the technology and is still ahead of the curve by 3 or 4 years. Now, SRAM throws shit-loads of money at the problem, KS jumps in, and boom–the Joplin and Kronolog is judged as a POS. C’mon, of course that was gonna happen: Market need identified by small nimble company, medium fish eats small fish, big fish eats medium fish, and soon everyone thinks dropper posts are as easy to make as flipping pancakes at the local Waffle House.
I guess the point is people should really be better informed about the realities of the bike industry, and then they will have more realistic expectations from their purchases.

Meaty Yorblast
Meaty Yorblast
11 years ago

M424? No thanks. I went from CB to Time Z’s. Never looked back.

Joe
Joe
11 years ago

Time ATAC supremacy. Nearly identical feel, more sole contact, similar mud shredding, all for a slight weight penalty. I work in a shop, and I bought a pair of 10 year old Aliums from a customer for $20 because I wanted a cheap pair for my commuter and they’re still going fine 1 year later. Every pair of Eggbeaters I’ve ever owned I’ve snapped a wing on within 2 years of running them, even on my commuter.

Mindless
Mindless
11 years ago

Gravity Dropper and AMP had been before Maverick, and those posts last. AMP was a one man operation. I run mine for four year, no issues. Tried for some clingier Joplin and it failed. “Jesus”? As in what? As being much better at what it does?

Kronolog is judged a failure because it fails, repeatedly, as it is well documented on the web. Not because KS “jumped in”. I do not think KS is bigger than Crank Brothers. Probably smaller.

dominatorsblow
dominatorsblow
11 years ago

made of edam. word

jlie
jlie
11 years ago

My first set of crank brothers pedals were cro-mo egg beaters. That was 7 years ago, and they’re still going strong (even though they’re totally brown with rust), and I’ve never serviced them. Best 40 bucks I’ve ever spent.

trevron73
trevron73
11 years ago

My bike has Crank brothers wheels so light so sexy and a great noise from rear wheel pick up, they are as flexy as my old wheels that are 2 k heavy so -2k same flex = stronger . my Kronolog post is epic ,its well documented the joplin has issues that can be addressed by the importers help , i have a iodine 11 saddle that can handle 9 hours in the saddle. haters will all ways hate ,riders will allways ride , ride more hate less ,and if Crank Brothers make it i will buy it xxx

trevron73
trevron73
11 years ago

Just read a few views on kronolog off various web sites, i dont under stand , i bought a £240 pounds air filled mechanically operated dropper post , so if i ride in the wet and mud do i – A, wipe regrease/lubricate or ,- B jet wash and leave it answer me this , would you leave your smart phone out in the rain ? same cost ? just saying ?

dtox
dtox
10 years ago

I’ll take them in black please.

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