Crankbrothers Candy 7 pedals are designed for XC mountain biking, trail and gravel riding, travel and trekking. In fact aside from the more gravity orientated disciplines they are good for all riding styles. At their heart they feature a four sided rotating sprung clip system with easy engagement and superb clearing abilities. The Candy 7’s come in 4 colours and are easily serviceable but do they stack up to the very best MTB pedals? Read on.
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Crankbrothers Candy 7 - Technical Details
Crankbrothers created the original Egg Beater pedal back in 2001 shocking the pedal world with its mud clearing ability and four-sided clip in feature. Looking distinctly like the kitchen tool they are named after, the rotating multi release bar system has been the centre of all Crankbrothers clip in pedals since. When you are onto a good thing why change it?
Unlike the more XC race orientated platformless Egg Beaters relatives, the Candy 7’s have a small alloy platform to provide more support for your shoe and a more comfortable feel over long rides. This platform should also be easy to ‘balance’ on in a tight spot without being fully clipped in - something the original Egg Beater doesn’t offer.
The 7’s differ from their more budget siblings by incremental changes in their manufacturing materials. The 7’s have the same size platform as all Candys but they have smart silver centre lines and with relief logos’s and come in solid black, red or two tone in pink or blue which is what we have here. The actual shape of the body is different too, with a champhered edge with a polished finish.
It’s not just visual differences, the 7 gets a different grade of steel for its wing material. Candy 2’s get stamped steel with whereas both the 3 and 7 models get an upgrade to cast 17-4PH Stainless wings. Both the 3 and 7 also receive more durable Max Enduro bearings and hex end cap to help with service accessibility.
You could be forgiven for missing the difference between the 3 and 7 on first glance apart from the aluminium body shape and colour - the traction pads. On the 7 these are integrated into the design as opposed to the snap on version on the 3 which Rach comments in her review were prone to come off in use.
Similar in setting up to the Hope Union RC pedals, Crankbrothers require you to do a little bit of measuring and testing to get the best feel with your shoes. There is not one simple fitting system like Time, you need to be aware of different depth cleat boxes and CB provide instructions and a cut out tool to check the cleat box depth and choose which spacers you need for best connection to the pedal.
Crankbrothers Candy pedals do not offer any tension adjustement for the user, rather offering a pre-set spring tension from their steel wings. Instead they offer multiple cleat choices for different clip in and release angle experiences and come with a set of 15 degree release angle cleats with six degree float in the box. If you want a tighter more locked in experience they offer a Silver cleat with 15 degree release but with zero float. If you want a looser experience, easier to get out of, they offer a 10 degree release with or without float. We're testing the stock set up.
The Candy 7 cost £180 and weigh in at 324g for a pair (just 4g over the stated weight) excluding the cleats, bolts or any extras. Crankbrothers offers a five year warranty with all of its pedals.
Crankbrothers Candy 7 - Performance
Setting up was simple on both the two shoes i’ve used to test the pedals - Five Ten Trail Cross Pro Clip-In’s and Fizik Vento Ferox. Using the print and cut out cleat fitting tool it was simple question of checking the depth and fitted the relevant amount of spacers if any required inbetween the cleat and the shoe sole.
I also chose to fit a set of Crankbrothers Shoe Shields to protect the carbon soles of my Fizik shoes which at 0.8mm thick is pretty thin, but it could have made a difference to the pedal / shoe interface but luckily it didn’t. I have replaced the ones in the pictures above as they were very worn - just goes to show you should look at your cleats more regularly. With the Five Ten Trail shoe I mounted the cleat directly to the sole without need for spacers.
Spacers are not required if when the shoe is clipped in and the sole of the shoe sits flat against the body of the pedal. It should not be floating above the pedal body and only connecting to the wings and neither should the cleat be so deep in the tread that engagement is hard to achieve.
It is not only possible to space the cleat up away from the cleat box sole but you can actually effectively lower it by adding fatter (2mm) traction pads to the pedal body. On the 7 this is more complicated than the 2 & 3 pedals as you need to take off the end cap and slide the old 1mm pads out of the their groves in the pedal body - but once swapped they will stay in place.
Once the set up is done, clipping in and out is simply a question of pushing your foot forward and slightly down on the pedal and you’re treated to a soft click. It’s definitely much quieter than Time’s sharp clack and it feels softer - requiring less effort to clip in to me. I’m using the standard six degree float cleats and in the easy 15 degree release angle set up. I use the six degree float which means I can twist my foot a little in and out on without clipping out which is ideal for me to help prevent knee twist issues.
Regardless of the different style shoes I use on my gravel bike or mountain bike the Candy 7s work really well. The engagement on the Five Ten shoe is so easy, it’s daft, probably due to the larger grippier sole and larger cleat box that makes locating the actual cleat the easier than with the narrower carbon race shoe sole of the Fizik’s Vento Ferrox.
I’ve never managed to clog a pair of Crankbrothers clipless pedals and these Candy 7’s are no exception. Whatever the crud on the ground the four bar sprung mechanism simple rolls over as you push down and forward and forces the muck though the open mechanism and out of the way. Definitely a positive over many of solid body clipless pedals on the market.
I’ve not had reason to replace the bearings in this set yet, but should I need to do it its a fairly straightforward operation due to easy access provided by a hex headed end cap. In fact Crankbrothers actually publiush a service schedule in approx hours ridden for you to follow with cleaning and replacement options marked out. It’s all in very simple easy to follow pictures and instructions making long term relationships with the pedals possible and even likely which in turn improves their value for money.
I think it would be fair to say Crankbrothers has worked hard on providing the best service information and support for their pedals and it shows. It's definitely better than others in this regard especially Time, sorry SRAM - you have a long way to go with serviceability.
I have no gripes at all with this pedal, it spins smoothly and offers just enough of a platform to provide a comfortable place to push on hour after squeak free hour. The cleat might be a little soft, just like Time, compared to Shimano but they have enough float for my knees.
Crankbrothers Candy 7 - Verdict
Crankbrothers Candy 7 pedal faces stiff competition from all the pedals listed plus more and whilst Shimano has dominanted the market since the introduction of the SPD pedal, Crankbrothers has successfully carved out the number two spot. Competition from its own Candy 3 at £150 could be seen as potentially damaging to the 7’s sales but the integrated traction pad is a much better solution than the clip on version on the 3, so for that alone the 7 is a better pedal.
Weight and price wise, they are both more expensive and heavier than the bulk of their compatriots; Time XC 8 weighs 290g and costs £151, Hope Union RC comes in at a very close 322g but costs £150 and Shimano XTR’s have a claimed weight of 310g and undercut everybody at £140.
Only the slightly soft (feel) and quiet clip in of the mechanism marks against them as it’s easy to miss the soft click and think you not attached to the bike. Luckily the release is as easy and I’ve not crashed due to this. I would prefer a slightly louder snap as you engage with the mechanism but perhaps i’m being picky or just deaf.
Crankbrothers Candy 7 pedals are very good off-road mountain bike, gravel and adventure pedals. Offering enough of a platform to provide comfort for your foot on long days in the saddle and offering superior mud clearing duties from its unique Egg Beater system. The Candy 7s are simple to use, strip down and maintain which should result in a long and rewarding relationship for ist owner.
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