Crankbrothers Mallet 3 Clipless Pedals

First, I have been riding clipless pedals for a few years and I also used Shimanos SPD system for years on my XC-Bike and for a short while on my Enduro and DH bike.

When it comes to DH or Enduro riding I'm a big fan of Crankbrothers clipless system. If you aren't and your mind is made up it's probably pointless to read on.

Riding them:

Clipping in is a very different feeling from Shimano, it feels much more 'loose' and you get a lot of float. You shouldn't worry, though, as long as you have a fresh set of cleats the pedal holds on to your foot pretty secure. When you install the cleats under your shoes you can choose between a 15° or 20° release angle. I always use the 15° angle and would advise any beginner to do so, I have read on the internet that there are people who use the 20° angle, but I have never tried it, nor do most of my buddies. I can't think of a situation where I accidentally clipped out and thought: "a 20° release angle would have prevented that!", but I rarely clip out accidentally, never with fresh cleats. What did happen is, that a rock hit the underside of the pedal, which released the mechanism. This is a unique feature of the CB system, but it happened a maximum of 3-4 times in the last 4 years.

I like that you can actually ride unclipped for quite a while without losing the pedal. Obviously you can't pull up on the bike, but there's been a lot of occasions over the years where I failed to clip in before a nasty root section and managed to get through thanks to the pedal body and clipped in when things calmed down a bit. This is especially important when you're racing, you get faster and more precise with clipping in, but when you're trying to be on the edge and loose, these things happen. The pedal body and pins is the main reason I prefer CB pedals over Shimano. The pins allow a wide range of adjustment, with my old Shimano shoes they were about 3mm above the pedal body so they would barely touch the shoe , with my newer 5.10 Impact VXi or Specialized shoes they are only about 1mm above the body. With the Shimano shoes my foot was very close to the crank, even with the cleat all the way inboard, with the cranks level it was very narrow to clip the back foot out, it worked but sometimes I would struggle for a moment. With the 5.10 and Specialized shoes this is no problem at all.

The mudclearance is excellent and better than most other pedals, in clay like mud they can stop working, but if you stomp on the pedal a couple of times even the stickiest mud should just drop through the pedal.

Durability:

My biggest criticism is, that the brass cleats are very soft and expensive, compared to Shimano. There are two DH races on consecutive weekends I did the last two years, where you have to push your bike for about 1-200m on a gravel road to get to the start. After those races my cleats are pretty much ready for replacement. If you don't walk much you can probably get through more than half a season.

As with any CB product, the pedals aren't the toughest. That said, the pair of Mallet 3 pedals on my Enduro bike goes into its 4th season now. They look very beaten up, 2-3 pins were ripped out of the inner plastic body and there is some play on the axle, but they still work like a treat. You should pull them apart and regrease more than once a season and there's also a service kit with new seals and bearings for a very fair price available. You shouldn't wait too long to replace the bearings or they will wear out the axle. So if you treat them well they aren't unreliable at all.

I also used to have a pair of Mallet 2 pedals and actually preferred them as the bushing didn't wear out as fast and needed less servicing, so I encourage to give those a trie.

I would prefer a longer axle (Q factor), like the Mallet DH has, but with the smaller body of the Mallet 3. The Mallet E comes close to that I think, so I'll give those a try when my Mallet 3 pedals fail, but they're still going strong.