What is the best mountain biking pedal?

Question

I want to start using clipless pedals and I'm interested in what opinions other riders have on the brands. I am leaning toward Time Atac. What do you think?

Answer 1

I've been riding Nashbar clipless pedals for years, never had a problem with them.  The Time's look pretty good though.  

Answer 2

I'm very partial to Crank Brothers (all of them except the Smarty and the ultra cheap model of the Eggbeaters).   They're a fantastic company and have GREAT service if you ever need it.   Some people don't like the eggbeaters...in that case look at the Acid or Candy models.    

Time makes great stuff, too, and nobody that I know has ever had any trouble with them other than peanut-butter mud clogging them (not a problem with the Crank Bros. design).  The cleats for Time and Shimano pedals will last a little bit longer than the Crank Bros. too, but it's not like the Crank Bros. ones are crappy or anything.  

One thing that the Time Atac and all Crank Bros. pedals do NOT have that many other pedals do have is adjustable release tension.  When I first tried out eggbeaters several years ago I thought I'd miss that feature, but I really don't.  I've ridden a couple different Atac models too, and didn't find it to be an issue with them either.  Most Shimano pedals (and other brands) have a small s***w that you can adjust to change the tension.  As a beginner, it can be nice to have that feature for the first 5 or 10 rides it takes you to get comfy with clipless......after that you'll set it somewhere and forget about it.  

Lots of good pedals out there!    :o)