Crankbrothers Mallet DH Race Pedal

Product Information

I’ve been riding the Mallet DH pedals for a couple years now. Before the Mallet E pedals were introduced, I rode the Mallet DH pedals on all of my bikes. Now that I have had the chance to ride these Mallet E pedals, I think they will be staying on my trail bike full time and don’t see why they wouldn’t make their way to the downhill bike as well. The function of the simple Eggbeater mechanism remains the same, with four-sided engagement from the stainless steel wings. The mechanism rotates independently of the platform, which can feel odd at first, but is easy enough to get used to. Combined with the two gaping holes in the pedal body, this rotatable mechanism means the Mallet dumps mud exceptionally well. Pair the Mallet E with the right kind of shoes and spend a little time setting it up, and you’ll get an impressively secure and stable pedal for rowdier riding. Tech Specs: Crankbrothers Mallet E LS pedal

The biggest problem with release from the Mallet 3 is the shoes you are likely to wear with these pedals, which can be so wide in the forefoot that they hit the crank arm at certain angles, preventing a full release. Once your cleats and the edges of the shoe break-in this will become less of a problem. Beware that with a new pair of Mallet 3s, new cleats, and a fresh pair of Five Ten Hellcats, you might find yourself falling over in front of your buddies. Eight removable pins are in place on each side, and there's plenty of room around the clip-in mechanism to prevent mud from building up. This pedal has long been the daily downhill pedal for a number or our testers. We think it works just as well on an eight inch downhill bike as on a six inch enduro bike. The platform gives the Mallet 3 an advantage for the more gravity-oriented branches of mountain biking, but it isn't overly cumbersome or heavy for grinding uphill. ValueThe Crank Brothers Mallet Trail pedal takes the successful and well-proven recipe of the Mallet E and Mallet DH, and shrinks it down to an impressively svelte pedal that boasts a class-leading weight. Traction grooves are machined into the body, and each side gets eight adjustable steel grub pins. The cromoly steel spindle is longer than other Crank Brothers pedals, which gives a wider 57mm Q-factor for a more stable stance on the bike. The increased clearance between bulky shoes and the crank arms also reduces the chance of jamming a foot when trying to unclip. The Mallet’s platform measures 91mm long x 78mm wide. If you haven’t gelled with the Eggbeater mechanism in the past, your experience is likely to be much the same with the Crank Brothers Mallet Trail pedals. Inner bearing: igus LL-glide bearinghas been exclusively formulated for crankbrothers. It performs in even the most adverse conditions out on the trails When not clipped-in, the internal mechanism stands slightly proud, popping its head out of the platform, which makes it easier to locate when clipping-in. Once found, the cage rotates to lie in the same plane as the mechanism. It’s a great system that we’re surprised more companies don’t use.

You can also adjust your release angle by the way you install the cleats on your shoes. If you put the cleat with the indented dot on your right shoe you will get a 15 degree release angle, whereas if the cleat with the dot goes on your left shoe providing a 20 degree release. Because of the problem of shoe/crank arm interference we mentioned above we recommend you go with 15 degrees if you are running these pedals with beefy shoes like Hellcats or Minnars. Weight The traction pad feature first seen on the Mallet E has also been carried over to the Mallet DH, which consists of a removable, rectangular piece of polyurethane that sits on each side of the clip-in mechanism. There are different pad heights available, allowing riders to customize their pedals to work perfectly with their shoe of choice. You can also alter the float (natural foot rotation while you ride) and release angle (the point at which the shoe disengages) by swapping around the cleats. The default cleats give a 6 degree float and a 15 degree exit angle, but you can increase that to 20 degrees for more wiggle room by swapping the left cleat to the right shoe and vice versa. You can also buy cleats that give zero float and/or a narrower 10 degree release angle, though it feels less likely that trail and enduro riders would want either of those things. Verdict

Double seal systemcombines a double lip internal seal and a new external seal to keep water and debris from entering the pedal There is a vast choice of mountain bike clipless pedals available to buy, some are good for all-round trail riding, some are more suited to cross-country riding whilst others are aimed squarely at gravity, enduro or downhill riding. Between us at off.road.cc we've tested quite a variety and have listed the best in test here. The Mallet Trails are a decent pedal, but I think that they're always going to suffer in comparison to their bigger and burlier siblings. The problem is that they don't offer support through the platform, and are more reliant on the traction pads. This means that if you're riding anything that includes a lot of rider input, you're going to want to have the 2 mm traction pads. However, the trade-off is a more vague sensation of getting clipped in and out of the pedal, without completely delivering on the feel you were hoping for in the first place.