Crankbrothers Mallet Enduro Pedals, unisex, Mallet Enduro

Product Information

Inside, the heel area has plenty of soft yet supportive padding, and heel hold is boosted by silicon gripper dots. The arch support area is pretty flat. The front of the shoe is stiff, perhaps due to the “mid-friction rubber compound,” reinforced toe, and wide cleat box which is referred to as the Matchbox. The theory behind the matchbox is multi-faceted. One, it matches the Mallet E pedals specifically. Two, it makes clipping in and out easy breezy and provides notable lateral stability. Three, it allows a large range of fore and aft cleat adjustability.

Additionally, the Velcro strap could push the lace’s runner onto the top of my feet, which was annoying, so I only put the end of the lace into the pouch. I have a history with Crankbrothers and it goes like this: I don’t historically like, want or need egg beaters in my mountain bike repertoire. To say I have a bias against the original, no frills, eggbeater platform would be an understatement of epic proportions. I don’t enjoy the tiny, almost non-existent pedal surface underfoot. Nor do I often ride in, or need to “shed mud,” because PSA: riding through mud destroys the mostly clay trails here in Colorado (you’re welcome IMBA). 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. Be prepared to put time in and, if you change your shoes, to do it all again. With a few of my shoes I had to wind the pins further into the pedal body too, to prevent a poor release because they were grabbing the outsole and preventing a clean twisting action.

Crank Brothers Mallet Trail weight

The upper is constructed largely from a single piece of material, reducing potential areas of weakness at the seams. The toe box has a number of ventilation perforations, while there are closed-mesh panels on the inside and outside of the foot.

By increasing or decreasing this interface, it gives more or less stability to the pedal platform. The Mallet E features six adjustable pins that can be inserted to different heights or eradicated for less aggressive traction. For enhanced efficiency, Crankbrothers also sell a 0-degree float cleat. All this adds up to a fair bit of 'adjustability' for a Crankbrothers pedal, but the Xpedo GFX(that also has adjustable release tension) takes the win for this category. Weight Perforations and mesh panels on the upper are designed to keep your feet cool. Russell Burton / Our Media While it offers a lot of friction, it’s also slow to rebound, and Crankbrothers says this offers better pin absorption and vibration dampening. As such, the best mountain bike shoes have to satisfy a wide range of requirements to reach the top of our table. In this group test, we pitted 12 pairs of clipless shoes from leading brands against each other during several months of sloppy winter testing. There are more cleat options with the Crankbrothers pedals, and the standard cleats offer more float.

Crankbrothers Mallet BOA shoe performance

There’s a significant weight difference, with the smaller Mallet Trails coming in at around 90g lighter for the pair. Jesse221 the pins are the real reason I’d consider switching. With the right shoes, like the 5 10s you don’t miss the pins when clipped, but you’d be more secure unclipped with the CBs with the pins. Switching to my 5-10s have reduced my desire to get the CBs because they grip the Time platforms so much better when clipped in, I feel like I get all the grip I need. My old Giros/ Sidis/ Pearl Izumis/ SixOnes, not so much. But you’d have to set the pins real low to not get hung up clipping out with certain grippy shoes, so I’m not sure how much they’d help in the end.

First and foremost, you may be wondering, “do I need to have Crankbrothers pedals to use these shoes?” and the answer is no. The Mallet E shoes come pre-installed with Crankbrothers cleats, and though the Mallet E shoe/pedal combo is pretty baller, as the kids would say, any type of cleat can be installed by simply removing the shim. I tested the Mallet E shoes with both the Crankbrother cleats and SPD cleats/pedals and they work seamlessly with both. Arguably the hardest of the shoes to get right has to be its flat pedal offering, the Stamp. While the Stamp’s upper more or less mirrors that used on the Mallet and Mallet E’s, the outsole is, as you’d expect, entirely different. The Crankbrothers Mallet are undoubtedly some of the most popular clipless pedals among mountain bikers, with countless downhill and enduro pros relying on the Californian brand. The Mallets also convinced the jury of our 2022 group test, outperforming the competition and coming out on top. Can they make it two in a row? There are three different models available, named after the pedals that best reflect their intentions: Mallet, Mallet E and the Stamp Bike setup is subjective in general, but when we come to the setup and feel of our clipless pedals it feels like that subjectivity is turbocharged. Typically, I prefer the Crankbrothers system, and if I had to rely on systems with less float, as well as less platform and support while engaged in the mechanism, I wouldn't be riding clipless pedals at all.

Cleats

On our scale the Mallet DH weighed in 5 grams heavier per pair than Crankbrothers' claimed weight of 479 grams. They’re stiff enough too, and I had no issues when wearing them on much longer days trail riding in the hills. The shoes never felt like the sole was drooping around the pedal and costing me precious energy. Even when I tried them with smaller Candy 3 pedals, the Mallets managed to balance feel and stiffness incredibly well through the sole.