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crank brothers candy #7 pedals. part two

there's a tv channel available on our dinky little freesat box that began showing christmas movies on sunday afternoons around late october, ramping up a gear in december by showing them pretty much every day up till christmas day. naturally enough, with only so many festive movies having been made, the programming revolved around simple rotation; in short, it was possible to watch the same film several times before christmas.

many of the films were obviously low budget, presumably made for american tv with actors either on their way up or, more likely, on their way down from former stardom and popularity. the content varied from downright atrocious to borderline unbearable, but the one feature they all had in common, as pointed out by mrs washingmachinepost, was that it always snowed right at the very end. this, presumably, was/is the festive equivalent of living happily ever after.

though an unexpected twist such as encasing han solo in carbonite at the end of the empire strikes back is very much the exception rather than the rule, the majority of screenplays make use of happy ever after to varying degrees. that's probably the guaranteed means of having cinema audiences leaving their empty popcorn buckets and pepsi-cola cups behind, with a satisfactory smile on their faces. remember, the customer is always right.

and it gives me great pleasure to add to that panoply, even if a previously related review ended considerably less well. in respect of crank brothers egg-beater/candy pedals, i will thankfully refrain from once more listing the failings prevalent in the original design with respect to the inboard needle bearings fitted as standard. suffice it to say that almost moments after posting a largely favourable review of their candy #3 pedals some years ago, both pedals failed within hours of each other on a single ride.

i'm willing to admit that crank brothers did include literature with each set of pedals advising that the more diligent amongst us refurbish the bearings once a year. that, in truth is a not uncommon nor onerous request, but given our increased laziness in this respect, it was advice that more often than not was completely ignored. and for many, bereft of any mechanical ability whatsoever, it was an unwanted bike shop expense.

however, this particular pair of pedals were less than two months old and had been ridden considerably less than 200 kilometres. in other words, a situation that should never have happened, though one cheerfully covered by the manufacturer's warranty. however, who amongst us would then continue to ride the pedals with confidence given their short-lived opening introduction?

exactly.

so the news that crank brothers had allegedly now remedied the problem by replacing the inner needle bearing with a plastic glide bearing, had me persuade extra, the uk distributor, to send a pair of the very latest candy #7 pedals for review which you can read here. however, given the propensity for their forebears to fail miserably while still shiny new, it seemed prudent to reserve final judgment until they'd been given a harder time than was initially the case.

rather conveniently, this second part of their examination has a happy ending, though it didn't snow at all.

what it did do in the intervening period was rain a great deal, leading to a modicum of localised flooding. this was nowhere near the devastation seen in norhtern england, but enough to give just enough trouble to a pair of candy pedals. the agricultural nature of the island provides acres of belgian toothpaste, the sort of stuff that is traditionally held to be anathema to bearings of any sort. part of the problem with the original candys was the ineffectiveness of the rubber seals protecting those inboard needle bearings.

so apart from making the attempt to expose the pedals to every local iniquity of which i could conceive, they were also completely submerged on more than just a few occasions. lest you think this was simply a momentary set of trials and tribulations, let me advise that aside from every bike ride both on and offroad (they are attached to a ridley x-ride cyclocross bicycle) prior to the festive holiday, they were my constant companions throughout the festive 500, through both storm edith and her brother frank.

quite frankly (see what i did there?), they have been perfect companions for those 500 kilometres and more besides. they have been used with four different makes of shoe, though obviously with the same style cleats and have behaved impeccably. i am given to believe that the necessity for dismantling the pedals on an annual basis to promote their mechanical well-being is no longer a mandatory condition, so the technically inept need (apparently) worry no more.

a pair of crank brothers candy #7 pedals is not exactly cheap; around £120 i believe. so having them disintegrate before your very soles is not the ideal option, for either us or them. on the basis of just how smoothly both pedals continue to rotate, even after the hassle they have recently endured, i figure crank brothers and their current and prospective customers can cyclocross, mountain bike and road ride with impunity. worry about traffic, tree roots or hurdles and forget about the candys.

now it can snow.

tuesday 5 january 2016