Why do my new Crank Brothers pedals make all kinds of crackling and creaking noises during pedaling?
I haven’t ridden the Smarty pedals yet, but I’ve got several pairs of eggbeaters and Mallets, and a set of Quattro road pedals. It’s good stuff…..my favorite on the market hands down. Check it out as best you can to see what might be causing it, then if it doesn’t go away or you can’t figure it out, give Crank Bros. a call. They’ll hook you up with a new set pronto. That’s a newer pedal from them and they sourced it out to China, so it’s possible that they’ve had a bad batch or something. Make sure your cleat bolts are tight and evenly torqued…..lots of times they’ll “loosen” after sitting for awhile when you first install them as the sole of the shoe settles in. It’s possible you could get noise there. See if there’s any noise coming from the stamped steel overlays on the pedal body. Put heavy body-pressure on the pedal with your arm/hand and twist the pedal…..is there any creaking coming from the axle? I don’t know about the Smarty’s but every other pedal from them has a nylon
