Crank Brothers 5050 X pedals are innovative and cool looking. Ideal for BMX, Downhill or Freeride. The dual material design allows custom pin placement.
Submitted by
luvanicejump
a Cross Country Rider
from Keene, NH, USA
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2009
Strengths: Good design, very nice appearance.
I appreciate any nicely cut CNC components.
BIG platform.
Weaknesses: Extremely poor execution. Under engineered, cheap grease washed right out. Too few set screws for grip.
Bent spindles in 3 weeks.
Bottom Line:
For the cost of these pedals, they should be sealed bearings first and foremost, second, the spindle is bent already, both pedals. Don't they know the average weight of a rider has increased 40lbs the last decade and the skill levels and boundaries of riding have expanded? Well, now they do.
Unless they use titanium for spindles, I don't see this product being combat worthy.
I did manage to rebuild them myself fairly easy. A dental pick and a set of long tweezers really helped with the 26 tiny bearings. After cleaning everything up, I repacked the bearing cups with some high end synthetic grease, carefully tweezed the bearings back into place and screwed everything back into place. I adjusted the play in the spindle, then thread locked the lock washer and nut on tight. There was no more slop, spun nice and free. BUT the spindles are still bend .050" at least.
I will be machining up some titanium spindles myself this winter and maybe even design a sealed bearing set up.
Also, ordering a box of 8-36 3/8" set screws for more grip.
Bottom line is, there are definitely better buys, but if you have the time and/or skills, they can be rebuild.
Bike Setup: Gary Fisher RIG 29er SS Hard tail.
RS REBA front shock
Velocity BLUNT, White Industries wheels
Schwalbe Big Apple tires
BB7 Mech disc brakes
Cane Creek Thudbuster seat post.
Hellbent TiTech bars
Dinotte 200W light
ODI Intense locking grips.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
dwnhlrjeff
a Downhiller
from vernon ct usa
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2009
Strengths: NONE DONT BUY
Weaknesses: 3 rides and already sent back for warranty !!!!!! they had pedals for 3 weeks i had to contact them to get status just 100% bad experience replacement set will be on ebay as soon as i get them back
Bottom Line:
they suck either pay for the 50/50xx or look the other way
Submitted by
powerpantz
a Cross Country Rider
from Chicago, IL
Date Reviewed: June 8, 2009
Strengths: Looks cool I guess and multiple anodized colors. Maybe the fact that you can take them apart. Decent size platform for bigger feet. (I'm really trying to come up with something)
Weaknesses: Slippery, pins are a joke - they offer no grip. Threads are too stiff, you think you might be stripping them but your not.
Way over priced, and not worth the almost %50 off I got them for. Flat instead of slightly concave.
Bottom Line:
Almost anything else is better, I would rather run stock no namers, maybe better than plastic. I think flat platform pedals with pins should attract the rubber of your shoe, not send it away with ease. Worthless if you are looking for something to really stick your feet when pedaling hard, uphill, or landing some air. Might as well slap a couple of wet bars of soap to your cranks, you might get better grip than these.
Saw them on clearance, thought I'd give a try even though there not very well reviewed. Used them once took them back.
Should of trusted the reviews and avoided these.
Similar Products Used: Shimano, Wellgo and Mirraco m3gas pedal
Bike Setup: Motobecane Fantom Elite DS
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
bogdan111
a Downhiller
from spokane, wa
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2009
Strengths: look good
Weaknesses: everything; after one ride i hit a small bump with the side of the pedal and it freakin bent the thing, now its crooked and unusable. Extremely soft and weak. I tried to unbend the pedal to kind of go the rest of the way down and the other one seized up on me, now it doesn't turn. Never again with crank bros, ever.
Bottom Line:
I'm sad, i lost my money on a piece of junk pedal. I will never purchase crank bros products again.
Bike Setup: ironhorse sunday, fox 40 rc2, dhx 5.0, avid elixir r
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Henry
a Downhiller
from Sydney, Australia
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2009
Strengths: - They are easily the best looking pedals going
- Main axle quite strong
- Reasonable grip when dry
Weaknesses: Hmmm... where do I start?
Well, when they were brand spankin I was on the way to my local trail, riding on the road when i noticed that one of the side plates had come loose. So I pulled over to realise that the bolts that hold the plates on had completely lost their head - just sheered off! Had to fix it with a zip-tie, and this was way stronger! I had to purchase some new bolts, and even these almost dethreaded the totally soft alloy pedals!
About three rides later I noticed that they were making a funny creaking noise so i decided to give em a service. Its here I noticed that one pedal had 6 more balls than the other one - nothing can surprise me now! Anyway I thought, I just went on giving them a really good service. As I assembled them I then noticed that the outer hex bolt had completely stripped its thread - so I had to buy another one!!!
Bottom Line:
What else can I say, but don't buy these pedals. I think that they are truly the worst product I have ever bought. All the metals used bar the axle/spindle are totally weak/too soft. The workmanship is totally rubbish (the plates dont sit flush on the pedal for example, uneven bearings etc). In addition - they damn heavy.. 630 grams for soft pieces of crap!!! Come on Crank Bros - WTF??? I use their Multi tool and its a work of art - thats why I bought these pedals, but these are absolutely rubbish. Like another poor soul mentioned, im not even gonna sell these cos I actually think that they are dangerous.
Im gonna buy a set of Wellgo's: light, cheap, durable and they do what their suppose to!
Submitted by
EDizzleVR6
a Downhiller
from Santa Cruz, CA
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2009
Strengths: Sticky, huge pins, your feet dont go anywher
Weaknesses: After about 2 months of riding there is a ton of play side to side, up and down where the pedals are connected to the cranks. huge creak every turn of the cranks, the pedals were shot after about 2 months riding...
Bottom Line:
I originally wanted these pedals because they had the huge pins, large platform, and sweet color/design. Long story short, they arent worth the money. at all, after 2 months of riding the things were shot, luckily Crank Bros warrantied them, fixed up right up, now im gonna ditch these POS
Weaknesses: Very little traction, even with FiveTen shoes. The bearing diameter on them causes the middle pins to be blocked by the pedal body so the middle pins are useless.
Bottom Line:
These would be good pedals except for the design flaw with the pedal body. i would recommend the XX's or a different pedal.
Strengths: great traction if you upgrade to long pins, but not so bad with the stock ones.
Weaknesses: pins fall out a lot, my right pedal feels like its about to come off, and my left one barely moves.
Bottom Line:
these pedals are good for about a month or less, then they start breaking and loosing pins and just suck. i wouldn't recommend anyone to waist their money on these pedals unless they are going to take the time to re-loctite them and grease them.
Bike Setup: 07 p2 chromo,5050 pedals, drop off 1 fork,24" halo sas rear rim,mavic ex325 front rim, panaracer fire fr tires, funn rippa stem, aheadset, single speed, truvativ ruckton cranks, avid bb5 breaks, and stock bars.
Strengths: Cool styling, replaceable plates, good grip.
Weaknesses: Durability.
Bottom Line:
These pedals worked great for about a week, then I did a DH race during some moderately wet conditions and they self destructed. One pedal had notable bearing play and the other would barely spin. Made horrible creaking noises too. They were just totally thrashed. To prove that it's not just me, I have been running the same set of $28 Odyssey twisted flats for over 4 years on a series of bikes without any problems.
They gripped well though. . .
To their credit, CB sent me a set of warranty pedals which will be going on ebay so it wasn't a total bust.
Submitted by
vineetdesigns
a Downhiller
from Chandigarh, India
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2008
Strengths: Replaceable Pins, Easy in cleaning.
Weaknesses: The Traction Pins falls / becomes lose, and you dont even come to know about it. My 50-50X Right pedal was slightly tight from the shaft when i got it brand new. Comes with very less pins
Bottom Line:
I bought the pedals as i have seen many pro riders also using crankbrothers 50-50 pedals, but now i have figured out they might be using 50-50XX or some tweaked version.
Well, When i ordered these pedals, Right pedal was slightly tight from the shaft when i got it brand new. I thought as its brand new it might become fine after 2-3 rides, but in less than a year, the problem became worse, and that pedal was almost jammed. And funny thing the left pedal was shaking as if its gonna come out.
I live in India, and there is no dealer/distributor for these items, so i emailed crankbrothers and they told that they can warranty the pedals, so i had to ship the pedals to them ( expensive deal for me beause of international shipping) So i hope they give me new replacement. So far their service has been good. I will write review again once i recieve them.
Strengths: With the stock (short) pins I don't feel like my shins will get torn off if I go with-out shin guards. but...
Weaknesses: Poor grip, compared to other flat pedals, while wearing 5.10s. Very slippery while wearing Vans.
Needed to tighten the plates after first ride. This surprised me.
Bearings needed service after a few rides. The seal near the spindle appears thin as paper. I can't believe a seal that thin keeps out much dirt, dust, water....
Bottom Line:
I would not recommend these pedals to my friends for a serious ride. Around town and easy single-track would be fine.
Submitted by
cullen_bay
a Downhiller
from inverness
Date Reviewed: June 27, 2008
Strengths: this platform pedal has a wide base and if you like them looking good rather than functioning well, the plates come out and in.
Weaknesses: the thing has fallen apart
Bottom Line:
the pedals i now use for flats are burgtech penthouse flats, and slipped i use mallet 3's, both superb pedals, a billion times stronger/ better than 5050s. the gryb screws fall out of 5050s and with them come the plates, eventually you have to buy a new set of plates or screws, and your better off buying 1 piece flats to start with.
im giving 1 because they started going wrong after 1 ride down the fort william course, never buying the same pedals again, save money and buy a 1 piece design. shame on you crank bros, i aint buying a crank brother flat pedal again
