I have broken two spindles on the mallets, ray lost the nut on the end of the spindle so the pedal came apart but didn't actually break. I have four other sets of crank bro's pedals, candy c, candy sl, eggbeater c, and eggbeater sl, and have never had a problem with any of them. I am just wearing out my first set of cleats and have been riding them for years. The simplicity of the pedal is great because there is nothing to adjust at all. They shed mud great too. Shop around ebay, I got a $120 set of candy sl's (looked brand new) for $40 dollars delivered, not too bad. Crank's customer service is great too, they have fixed my mallets no questions asked both times and got them back to me quickly. Hope that helps.