Pedal Broke!!

[cybeross]

So, I guess I was lucky, but in another way, I wasn't. I have been
riding my 24" yuni w/ profile hub cycle for a while now, and done some
MAJOR stuff on it with easton flatboy pedals. A few days ago, I was
riding trials downtown, and doing some pretty big drops, and everything
was fine. I was hiking up a HUGE set of stairs (probably about 100-150
or so) when some people jokingly asked if I could ride down them. Well,
obviously, I could, and did, but when i got to the bottom, my left pedal
fell off it's spindle. The bearing case had ripped open, and the pedal
was forever broken. I guess I was lucky that it didn't come off
*during* the stair riding, or worse, during a major drop, but the
thought of the possibility was scary enough to rattle me for a while.
Has anyone else had this problem with pedals? I think I'm going to get
a pair of azonic's next...


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[gerblefranklin]

cybeross wrote:
> *So, I guess I was lucky, but in another way, I wasn't. I have been
> riding my 24" yuni w/ profile hub cycle for a while now, and done some
> MAJOR stuff on it with easton flatboy pedals. A few days ago, I was
> riding trials downtown, and doing some pretty big drops, and
> everything was fine. I was hiking up a HUGE set of stairs (probably
> about 100-150 or so) when some people jokingly asked if I could ride
> down them. Well, obviously, I could, and did, but when i got to the
> bottom, my left pedal fell off it's spindle. The bearing case had
> ripped open, and the pedal was forever broken. I guess I was lucky
> that it didn't come off *during* the stair riding, or worse, during a
> major drop, but the thought of the possibility was scary enough to
> rattle me for a while. Has anyone else had this problem with pedals?
> I think I'm going to get a pair of azonic's next... *


Join the club. I got a few lefty easton flatboys used from Kris Holm,
and I gave the newer one to Mike Midfdleton. In the middle of a trials
ride one day he said his pedal was slipping off the spindle a bit and
getting play. Then, after one hop, it just went. The same thing happened
to him as you. Then, about a week later, I was riding my profile hub
muni around UCSC during a timed scavenger hunt, and I started to feel my
right pedal bearings begin to click. About a quarter mile later the
pedal fell off the spindle. Tom Blackwood has also had this happen to
him, from what I remember (or was it the Munieer?). This only happens on
sealed bearing pedals. Check the grease on your spindle. You ought to be
able to see the little balls from the bearings. Tiny, correct? That's
the problem.


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[Max_Dingemans]

The cure for this, is to replace the bearings every... once in awhile.
Iv had atomlab trailkings (which apparently have the same problem) and I
replaced the bearings after a year of riding to prevent this. Plus, I
have an emergency set of bearings if one breaks durring a long ride.


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[john_childs]

That has happened to me with an Easton pedal. Just riding on a trail
and the pedal body falls off the spindle.

It's not just the Easton's that have that problem. Lots of sealed
bearing platform pedals suffer from the same flaw. The Welgo B-37's,
Easton's, and many others. The flaw is that they rely on the bearing to
hold the pedal on the spindle. If (when) the bearing fails the pedal
will just slide off the spindle. The other flaw is that they don't
isolate the side loads from the bearing. The little bearing gets
subjected to side loads during hard riding and sealed bearings are not
designed to withstand side loads. That's why the bearings fail.
Anyways, it's not just the Easton's that have that problem.

After my Easton pedals failed on me I switched to the 'Atom Lab Aircorp
pedals' (http://tinyurl.com/79i8). The Aircorps won't fall off the
spindle if (when) the bearing fails.

The 2004 version of the Aircorps (and the other Atom Lab pedals) have
done away with the sealed bearings completely. No sealed bearings means
that there is no bearing to fail. No more risk of the pedal falling
apart if (when) the bearing self destructs. Their bearingless design
should be a much more reliable pedal.

I have not yet tried the new 2004 bearingless pedals. I have high hopes
that they will be a super pedal. No bearings means that there is one
less thing that can fail during a ride. You can check out the 'Atom Lab
web site' (http://www.atomlab.com/home.html) for more info on their new
bearingless design. The site is all Flash so I can't give a direct link
to the info.

The DU bushings they're using should do well and hold up for a long
time. The older Aircorps used one busing and one sealed bearing per
pedal. Now they've replaced the sealed bearing with a second bushing.
It's nothing too radical. The bushings are slippery and spin well with
no noticeable drag.

I'm going to try the new Aircorp pedals soon. I just haven't coughed up
the $100 yet to get them.

I'd recommend getting the new Atom Lab Aircorp pedals.


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[gerblefranklin]

I have a friend who works at a bike shop, and he rides some atomlabs
with bushings. He says the bushings get kinda gangly and make noises
some times. Do the other wellgos (namely the b-38. I found it at
jensonusa for $25) have the same problem? How about the b-54 or b-27?
Simano MX-30's? Sorry for all the q's, but I need new pedals for my
muni. Finally, what about these: http://tinyurl.com/6jzl8 ?


--
gerblefranklin - Trials Unicyclist

Don't you think it's a cruel irony that acting like a G.I. Joe in the
army can get you a Medal, while playing with one can get you thrown
out?

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[john_childs]

gerblefranklin wrote:
> *I have a friend who works at a bike shop, and he rides some atomlabs
> with bushings. He says the bushings get kinda gangly and make noises
> some times. *

The bearingless pedals are probably going to require regular bouts of
re-greasing. Even the sealed bearing version of the Aircorp pedals can
start to chatter if the grease gets washed away from the bushing area.
Atom Lab says that you can run the bearingless pedals with no grease
without damaging the pedal, but I'm sure that regular application of
more grease will be better.

But even if they do chatter a little bit when you spin them while your
foot isn't on them, what's the big deal? The extra reliability of not
having a cartridge bearing in there will be worth it.

If you always ride in sandy and dirty conditions then the bushings might
get chewed up. In that case it will pay to keep a lot of grease in the
pedal.

But I haven't tried the new pedals yet, so I don't really know.

> *
> Do the other wellgos (namely the b-38. I found it at jensonusa for
> $25) have the same problem? How about the b-54 or b-27? Simano
> MX-30's? Sorry for all the q's, but I need new pedals for my muni.
> Finally, what about these: http://tinyurl.com/6jzl8 ? *

All of the Welgo pedals like the B-54 and B-27 will have the same
problem with the pedal body falling off if the bearing self destructs.
Same with the Tioga. They all have the exact same design as the Easton
Flatboy's.

The 'Shimano PD-MX30 platform pedal' (http://tinyurl.com/3b6mv) is a
good one. They've got a different bearing design that has worked well
for other riders. I have not used them myself so I can't say much about
them other than they work and that I'd be willing to use them.

The choice for pedals is either an unsealed pedal, the Shimano platform
pedal, or the Atom Lab pedals.


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[James_Potter]

I bent my pedal on a five foot drop. But other than being bent, it's not
a problem.
That would've really sucked to have your pedal fall off during 100-stair
set riding.


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[cybeross]

I know! Just the thought of that happening made my face turn white right
afterwards... I think there is no *way* it wouldn't have been bloody if
that had happened to me. The new trailkings and aircorps look to be
pretty nice, I may go for a pair of those as my next bet. I need them
by monday though, because I have to head up for some riding in steamboat
early in the morning, and I won't waste 5 days of summer muni because of
a broken pedal!


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-Ross

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[john_childs]

You can get replacement bearings for your Easton pedals (or the Wellgos
or any of the other pedals). The Wellgos and the Easton pedals use the
same size bearing. Some bike shops will have that bearing size in
stock. If you can find the right bike shop you can have new bearings
before Monday morning.

The bearings are size 686ZZ. The "ZZ" means there are two metal shields,
one on each side.
13mm OD
6mm ID
5mm wide

That will get you through Steamboat.

Or you can get lucky and find the new Atom Lab pedals at a bike shop on
Sunday.

The main thing I don't like about the Shimano pedals is that the
platform is rather small and I don't like the shape of the platform. I
much prefer the larger and flatter shape of the Atom Lab Aircorps.


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[cybeross]

thanks a lot. I appreciate the info. I will do my best to get whatever
I can to either fix/buy tomorrow! Maybe it will be a longer day than
some, but it will be worth it. :)


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-Ross

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[joemarshall]

cybeross wrote:
> *The bearing case had ripped open, and the pedal was forever broken.
> I guess I was lucky that it didn't come off *during* the stair riding,
> or worse, during a major drop, but the thought of the possibility was
> scary enough to rattle me for a while. Has anyone else had this
> problem with pedals? I think I'm going to get a pair of azonic's
> next... *


My azonic A-frames did exactly this and managed to trash the bit the
endcap fits in, so I couldn't just replace the bearings. It's a common
thing when your bearings die on most pedals, although as John says, not
on the atomlab ones. I found it happened incredibly suddenly, one minute
I heard a click somewhere on my unicycle, about a minute later the pedal
flew off.

Joe


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