Pedals

[tuck]

My L pedal began grinding and slowed to barely spinning without me pedaling. Once off the Coker I realized this. It looks as if some of the threads are stripped, although a pedal still seems to sit well in it. What's the best pedals and cranks to have for the Coker?

[Evan Byrne]

Well, for me, i go fast on cokers and when your pedaling that fast i like to have high grip pedals. For cranks it all depends, if you are short you may want 125s, if you are gona go muni or something with it you may want 150s-175s, if you want light you can get the aluminum cranks that come on the nimbus X, if you dont care you can get any ol pair.

[john_childs]

The bearings in that pedal may be failing. If you have unsealed pedals the bearing cones may be out of adjustment. Or it could be that the spindle and bearings need to be regreased.

You can take the unicycle to a bike shop and they'd be able to tell you if it's a bearing problem in the pedal.

Good pedals for a Coker are metal pedals with replaceable metal grip pins. Grippy pedals give you more control on the Coker.

[Evan Byrne]

hey guys, i didnt want to start another thred, so im looking for some new pedals, i want really high grip and metal, i have no budget, what should i get?

[DK]

[/B][/QUOTE] Evan Byrnehey guys, i didnt want to start another thred, so im looking for some new pedals, i want really high grip and metal, i have no budget, what should i get?

shinburgers (http://www.brooklynmachineworks.com/parts_pedals.htm)
http://www.brooklynmachineworks.com/images/parts_pedals.jpg

or syncros (http://www.syncros.com/pedals.htm)
http://www.syncros.com/images/pedal_stainless_sm.jpg

[john_childs]

The Bulletproof pedals (http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=218) are grippy and have replaceable grip pins. They'll work fine for a Coker. There are lots of similar BMX pedals that you can get at your local bike shop.

They're unsealed pedals which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You'll just need to get familiar with basic maintenance like adjusting the bearing cones and regreasing them. With proper maintenance they can work as well as or better than sealed pedals.

[Evan Byrne]

those brooklyns look good but i wanted removable pins for grinding

[Evan Byrne]

How much are the brooklyns?

[john_childs]

Originally posted by Evan Byrne
How much are the brooklyns?
About $120 or so. Maybe a little more.

Do you want pedals for a trials uni, Coker, or muni?

[Evan Byrne]

well, im gona get 2 sets, i want some for the trials, wich will be used mofr street, wich involves tons of grinding, and some for the coker wish need to be F'ing good grip.

[john_childs]

For trials the Odyssey Jim Cielencki would be good. Strong platform, strong axle, and replaceable pins. If you want more grip with them you can get longer pins from a specialty fastener store or a good well stocked hardware store.

For the Coker you could try the Shimano MX-30 pedals. They come with two sets of pins: short and long. The long pins give pretty good grip. eBay generally has good prices for the Shimano MX30 pedals. For example here (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36137&item=7149006957&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)

There are of course lots of other options for pedals. But you don't need to get too fancy for the Coker. Coker pedals don't get abused too much except for UPDs.

[markf]

i like snafus

[unicyclepa]

For trials the Odyssey Jim Cielencki would be good a frend of mine got these (the unsealed bearing verison) and they need to be ajusted after almose every ride so if you get them i would speend a little more and get the sealed ones

[andrew_carter]

Originally posted by unicyclepa
a frend of mine got these (the unsealed bearing verison) and they need to be ajusted after almose every ride so if you get them i would speend a little more and get the sealed ones Your friend may have just been unlucky though. Jim Cielencki's have a pretty good reputation in both sealed and unsealed.

I recently bought some unsealed blue Jim C's but haven't used them yet...I'm sacing them for when muni muni upgrade is complete.

Those 'Syncros' are beautiful!

Andrew

[john_childs]

Originally posted by unicyclepa
a frend of mine got these (the unsealed bearing verison) and they need to be ajusted after almose every ride so if you get them i would speend a little more and get the sealed ones
Do the bearing cones need to be adjusted after every ride? That would be unusual. Are they properly greased?

The unsealed flavor is better for trials. They're more durable. Sealed bearings are not good at taking abuse from things like pedal grabs and hard hits after being dropped during a UPD. The sealed cartridge bearings literally fall apart when abused. With the unsealed pedals you just have to regrease them and adjust the cones. With sealed pedals you have to buy new cartridge bearings.

[UniTyler]

Originally posted by Evan Byrne
i have no budget

Hmmm...I'm not trying to bug you at all, but don't you think you should be a bit more conservative? Do you have this "no budget" attitude everywhere? You must have a LOT of money to go around saying that. :eek:

[Evan Byrne]

why yes i do have alot of money tyler, what a great observation

[Catboy]

Originally posted by Evan Byrne
why yes i do have alot of money tyler, what a great observation

Translation:

'Yes, I do know how to cry and whine to my parents until they give in to my perpetual squealing, but I'll insult you to try and make myself look cooler.'







Really, not alot of people need shiburgers, as they do wear down and are only good for extreme muddy/muni situations, the Bulletproof BMX pedals work just as good.

[Unitik908]

.

[john_childs]

The Specialized Lo Pro (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=11143) pedals would also be cool.

[andrew_carter]

Originally posted by john_childs
The Specialized Lo Pro (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=11143) pedals would also be cool. Good call, they look good for serivcing them too...nice and accessible. That and I like the fact that the pins are screwed in from the back and are nice and chunky.

I have a bit of a physics question...
Assuming the foot and general body of the pedal are always the same distance from the crank, does it make any difference in force applied to the spindle if the spot where the pedal body crosses over and attches to it (see attched picture) is further towards or out from the crank? I hope that makes sense, I've always wondered this.

Thanks,
Andrew

[john_childs]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
Good call, they look good for serivcing them too...nice and accessible. That and I like the fact that the pins are screwed in from the back and are nice and chunky.

I have a bit of a physics question...
Assuming the foot and general body of the pedal are always the same distance from the crank, does it make any difference in force applied to the spindle if the spot where the pedal body crosses over and attches to it (see attched picture) is further towards or out from the crank? I hope that makes sense, I've always wondered this.

Thanks,
Andrew
It would be better to have some some of the pedal body support be closer to the crank. But it looks like Specialized makes up for that by having the spindle be full size out to the pedal. Lots of pedals have the spindle taper down to a smaller diameter once the spindle gets inside the pedal body. I can't say off-hand which way is stronger. There are tradeoffs in both designs.

[andrew_carter]

Yeah, I'm aware that many taper off. Why have Specialized put the connection so far out? I'm assuming they hav a reason. And do you know why, from a physics point of view, it is stronger to have it not so far out?

Cheers,
Andrew

[john_childs]

Moment (torque) is Force x Distance
Moving the force closer to the point of support will lower the moment produced for a given amount of force. A pedal spindle is a cantilever beam. Moment will cause a cantilever beam to bend. More moment will mean the spindle will bend more and be more likely to fail.

But there are other factors too. Making the spindle thicker near the crank will make it stronger so it is better able to handle the higher moment force.

Moving the bearings closer together and more directly under your foot may have some advantages too. Depends on how Specialized designed the bearings.

Engineering is about making tradeoffs in an attempt to balance out the good and the bad. I hope Specialized made good decisions in the design.

[andrew_carter]

Thanks a lot, I really should have remembered all that stuff. :) Makes sense.

[Unitik908]

Originally posted by Catboy
Translation:

'Yes, I do know how to cry and whine to my parents until they give in to my perpetual squealing, but I'll insult you to try and make myself look cooler.'


Nicely played...

Chase

[unicyclepa]

For trials the Odyssey Jim Cielencki would be good
a frend of mine got these (the unsealed bearing verison) and they need to be ajusted after almose every ride so if you get them i would speend a little more and get the sealed ones
the same frend just bent the axel of his Jim Cielenckis doing a 4 1/2 ft drop and yes he roled out

[john_childs]

Originally posted by unicyclepa
the same frend just bent the axel of his Jim Cielenckis doing a 4 1/2 ft drop and yes he roled out
It wasn't the 4 1/2 foot drop with a roll out that bent the pedals. It was the bigger drops done previously with some likely poor landings that weakend the pedal spindle. The 4 1/2 foot drop with a roll out just happened to be the one were the pedal finally had enough.

Just like how you can break a standard square taper hub by going off a 1 foot drop. It wasn't the 1 foot drop that killed the hub. It was all the 3 foot and 4 foot drops done previously that weakened the hub and it finally failed on a wimpy little 1 foot drop.

The Jim Cielencki's are a good choice for trials for most people. They are reasonably strong, reasonably priced, and easy to get. They're plenty strong enough for the vast majority of trials riders.

If you find that you are bending the Jim Cielencki pedals then it's time to look at getting a more expensive pedal with an oversized spindle. One choice would be the new 2005 Atomlab (http://www.atomlab.com/) Trailking pedals. They have an oversized spindle. The problem is that they're about $100. Just make sure to look for the new 2005 version that uses Atomlab's new double DU bushing design instead of the older sealed bearing design. The older design for the Trailking pedals would eat bearings and just lead to constant problems with replacing the bearings.

There are other pedals that have oversized spindles. They all tend to be expensive. I'm not going to recommend that everyone start out with exotic $100 pedals. That would be excessive. Start with something like the Jim Cielenki's. If you bend them then consider getting stronger and more expensive pedals the next time.

[andrew_carter]

I thought Jim Cielencki's had oversized spindles. That's what I've seen advertised.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
I thought Jim Cielencki's had oversized spindles. That's what I've seen advertised.
The Jim Cielenki's do have an oversized and hardened spindle. I've just never seen the exact specs for the size for what Odyssey means by oversized. Sometimes an oversized spindle means 12 mm, sometimes it means more. Oversized is an imprecise measurement.

Atomlab claims that their Trailking pedal has a 14 mm spindle. That would be bigger than most.

The Jim Cielenki pedal doesn't have a wimpy spindle, but it's also not the strongest spindle out there. It's also not expensive. Most of the really strong pedals are expensive.

[GizmoDuck]

Originally posted by tuck
My L pedal began grinding and slowed to barely spinning without me pedaling. Once off the Coker I realized this. It looks as if some of the threads are stripped, although a pedal still seems to sit well in it. What's the best pedals and cranks to have for the Coker?

For a Coker- Snafus! Wide, stable platfrom, solid grip but still allows you to shift your feet a little when spinning at 140revs.
Get the sealed bearing ones though.

[Evan Byrne]

How do you pronounce "Cielencki"?

[Sigurd]

I always thought it was "see-uh-LENG-kee".

[forrestunifreak]

Originally posted by john_childs

Just like how you can break a standard square taper hub by going off a 1 foot drop. It wasn't the 1 foot drop that killed the hub. It was all the 3 foot and 4 foot drops done previously that weakened the hub and it finally failed on a wimpy little 1 foot drop.


:eek: that happened to me.

[GILD]

with all this talk about pedals, u've got me curious now
is there enough unique uni-requirements from a pedal to justify the manufacture of a 'uni-pedal'?
(i realise it would have to be a range as no one pedal would do muni and trials and street and freestyle and coker, u know what i mean)

[john_childs]

Originally posted by GILD
with all this talk about pedals, u've got me curious now
is there enough unique uni-requirements from a pedal to justify the manufacture of a 'uni-pedal'?
(i realise it would have to be a range as no one pedal would do muni and trials and street and freestyle and coker, u know what i mean)
For muni and trials I don't see the need for a unicycle specific pedal. A good and well designed BMX or freeride pedal will work. But you do want to look for some specific features. I like the end cap to be recessed so it doesn't get beat-up on the ground after every UPD. The Atomlab Aircrop and the Specialized Lo Pro both have a recessed and protected end cap.

The big design feature though is a bearing system that can handle repeated and hard hits to the ends of the pedal from UPDs. Picture holding a unicycle horizontal above the ground with a pedal pointed at the ground. Now drop the unicycle right on the pedal. That's the kind of abuse that a unicycle pedal needs to be able to take. Unfortunately many sealed bearing pedals cannot take that kind of abuse without blowing the bearing to pieces. That's my biggest gripe. But there are some BMX and freeride pedals that can handle that kind of abuse to a reasonable extent.

I think the new 2005 Atomlab pedals may be good because they have gotten rid of the sealed bearing and gone with two DU bushings. No sealed bearing in the pedal means there is no sealed bearing to break. Should make for a very durable muni and trials pedal in theory. I haven't tried one of the new Atomlab pedals yet so I don't know. The sealed bearing or loose unsealed bearing is the most problematic part in a trials or muni pedal.

Indoor freestyle unicycle pedals have some special needs that bike pedals generally don't cover. It's the indoor freestyle riders who can use the more unicycle specific pedal designs. Something that won't damage the floor. Something with enough grip but not too much. Something durable. A platform that is big enough or small enough for your preference. The Germans and Japanese riders had some interesting freestyle pedals that are difficult to get over here in the US.