pedal testing
February 25th, 2008 | by Phil | Published in BMX NEWS, NEWS | 5 Comments
well-sort of, here is a pic of the “drag strip” where i’ve been doing sprints this morning… although i’ve ridden across the parking lot multiple times delivering various goods and services to the Songbird Cafe
incidentally this is my wife’s cafe that has recently opened here in the beautiful fairfax district. it’s pretty awesome and such a bad idea to have espresso available this easily… this kind of freaks me out but you can actually see it on google streetwise
it’s the little building east of the grain elevators. it’s interesting to see it before we started working on it, needless to say it looks completely different now.
so, back to pedals, there was a comment posted about the spindles and their size. they are .500″ diameter (12.7mm). we could’ve gone with a 12mm but i like to think that making it a standard size goes along with ideals of it being an american made product and whatnot??? although it does accept the normal 15mm crescent wrench. maybe i’m feeling particularly patriotic today? (there was talk of trying to get a captain america color scheme going…) it also makes my life easier when purchasing bearings. strangely if you’re not buying them by the truckload, metric can be tricky to find at the right price? so these bearings aren’t hard to get and are a good price at any quantity in case anyone feels the need to re-build.
there was also a question as to whether pedals are only as strong as the small threaded end? and i don’t think i’ve got a definitive answer for that. there is alot involved in determining the “strength” of an assembly such as a pedal. by and large the traditional route has been effective. the aspect of the traditional technique where the small cartridge bearing on the outboard side is responsible for holding the pedal body to the spindle left a little to be desired, which led us to the method we chose. that and the idea simplicity, using two of the same bearing, makes manufacturing easier, assembly easier. i don’t know if that sheds any light on the situation? but it’s my take on it.
i took some pics of the pedals on my bike. (next to the sprinting course in the shop)
note the perks of being a bmx nerd, first version of the t-1 stem and an early version of the tree lite sprocket. the first small batch of these pedals will be available mid march on our online store. –phil
February 25th, 2008at 8:51 pm(#)
pedals look awesome. will there be more than the 4 pins a side on production models.
March 16th, 2008at 1:56 pm(#)
fuck yeah,, those are TITS
March 27th, 2008at 10:07 pm(#)
Can we get a Phil Wasson bike check? I’m the same size as Phil and I was wondering how he sets up his ride. It would also be cool to see what mods are implemented by a machinist.
March 30th, 2008at 8:39 am(#)
joe, i can do that, although you might be disappointed… the funny thing about being a bmx nerd and a machinist is that you can never get all the things done that you plan on, so you end up riding that “temporary” rear wheel for 4 years! it’s also pretty sweet being able to “test” samples for all the kick ass companies we make parts for.
April 27th, 2008at 9:30 pm(#)
Hey Phil!
I’m looking for the story about getting the truck into the shop! Kevin said Courtney and you did it, I was skeptical, not that you two can’t do anything you put your minds to!
I need to come and get that scooter out of there and also ask your thoughts about me showing up to make my ring sometime in the next seven weeks(getting close!).
I’ll give you a call if this e-mail stuff doesn’t hold up.
casey