SUPER RAT MACHINE WORKS

when kyle came by to pick up his pedals the other day we talked about initial reactions and whatnot and decided to post them as a review of sorts. (note: of course he may not seem like the most objective candidate to be providing a review, he is very critical of the parts on his bike…)

quoth kyle:

The other day Phil gave me my pedals, and asked me to write up a little review. We thought it would be kind of cool to break it up into two parts, one for my initial impression, and another later on to see how they hold up. So I suppose we’ll go ahead and start with “The Good”.

First of all, I was glad that the pedals were fully machined. Forged pedals seem to be much more brittle than machined pedals, meaning that they can snap or shatter where a machined pedal might just flex or bend a little. I was also happy about the lack of traditional cartridge bearings. Those things always seemed to be the first part to crap out on other pedals, so I was very happy about the brass bushing that took their place on the Super Rat pedals. The use of these bushings also allowed for a larger 1/2″ spindle. As far as I know, that’s the biggest spindle you can get, which is pretty impressive considering that they’re still lighter than a lot of other pedals. I was also glad to see the little bridge in between the pins, since my last pedals (trail kings) bent in that spot. At first I was a little skeptical of the larger shape, but when I rode them they felt great. The four pins gave just the right amount of traction so that my feet could move around on tables, but not blow off on hard landings.

As for “The Bad”, all I can find are a few little nit picks. The pins were a minor issue, just because I couldn’t tell you where my phillips head is if my life depended on it. Allen pins would have been nice, but how often do you change your pins anyway? Another minor issue was the end cap. It’s a really cool piece, and you can take it in and out with just your fingers. The only problem is, if you’re not careful you can push it too far down into the pedal body and get it stuck. Again, it’s not really a big deal, since you can fish it out with any number of random household items (car keys, a steak knife, and forceps have all been useful). And if you can resist the temptation to play with it, you should rarely ever have to mess with the end cap anyhow.

Overall I’ve really liked the pedals so far. I haven’t had a single shinner or slipped pedal yet. I’m really glad to see a high quality, serviceable, American made pedal come out when the market seems to be dominated by disposable plastic pedals. My initial verdict is that I’m really excited to be riding these, and I look forward to having them on my bike for a long time to come.

-Kyle Wedd

it’s interesting to me that the head of the traction pin screws has been the first thing people seem to notice? i thought a phillips head screw driver would be more accessible than a 5/64″ allen wrench, but what do i know. we’re including 3 sets of pins with the pedals. the phillips head, the allen wrench version and a set of plastic pins which use a flat head srewdriver (that’s the only way they are available).
as a test we compared the weight of the steel screws and the plastic screws. we employed andy’s scale that he uses to measure out inks and whatnot for ceramic decal printing, since they barely even registered on my scale… these numbers are in grams for 16pcs of each:

16pcs steel screws – 8.72grams
16pcs plastic screws- 1.78grams

that saves you 6.94grams per pair of pedals! which in reality is probably as much as the mud on your front tire weighs… or 2 pre-1982 pennies, since after 1982 they started skimping on the copper content of pennies. if you’ve got post 1982 pennies, you’re saving the weight of 3 of those.
obviously if you’re shredding the streets and doing pedal grinds the plastic pins are not going to last, although as best as i can tell they provide the same grip, and are probably no friendly to your shins than anything else (inevitable? yes but i’m not volunteering to find out) and what the hey they are there, might as well use-em.

next up for testing is titanium spindles…