I started with sealed bearing Wellgo (B-36) pedals.
The left one fell off in the first 50 miles while I was pedaling.
The Wellgo pedals were soooo grippy, they destroyed my shoes.
The local bike shop said that Wellgo pedals aren’t very durable.
They recommended the HEAVY Primo Tenderizer pedals.
The right pedal is making noises - it is not going to last much longer.
The Primo pedals don’t damage my shoes.
Can Primo Pedals be repaired?
Anyone know of some ULTRA durable pedals that aren’t registered as lethal weapons due to their weight?
I realy like Shimano DX pedals I have them on a couple of my unis, they are light and gripy but not to gripy they have smaller pins than some pedals which don’t hold up to grinding on rocks, and they have good bearings and axles that don’t bend. and no end caps that allways get destroyed. They are kind of pricy but worth it I think, full price is like $120 but I got mine from price point for $65 + shipping
If you want something that just lasts and doesn’t need too much maintenance, buy DMR V8s with the grease port and make sure you squirt grease in them every so often.
It sounds pretty surpising that you’re killing pedals that quickly though, pedals should last a good thousand miles or so without much maintenance and longer if you maintain them.
Are you riding a lot in snow and ice and keeping your muni somewhere cold? Or do you do loads and loads of pedal grabs? Or ride with a lot of outwards pressure on your feet, or anything else that might destroy bearings?
I’ve had problems with inexpensive pedals on my unicycles, too. The
Wellgos that came on my KH24 first ate their bearings (the ball
bearings decided to leave their track), and ended up with stripped
threads shortly after being repaired. My theory is the threads must
have been stripped when the pedals were made.
Still, this pedal lasted a couple of months, far better than the cheap
pedal on my other unicycle. It didn’t even last a week, and I don’t
think it’s worth trying to fix $8 pedals.
> I started with sealed bearing Wellgo (B-36) pedals.
> The left one fell off in the first 50 miles while I was pedaling.
> The Wellgo pedals were soooo grippy, they destroyed my shoes.
For my street ride, I bought the Shimano MX30 pedals which weight in
at a very lean 492g. I’m quite happy with them, though they are not
extremely grippy with the short pins. They come with long pins too,
which I haven’t tried.
The Primo pedals can be repaired. You most likely have the unsealed flavor Primo pedals, which means the pedals use loose ball bearings. Take the pedal apart in a shoe box so you don’t loose the bearings. Clean out the old grease and dirt. Put in some new bearing grease. The challenging part to getting the pedal put back together is getting the bearing race just tight enough. Too tight and the pedal won’t spin freely. Too loose and the pedal will have too much play. It’s a bit tricky, but with some trial and error you’ll get it right.
In some cases the unsealed pedals hold up better than sealed pedals. Sealed pedals use a cartridge bearing. Unsealed pedals use loose ball bearings. With unsealed pedals you can regrease the bearings if you ride through water, mud, or sand a lot. With unsealed pedals you have to replace the cartridge bearing which gets to be more expensive if you have to do it a lot. Unsealed pedals are also better for trials where you’re doing things like pedal grabs. In trials you can blow a cartridge bearing apart from the abuse. With an unsealed pedal you just have to regrease the bearings and fiddle with the tightness of the bearing race to keep the pedals in working order.
For sealed pedals I’d recommend either the Shimano DX or the Atomlab Aircorp. The Shimano pedals have smaller diameter pins. Some people like that and some people don’t. Shop around for the Shimano pedals. You can get them for much less than their MSRP. The 2004 Aircorp pedals are redesigned from the 2003 model. The 2004 model is a bearingless design. It uses all bushings and no bearings. I don’t know how well the 2004 version will work. It’s untested, unknown. It may do very well. With no bearing there is no bearing to break. That should improve durability and reliability. Someone is going to have to try the new 2004 Aircorp on a muni and report back about how the new design holds up. I’ve got the 2002 era Aircorps and no plans to be buying the 2004 model any time soon (no need, my current pedals are working just fine).
Could you enlighten us as to the nature of this bushing design?
Also, I just got a used set of snafus with unsealed bearingsa, and I’m happy, except that they have lots of play in them and I can’t figure out which socket fits the race. A 13 is too small, but a 14 is too big . Strange. So, I can’t grease or tighten them, but I still expect to get a good 6months to a year of heavy trials abuse in on them, that is, if the cage doesn’t shatter or crack. That’s what happened on my last set. I also tried the wellgo b-37s, but now they’re on my muni. They work well. I’ve also heard many good things aboout the azonic a-frame, which I would buy if I weren’t set for pedals for a loong time (I hope).
My $0.02
One last thing, stay away from magnesium. It’s really bad cuz you can rip the pins right out of the body, and then all it’s good for is burning.
I don’t know much about it, other than what’s mentioned on their web site.
The 2003 design had one DU bushing and one cartridge bearing per pedal. The 2004 design has two DU bushings per pedal and no cartridge bearing. I’m optimistic about the new design, but until someone gives it some hard abuse on a muni it will be untested and unknown. A quality pedal that will never have a bearing go “crunch” in the middle of a ride will be well worth the cost of those pedals.
There are clipless pedals that use all bushings and no ball bearings. I’m not aware of any platform pedals (other than the Atomlab pedals) that have gone with the all bushing design.
On your Snafu’s try an Imperial (English) socket. It may not be metric. Also some sockets with thick walls may not fit due to clearance. There are sockets with thinner walls, but they are usually the more expensive sockets.
. Strange. So, I can’t grease or tighten them, but I still expect to get a good 6months to a year of heavy trials abuse in on them, that is, if the cage doesn’t shatter or crack. That’s what happened on my last set. I also tried the wellgo b-37s, but now they’re on my muni. They work well. I’ve also heard many good things aboout the azonic a-frame, which I would buy if I weren’t set for pedals for a loong time (I hope).