Pedal snapped

[RobF]

A pedal snapped on the AVE today.

There I was, 30 miles into a 40 mile ride, bowling along level ground and the next thing I know my right leg is swinging in the air.

It was on the AVE, which has folding pedals, although it's the main spindle that's failed so nothing to do with the folding mechanism.

Happily I was within a mile of my mate Vince the bike mechanic's shop.

Pedalling on the stub wasn't too easy, but I was able to limp in and get the pedals replaced - I wouldn't trust the other one.

Apparently, pedals do sometimes snap.

I bumped into a mate of mine nearer home who said his went on his Cannondale mountain bike, again when not under much load.

I'm still not too impressed, I lack the fitness to put a lot of power through the pedals and it's an ebke with a motor taking a lot of the strain.

Naming and shaming, the pedal is branded Suntour - some of their forks aren't a lot of cop either.

 

[jackhandy]

Could have been worse, Rob.
Could ha ve been 20 miles into a 40 mile ride.

 

[flecc]

I'm not surprised you're unimpressed. This almost never did happen many decades ago, regardless of rider strength, so with today's vastly improved metallurgy it should be virtually impossible.

I wouldn't necessarily blame Suntour, they can be the victim of poor metals supplied for their fabricating stages.

 

[RobF]

The milled bit that snapped is about 8mm in diameter - thinner than a pencil.

I'm told all pedals are similar.

Doesn't seem a lot of meat on there to resist a sharp downward snapping force.

 

[Emo Rider]

I'm not surprised you're unimpressed. This almost never did happen many decades ago, regardless of rider strength, so with today's vastly improved metallurgy it should be virtually impossible.

I wouldn't necessarily blame Suntour, they can be the victim of poor metals supplied for their fabricating stages.

Many years ago, one of my university friends wrote a paper on the probability of this sort of thing happening to what were otherwise dependable products. The most highly reported incident are within the automotive field. The impossible task of keeping shareholders happy drove brands that were once the benchmark of quality to outsource parts from cheaper sources. The quality controls that governed the assembly was still the same. Sadly the quality controls of their suppliers were lacking. Hence the sticking throttle spring, the defective air bag sensor, the broken pedal shaft and so on. This will not be the last time you'll hear of this but I do believe that competition and the consumers demand for quality will win out

 

[Emo Rider]

The milled bit that snapped is about 8mm in diameter - thinner than a pencil.

I'm told all pedals are similar.

Doesn't seem a lot of meat on there to resist a sharp downward snapping force.

Different pedaling styles put pressure on pedals in a different ways. Cyclist that pedal with their instep over the pedal axle tend to put all of the pressure to the end furtherest away from the crank because of the way your foot and shoe is built. Cyclist that pedal with the wide part of the front of their foot put more pressure on the pedal closer to the crank. This greatly reduces the stress on the pedal shaft. Having said that, a good quality pice of kit should never break like that.

 

[RobF]

Different pedaling styles put pressure on pedals in a different ways. Cyclist that pedal with their instep over the pedal axle tend to put all of the pressure to the end furtherest away from the crank because of the way your foot and shoe is built. Cyclist that pedal with the wide part of the front of their foot put more pressure on the pedal closer to the crank. This greatly reduces the stress on the pedal shaft. Having said that, a good quality pice of kit should never break like that.

I was thinking the pressure from pedalling will act on the pedal in ways that are not obvious or easy to work out.

Having said that, the threaded bit at 14/15mm is nice and chunky and reassuring - you just can't see it breaking.

Were the threaded bit the same size as the bit that broke, you'd refuse to get on the bike.