MTB pedals on a road bike?



Mark wrote:

> Ted, Grease is certainly NOT a satisfactory substitue for
> an anti-seize compound. Being a mechanic by trade for 30+
> years, I've seen other guys use regular grease to coat
> threads on bolts, etc., and seen these same bolts snap, or
> strip whatever they were threaded into further on down the
> road. (Especially with dissimilar metals)
>
> You might think grease is better than nothing, but in most
> case gives absolutely no improvement vs nothing at all.
> Read up on this.
>
> Really, does it pay to cheap out for a $3 tube of Anti-
> seize? As mentioned before too, constantly changing out
> Pedals over, and over isn't a good idea either. Mark
>
> Ted Bennett wrote
> > There's no need for anti-seize here, as ordinary grease
> > will do the job just as well, is cheaper and is already
> > wherever bikes are worked on.

Anti-seize may indeed be useful in fixed joints, but a pedal-
crank joint is not fixed. Red iron oxide rouge is commonly
found there in the case of steel pedal spindles, indicating
the movement. There has been a lot of discussion of this,
and other faults of this joint.

I'll stand by my statement. Grease in a moving joint will do
the job just as well as anti-seize, as demonstrated by the
lack of pedals that seize into cranks. The far more common
problem is fretting of the surface of the aluminum crank,
leading to cracks around the threaded eye.

--
Ted Bennett Portland OR
 
"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<DEQec.27857$xn4.49892@attbi_s51>...
> "Russell Seaton" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> > Road pedals are superior for actually pedaling.
>
> How so?

1. Larger pedal surface to push against. Pressure spreads
out more and far less likely to feel the smaller SPD or
Frog or ATAC cleat through the sole of the shoe. Stiff
shoes help, but do not solve the problem. I have a pair
of Carnac road shoes with their UCV3 sole, and a pair
of Carnac mountain bike shoes with their UCV3 sole.
Same sole on both shoes except the mountain bike shoe
sole has plastic lugs glued to the bottom. Both were
$200 or so shoes in the late 1990s. Their top of the
line shoe at the time. On long rides of 80 plus miles I
can feel the SPD cleat. On long rides of 180 miles on
the Time road pedal, I can't feel the Time cleat
through the shoe.

2. Less slop between the cleat and the pedal. On SPD pedals
and cleats, you can pull your foot up and feel a little
slop. Its not a zero clearance fit. On my Time pedals
and cleats, you cannot pull up and feel any slop. SPD
and Frog and ATAC are designed for mud and slop. They
have to accomodate a little slop between the cleat and
pedal. There has to be some room for this slop to go and
still allow the pedal and cleat to interface.

3. More secure grip between pedal and cleat. I can yank my
foot out of my SPD pedals and have when I was ready to
fall. I cannot rip my foot out of my Time Equipe pedals
and do fall over. Road cleats such as the Time or Look
have a large cicumference for the pedal to grab onto.
And fairly large hooks on the front or back of the cleat
that the pedal grabs onto. More surface area is being
grabbed by the pedal on road cleats. In contrast an SPD
cleat has about 1/2 inch of cleat circumference in front
and 1/2 in back for the springs to push against and
grab. I prefer my Time pedals in a sprint.

How many pros ride SPD road pedals? Shimano sponsors many
riders but I don't recall their SPD road pedal being much of
a hit in the pros. They developed the SPD-R to fix this
problem with no one liking their SPD road pedal. Then they
developed their Look style pedal to fix the problem of
nobody liking their SPD-R road pedal. But they are still
using the SPD for mountain bikes. If the SPD was superior on
the road to regular road pedals, the pros would use them.
Their fame and fortune is made by winning. If a pedal can
help, they will use them.

And if the SPD style of pedal and road pedals are equal for
road use, then you would expect to see an equal number of
Shimano sponsored riders using their road pedals and an
equal number using their mountain bike pedals in the pro
peloton. And with Time sponsored riders you would expect to
see an equal number of riders using the Impact/Equipe pedals
and an equal number using the ATAC pedals. And with
Speedplay sponsored riders you would expect to see an equal
number of riders using the Zero pedals and an equal number
using the Frog pedal. If mountain bike pedals and road
pedals are truely equal for road use, there is no reason for
pro riders to favor one over the other. Shimano and Time and
Speedplay and others would pay them the same either way. But
they aren't equal for road riding. And I would guess the
pros use road pedals over mountain bike pedals on the road
because of the three reasons listed above.
 
On 14 Apr 2004 17:26:59 -0700, [email protected] (Russell
Seaton) wrote:
>"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote
>in message news:<DEQec.27857$xn4.49892@attbi_s51>...
>> "Russell Seaton" <[email protected]> wrote
>> > Road pedals are superior for actually pedaling.
>> How so?
>
>1. Larger pedal surface to push against. Pressure spreads
> out more

This is a solution to a problem many/most people don't have.

>2. Less slop between the cleat and the pedal. On SPD
> pedals and cleats, you can pull your foot up and feel a
> little slop. Its not a

A personal preference, at most. I've never noticed any slop,
even when using $20 SPD pedals (and their cleats) on hard-
soled road shoes.

>3. More secure grip between pedal and cleat. I can yank my
> foot out of my SPD pedals and have when I was ready to
> fall.

Sounds like a mis-adjustment. The only combination I have
which allows me to yank my feet out (and I've tried hard,
standing still, braced against the wall) is some very worn
Shimano spd cleats on the aforementioned $20 generic spd
pedals, with said pedals adjusted to their lightest tension.
No problem with newer cleats, tighter tension, or the same
cleats in a different pair of pedals (at lightest tension).

>I cannot rip my foot out of my Time Equipe pedals and do
>fall over.

Wow, I should put those road pedals I have back on the bike,
for this exact reason. I prefer to fall over in emergencies.

>How many pros ride SPD road pedals?

Pros tend to have different priorities than non-racers.

>If the SPD was superior on the road to regular road pedals,
>the pros would use them. Their fame and fortune is made by
>winning. If a pedal can help, they will use them.

That's if a pedal can help win races. Others have different
priorities.

I have a pair of road pedals that are going to go on a bike
I intend to use for TTs this summer. Apart from making use
of stuff that's collecting dust, the only reason I will is
because they're slightly more aerodynamic. I'll still come
in last, but I ought to be faster by a whole millisecond...

>And if the SPD style of pedal and road pedals are equal
>for road use, then you would expect to see an equal
>number of Shimano sponsored riders using their road
>pedals and an equal number using their mountain bike
>pedals in the pro peloton.

That's a quick way to lose a sponsorship. You ride what they
want to sell, or they sponsor somebody else.

Besides, as I said, their priorities are different. They
don't need to walk into a store to buy a powerbar or water.
They don't need to put a foot down on the ground at a
traffic light without skidding. They don't need to click in
and out often, and try to flip the pedal each time to do so,
all while dodging automotive traffic. They don't need to
find parts to repair a broken pedal at the nearest LBS. They
don't need to put their foot back in the pedal after
accidentally stepping in some roadside dirt. The list could
go on forever.

>If mountain bike pedals and road pedals are truely equal
>for road use, there is no reason for pro riders to favor
>one over the other.

For non-pro-racing use, they're not equal. Mountain bike
pedals are more practical for most non-racers. Some people
do need to solve specific problems, and find that road
pedals solve those problems; but support or slop are fit
issues, not "superior for pedalling". Road pedals are
slightly more aero; and very expensive road pedals are a few
grams lighter than $20 mountain pedals.

The $20 mountain pedals are on sale for $17.49 right now,
and listed at 345 grams per pair. At nearly any price point,
mountain pedals are likely to be lighter than equivalently
priced road pedals.
--
Rick Onanian