Product idea for plastic pedals... thought about this before.

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5/24/2014 11:15 AM

So I thought about posting this in the past, but never went through with it because I felt it could be a pretty stupid idea. My idea was mainly for plastic pedals, instead of a full plastic body with just a chromoly spindle, sealed or unsealed. I figured someone could try this, make a SKELETON for the pedal, mainly out of aluminum to keep it stiff and keep an okay weight. I do not believe steel would be a good idea, because that if the steel bends, the pedal can look all cracked apart and retarded.

I am using the Kink Senec Pedal as my example, because this was the EXACT pedal body shape I thought of... I made this diagram to help my idea.
Photo

The GREEN walls, represent where the updated SOLID walls, which have RED X's to designate which parts need the cutouts to be removed.

SO, the surrounding walls of the pedal will be solid Poly Carbonate (PC). There will be an aluminum piece that is the same outer shape of the pedal, but with no cutouts although the walls should be thickened to accommodate a tougher skeleton, ALSO having a block shape pedal, not a shape where on the front/back of the pedals are angled, completely boxed, but there can be cutouts that make the two gaps, from the front of the pedal, to the spindle, and from the back of the pedal to the spindle, in other words the top through bottom cutouts.

Back to that aluminum piece being the same body shape of the pedal, it will be scaled down, having a similar shape, BUT being able to fit within the same yet thickened size of the example pedal.

As for the people who might wonder about the spindle and how it will rotate, that is easy, machine out the aluminum pedal skeleton to allow the spindle to be able to taken apart and put back together with ease, this can ALSO possibly allow many plastic pedal designs to run SEALED bearings, without the cost of a sealed METAL pedal, I am referring to metal because a majority of them is where you can generally find sealed bearings, even outside of BMX. You can also just machine the center of the skeleton to fit the sealed bearings straight in.

About the many designs, this does not refer to slim pedals, as the aluminum body would become pointless since the aluminum body will need to be so thin, so beefier pedals, like the Shadow Ravager, Odyssey Twisted PC, Eclat Plaza, Eclat Slash, Eclat Surge, Animal Hamilton, etc.

Aside from just the body, this can allow for a stronger bond when applying METAL pins to plastic pedals, so for those pedal grinder people out there, this can possibly be a good metal/plastic hybrid type of pedal.


This might sound a little choppy at some parts, but I hope you guys get what I mean.

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5/24/2014 11:24 AM
Edited Date/Time: 5/24/2014 11:25 AM

"I do not believe steel would be a good idea, because that if the steel bends, the pedal can look all cracked apart and retarded." You realise Steel is much harder than Aluminium right? Although Aluminium would be a better option anyway because Steel would add unnecessary weight. However my concerns of the design are:
The pedal would still wear out as fast as an ordinary plastic pedal
It would cost a lot; almost certainly more than metal pedals.

I like that you're thinking outside the box though, and the way I see it, it would get rid of the flex of plastic pedals and make the plastic less likely to crack (Although it definitely would crack more easily than a full metal pedal).

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5/24/2014 11:27 AM

No real point though, sure you have a stronger pedal, but pedals arent really easily broken. Maybe make a pedal out of metal and have a plastic sleeve so it isnt just bare metal. Thatd save a lot of money for users. You could also have it so the metal pins show thru the plastic, that way the pins dont wear out. But in all honesty, you might as well just get metal pedals. I have one on my front foot and it is amazing. I prefer it very much so. I may get some new ones soon!

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5/24/2014 11:53 AM
Edited Date/Time: 5/24/2014 11:56 AM

BMX_Forever wrote:

"I do not believe steel would be a good idea, because that if the steel bends, the pedal can look all cracked apart and ...more

yes, I realize steel is harder, but I was thinking of it this way, take a big drop, and the box shape just so happens to bend but not snap, that you have a pedal with an arch, as well as many splits here and there.

how would it cost a lot more? just drop the skeleton in a mold and add the Poly Carbonate or whatever. I saw it in my head as a pretty simple task on that part.

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Welp, broke past 1000... yeeeee

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5/24/2014 12:00 PM

MaximusBikes wrote:

No real point though, sure you have a stronger pedal, but pedals arent really easily broken. Maybe make a pedal out of metal ...more

on the pins, what i mean was. you drop the skeleton in a pedal mold, after all that, you drill the pedal body just the slightest possible bit larger that the removable pin, you then tap the pedal skeleton for the pin, and there you have it, a strong threading for the pins along with the material feel of plastic pedals

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Welp, broke past 1000... yeeeee

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5/24/2014 12:05 PM

James_Letten17 wrote:

yes, I realize steel is harder, but I was thinking of it this way, take a big drop, and the box shape just so happens to bend ...more

You do realize you would have to make the skeleton first, though, right? That's where the cost will come in. Instead of just plastic or just aluminum, you have both. This would cost way more than a metal pedal.

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5/24/2014 12:05 PM

Do lightweight aluminum pedal with a plastic dip costing grip then add grip tapelol

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5/24/2014 12:11 PM

I think I see where you're going with this...
An aluminum skeleton. And a replaceable plastic body.
That would be a GREAT IDEA.
You could replace bearings and outer bodies as needed.

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HardBMX_Tim wrote: I welded a peg to my pedal so I could do pedal grinds. I would rather wear a teletubbies speedo than a shirt with the word "Bitches" on it, or even worse, "Swag".

5/24/2014 12:12 PM

BMX_Forever wrote:

"I do not believe steel would be a good idea, because that if the steel bends, the pedal can look all cracked apart and ...more

James_Letten17 wrote:

yes, I realize steel is harder, but I was thinking of it this way, take a big drop, and the box shape just so happens to bend ...more

Xxohioanxx wrote:

You do realize you would have to make the skeleton first, though, right? That's where the cost will come in. Instead of just ...more

this is what i mean, make the skeleton, and add the poly carbonate around the skeleton,

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Welp, broke past 1000... yeeeee

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5/24/2014 12:14 PM

boston wrote:

I think I see where you're going with this...
An aluminum skeleton. And a replaceable plastic body.
That would be a GREAT ...more

you actually thought wrong, but at the same time gave me a second idea, make the body and all plastic plates to it, not using all separate pins and other stuff. use the JCPC method for the plates, have the pins going in one side with a nut on the other side and vice versa

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Welp, broke past 1000... yeeeee

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5/24/2014 12:16 PM

FOR ALL WHO REPLIED.... do you guys think that SOMEDAY this would be found doable for a efficient cost?

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Welp, broke past 1000... yeeeee

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5/24/2014 12:19 PM

James_Letten17 wrote:

FOR ALL WHO REPLIED.... do you guys think that SOMEDAY this would be found doable for a efficient cost?

It's doable, but like Ohioan said you have to make the metal skeleton, which will cost the same to produce as an ordinary metal body and then mold the plastic body over it, which will probably cost more than manufacturing an ordinary plastic body so it will end up costly. That being said the Animal BPEs are IMO ridiculously expensive but people have bought them and thought they were worth the money so who knows.

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5/24/2014 1:17 PM

Im so confused.

Basically, make a super slim alloy pedal and then put a layer of plastic over it?

If so, I think it would be useless. The plastic would still crack. It would prevent the pedal body snapping in half, but the plastic would still wear out and crack around the alloy in a short matter of time. Then you are left either buying new pedals or adding metal pins and running the super-slim alloy "skeleton" as the actual pedal body.

Not to mention it would still be the price of an alloy pedal so it would be pointless.

I think people just need to quit being pussies and run metals if they claim plastics are too weak. You dont get shinners if you learn to avoid them so thats no excuse. Only real reason I see anyone avoiding metals is if they rely on their pedals for grinds on rough ledges.

BTW, if you really wanted to accomplish this idea you could drill a bunch of long screws through your plastic pedals and cut the edges and file them flush with the surface of the pedal body.

Its not the worst idea, if it was available for every cheap crappy plastic pedal it would be AWESOME. But for as much as it would cost id rather buy a cheaper alloy pedal and dunk it in some molten plastic.

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5/24/2014 2:39 PM

boston wrote:

I think I see where you're going with this...
An aluminum skeleton. And a replaceable plastic body.
That would be a GREAT ...more

James_Letten17 wrote:

you actually thought wrong, but at the same time gave me a second idea, make the body and all plastic plates to it, not using ...more

That's more where my head was at. Makes it not only possible, but profitable. Perhaps with an oversized spindle (like the BPE).
Because with replaceable bearings and "shields" made of PC, at an affordable cost, you would have the best of both metal and plastic. Yes, the initial pedal would cost almost as much as a trail mix, but the replaceable parts would be cheap, increasing the usablity.

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HardBMX_Tim wrote: I welded a peg to my pedal so I could do pedal grinds. I would rather wear a teletubbies speedo than a shirt with the word "Bitches" on it, or even worse, "Swag".