Crank Bros. Pedal Spindle Failure

[Bill Gobie]

Saturday one of my Crank Brothers pedals broke. The spindle failed
during a climb. Fortunately I was on the saddle. This kind of failure
can cause severe injuries if you are standing on a pedal and it
suddenly drops you.

Photos:

http://flic.kr/p/bqmApV
http://flic.kr/p/bqmAt2
http://flic.kr/p/bqmArx

The pedals are Mallet II's with chromoly spindles. This is allegedly a
downhill pedal. I find it incredible one would break on a road bike.

Apart from spoiling my ride, now I don't trust any of my Crank
Brothers pedals. Googling "crank brothers pedal spindle break" turns
up lots of reports of the same failure on various models of CB pedals.
They all appear to use the same spindle. It seems Crank Brothers has
tacitly admitted the spindles are inadequate because their new "next
generation" pedals appear to have a different spindle, although I have
not been able to compare directly. (Just prior to this failure I got a
set of next generation Mallet II's, but I have not been able to take
them apart because the soft rubber endcaps tear instead of unscrewing.)

Running a similar search for Shimano or Time spindles returns no
reports of broken pedal spindles. While not proof Shimano and Time
spindles never fail, in relative terms Crank Brothers spindles fail
significantly more often.

For a variety of reasons I like this sort of large-platform pedal,
particularly for their width. Time makes some similar pedals, the X
Roc and Z Strong. Does anyone know whether these pedals are as wide as
Mallets, or can measure the width?

I think anyone riding Crank Brothers pedals -- particularly pre-"next
gen" ones -- should look for alternatives, pronto.

Bill Gobie

[Brad Hawkins]

I've broken a high end Shimano spindle (thin and light, XT level, silver) but have never broken a lower end pedal, The cheaper ones seem more robust. Sorry about your loss.

Brad

Bill Gobie

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[Eric Norris]

I have had a Crank Bros pedal fail, but it only involved the pedal body coming off the spindle at 1 a.m. in the middle of nowhere near the end of a 400K (how do bike parts know the exact worst time to break?). I've never had a spindle fail on a Crank Bros pedal.

--Eric N

On Feb 8, 2012, at 10:50 AM, Bill Gobie <bi...@billandlorene.com> wrote:

> Saturday one of my Crank Brothers pedals broke. The spindle failed during a climb. Fortunately I was on the saddle. This kind of failure can cause severe injuries if you are standing on a pedal and it suddenly drops you.

> ...

> I think anyone riding Crank Brothers pedals -- particularly pre-"next gen" ones -- should look for alternatives, pronto.
>
> Bill Gobie
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "randon" group.
> To post to this group, send email to ran...@googlegroups.com.
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>

[Bill Gobie]

Your failed pedal is a significantly older one. Let me guess -- the
left pedal fell off? The little bolts inside the pedals that hold the
pedals onto the spindles are right-hand threaded. Precession acts to
unscrew the left one. You can find reports of this on the web. At some
point CB began using nyloc nuts that do not unscrew -- my pedals all
have nylocs. Nylocs make a cheap retrofit. You can get them at most
hardware stores.

Another failure mode of CB pedals is the end caps unscrewing. The end
caps keep the pedals from sliding toward the crank. The caps are right-
hand threaded, so again the left cap tends to unscrew. This happened
to me at the start of a 600. I noticed the pedal acting up and caught
the problem before the cap fell off. The delay cost me any chance of
joining a pace line so the pedal got partial credit for my DNF. I put
a good blob of threadlocker on all my pedals' endcaps after that. CB's
next gen pedals have rubber endcaps that seem unlikely to unscrew.

Bill Gobie

[Eric Norris]

It was the righthand pedal that fell off (the pedal body, anyway). As you described, the small bolt that holds it all together came loose. I shoved the pedal back on and twisted it, and somehow it stayed in place for the last 30 miles or so. And yes, this was an older pair of pedals that I bought used from the original owner. I've upgraded to newer CB pedals.

--Eric N

On Feb 8, 2012, at 1:02 PM, Bill Gobie <bi...@billandlorene.com> wrote:

> Your failed pedal is a significantly older one. Let me guess -- the left pedal fell off? The little bolts inside the pedals that hold the pedals onto the spindles are right-hand threaded. Precession acts to unscrew the left one. You can find reports of this on the web. At some point CB began using nyloc nuts that do not unscrew -- my pedals all have nylocs. Nylocs make a cheap retrofit. You can get them at most hardware stores.
>

> Another failure mode of CB pedals is the end caps unscrewing. The end caps keep the pedals from sliding toward the crank. The caps are right-hand threaded, so again the left cap tends to unscrew. This happened to me at the start of a 600. I noticed the pedal acting up and caught the problem before the cap fell off. The delay cost me any chance of joining a pace line so the pedal got partial credit for my DNF. I put a good blob of threadlocker on all my pedals' endcaps after that. CB's next gen pedals have rubber endcaps that seem unlikely to unscrew.

>
> Bill Gobie
>
> On Feb 8, 2012, at 11:49 AM, Eric Norris wrote:
>
>> I have had a Crank Bros pedal fail, but it only involved the pedal body coming off the spindle at 1 a.m. in the middle of nowhere near the end of a 400K (how do bike parts know the exact worst time to break?). I've never had a spindle fail on a Crank Bros pedal.
>>
>> --Eric N
>>
>> On Feb 8, 2012, at 10:50 AM, Bill Gobie <bi...@billandlorene.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Saturday one of my Crank Brothers pedals broke. The spindle failed during a climb. Fortunately I was on the saddle. This kind of failure can cause severe injuries if you are standing on a pedal and it suddenly drops you.
>>> ...
>>
>>> I think anyone riding Crank Brothers pedals -- particularly pre-"next gen" ones -- should look for alternatives, pronto.
>>>
>>> Bill Gobie
>>>
>

[Retired]

light - cheap - strong

pick 2.

On Feb 8, 1:50 pm, Bill Gobie <b...@billandlorene.com> wrote:
> Saturday one of my Crank Brothers pedals broke. The spindle failed
> during a climb. Fortunately I was on the saddle. This kind of failure
> can cause severe injuries if you are standing on a pedal and it
> suddenly drops you.
>
> Photos:
>

> http://flic.kr/p/bqmApVhttp://flic.kr/p/bqmAt2http://flic.kr/p/bqmArx

[frie...@mac.com]

I've had decent luck with Crank Bro pedals, but moved up to Time ATACs after breaking the cleat retention spring on three different pedals. In hindsight, a Clydesdale shouldn't expect to ride singlespeed, let alone fixie, on anything but the best pedals: too much force, too little metal.

However, for geared, road use  my Crank Bro pedals were quite reliable. They saw me through a Super Randonneur season, which culminated in BMB. No complaints there.

Caveat Emptor,
Wes

Sent from my Motorola Admiral Android, which is still undergoing sea trials.

Wes Cheney
Bikesmith & Proprietor, VeloBamboo
VeloBamboo.com
757.676.0121

-----Original message-----

From: Retired <pno...@gmail.com>
To: randon <ran...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 14:34:30 EST
Subject: [Randon] Re: Crank Bros. Pedal Spindle Failure

light - cheap - strong

pick 2.

[Bill Gobie]

I used to use ATACs, but my feet roll over the sides once the cleats wear a little. I push hard on the outsides of my feet. That is why I like the Mallet's wide platform. The only comparably stable pedals I have used are Ultegra road pedals. If I go back to them I have to get new shoes and insoles which will be a painful and expensive process. Hence my interest in Time X ROCs. Not sure where to find some to look at.

Bill