BMX pegs on a regular rear axle?
Konstantin Shemyak
and the distances are short, so I'm not into any special solution like
tandems or Xtracycles. I'd like to continue doing it on my regular
commuting bike without major modifications, but to add a little
comfort to the co-rider. The most wanted option is some kind of foot
stand.
Is it possible to attach BMX pegs on a regular, say Shimano, rear hub,
with the axle replaced from QR-type to (maybe longer) nut-type?
How much do BMX rear axles protrude past dropouts? Are they of the
same diameter (10mm)? Would pegs co-exist fine with any kind of
dropout, or some flat surface is necessary? (I know pretty much every
bit in my own bicycles, but never got hands on a BMX.)
Thanks in advance,
Konstantin.
Chalo
>
> I'm sometimes carrying passengers on the rear rack. It happens seldom
> and the distances are short, so I'm not into any special solution like
> tandems or Xtracycles.
> Is it possible to attach BMX pegs on a regular, say Shimano, rear hub,
> with the axle replaced from QR-type to (maybe longer) nut-type?
Techniically, yes. Typical footpegs these days are mounted like a
sort of axle washer, with the axle nuts being affixed inside the peg
with a socket wrench. Since the holes in these pegs are simple
(though intended for 9.5mm or 14mm axles), there is no reason in
principle that they could not be mounted on a road bike's or mountain
bike's axle. But there are some likely problems.
> How much do BMX rear axles protrude past dropouts?
If they are intended for racing, they will be only long enough to pass
through the axle nuts with a minimum of 1/4" protruding. If they are
intended for freestyle use, they might protrude up to 30mm or more
past the dropouts, to accommodate the bases of the pegs plus the
thickness of the axle nuts and any washers.
There is an older style of footpeg that was common in the '80s and
early 90s. These pegs were smaller than the tubular steel pegs used
for stunts today. Usually on the order of 25mm in diameter and
60-75mm long, they were essentially enlarged axle nuts that had
internal threads and wrench flats at their bases.
> Are they of the same diameter (10mm)?
Common BMX axle diameters are 3/8"-24, 3/8"-26, and M14x1.
> Would pegs co-exist fine with any kind of
> dropout, or some flat surface is necessary?
Hooded dropouts like Ritchey or Sub 11.0 would not allow the mounting
of footpegs.
Normal basically flat dropouts can be used to mount pegs. But
vertical or front-opening dropouts and the thin-walled tapered stays
common on road bikes and MTBs are rarely strong enough to cope with
such use, and they will become bent. Even if the dropouts do not
yield, they may flex enough to allow the axle to yield. I saw this
sort of failure time and again when I worked as a mechanic in a
neighborhood bike shop in the early '90s.
Department store quality kid's bikes would be fitted with small
threaded footpegs and used by their riders to carry friends around in
a standing position. Sooner or later the relatively thin and soft
plate dropouts would bend, along with the rear axle. In the years
since then, the same sorts of manufacturers have come to offer bike
models with suitably sturdy dropouts construction and larger footpegs
included.
I was highly skeptical when I first worked on one of these bikes for a
neighbor kid, when I discovered that the pegs were mounted _outboard_
of normal axle nuts, with a cup in the peg base that completely
enclosed the axle nut. (The pegs themselves were tightened with a
tommy bar.) But during the time I watched that bike and others like
it in action, they seemed to work pretty well.
Chalo
sio...@aol.com
I'm not that knowledgable about BMX components but I happened to be
present when a bike shop employee gave the following explanation to a
customer who was trying to get her son's BMX rear hub replaced under
warranty. The axle was bent after he had carried a friend standing on
the pegs.
BMX pegs take two forms: cosmetic and functional. But it has less to
do with the pegs and more the hub and axle. On those BMX bikes where
the pegs are intended to be functional and capable of supporting a
person's weight, the hub has an oversize axle. If the pegs are
cosmetic then they can simply be screwed onto a standard axle. In the
case of the warranty claim, the shop employee explained that her son's
pegs were cosmetic and that fact had been mentioned to the boy prior
to the sale.
Based on that I'd say that even if your dropouts and axle length allow
you to thread on some pegs, it's not a good idea. They simply weren't
designed for that kind of load.
RonSonic
Don't ya just hate "features" that aren't actually useful for whatever purpose
such a feature appears useful for.
someone
>
> Based on that I'd say that even if your dropouts and axle length allow
> you to thread on some pegs, it's not a good idea. They simply weren't
> designed for that kind of load.
The load is the weight of a leg, the pssengers body weight would
hopefully supported by the seat on top of the luggage rack. I think
that some bent plywood tied to the bkie and rack stays protruding
below the axle may make a more useful foot platform.
Mike Jacoubowsky
BMX pegs take two forms: cosmetic and functional. But it has less to
do with the pegs and more the hub and axle. On those BMX bikes where
the pegs are intended to be functional and capable of supporting a
person's weight, the hub has an oversize axle. If the pegs are
cosmetic then they can simply be screwed onto a standard axle. In the
case of the warranty claim, the shop employee explained that her son's
pegs were cosmetic and that fact had been mentioned to the boy prior
to the sale.
BMX pegs are not designed for carrying passengers. They're for
"grinding." A normal bicycle is not designed to have substantial weight
falling directly over the rear wheel. Carrying a passenger in this
manner is dangerous to the passenger, most likely illegal, and very bad
for the bike.
Someone *could* design a bike that could handle a passenger in the
fashion proposed, but it's not a bike you'll find in a bike shop or
department store.
Hopefully the shop employee was not saying or even implying that a
"functional" BMX peg was made for carrying somebody. They are not. Nor
is the heavy-duty rear axle assembly found on sturdier BMX bikes.
They're made to withstand the extreme rigors or heavy-duty grinding and
acrobatics, sometimes dealing with landing after a 20 foot drop (with
rider attached, hopefully!).
--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
<sio...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:88f24717-db50-451b...@e24g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...
someone
> Someone *could* design a bike that could handle a passenger in the
> fashion proposed, but it's not a bike you'll find in a bike shop or
> department store.
Yes it is a sturdy rear wheel (36x14swg on normal rim at least) with
a carrier topped with a motorcycle style seat and somewhere to locate
the feet. In fact I would look at motorcycle and moped footpegs
before installing BMX grind posts. The carrier is best made of square
section stays fixed to the heavy axle of the wheel. The footpegs
could be angles off overlength stays. Some 18swg steel to provide a
web to locate the stay to the axle. The long drop of the rack stays,
providing a skeleton, would permit alternative luggage arrangments yet
to be discovered. I'm thinking of some unusual box shapes to carry
specific loads.
AMuzi
There are a wide variety of peg designs. See a BMX shop,
with your bicycle, to get specific advice on fit with your
particular frame ends.
p.s. I would use a Wald #215 steel rear carrier not an
aluminum one.
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971