Talk:Bicycle pedal

Extra power by clipping in?
What extra power can you generate by clipping in, is there a reference? - 203.59.209.16 (talk) 07:00, 2 February 2007

threading to attach pedal to crank arm?
The page has the following snippet: "...prevent it from becoming loose by an effect called precession. Although the pedal turns clockwise in its bearing..." and I wonder if the author is referring to the right or left pedal here. My guess is that one would turn CW and the other, CCW. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.192.216.81 (talk) 19:22, 13 March 2007 (UTC).


 * That snippet refers to the left pedal and crank arm. Yes, the left pedal turns CW and the right pedal turns CCW.


 * I've tweaked the text to read "Although the left pedal turns clockwise on its bearing relative to the crank arm (and so would seem to tighten a right-hand thread), the force from the rider's foot presses the spindle against the crank arm thread at a point which rolls around clockwise with respect to the crank arm, thus slowly pulling the outside of the pedal spindle anticlockwise (counterclockwise) because of friction and thus would loosen a right-hand thread." -AndrewDressel 01:22, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Toe clips
Shouldn't a paragraph say what kind of bikes have toe clips and why? Jim.henderson 16:44, 27 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Any type of bike can have pedals with toe clips. LDHan 00:50, 28 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Any bike can have toe clips, but there certainly is a preference to where they're used. You don't often see clips or clipless on a cruiser bike for instance, but you sure see a lot of Egg Beaters on MTB bikes. --76.214.203.95 (talk) 06:18, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Power Grips
I removed this link from the article because 1) it is non-English content 2) WP is not a repository of how-to articles 3) the link text is non-encyclopedic: RosinDebow (talk) 13:33, 21 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Article on how to make grips that work like Power Grips. Well-illustrated and clear. Text is in Japanese, can be reasonably well translated by using Google language tools.

Redirection
I don't know how to do it, but someone should make this page automatically come up when someone types in "bike pedals" or "bike pedal". I know its a bit nit picking, but it would be nice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Randomini (talk • contribs) 02:16, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Done. -AndrewDressel (talk) 02:33, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Attachment to crank arm
Does anyone remember those old (I think DA pedals/cranks) that were not the standard thread setup? I can do some digging to see what I can find but if someone else already know what I am talking about and wants to add something that would be great. Ender8282 (talk) 02:17, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Sounds like you are referring to Shimano's Dura Ace EX/AX Dyna Drive. A company called Loose Screws Bicycle Small Parts sells an adapter.
 * Speedplay's Bicycle Pedal History Museum says "Shimano decided to oversize the pedal and crank arm interface to a 1” diameter to improve aerodynamics and eliminate the spindle. The design never caught on so Shimano pedals soon went back to the standard 9/16” spindle diameter."
 * Sheldon Brown says "In the early '80's, Shimano introduced a special crank/pedal set, which used much larger diameter threading where the pedal screwed into the crank. This allowed them to build the bearing into the inside of the pedal thread, eliminating the need for a pedal axle. The purpose of this was to improve the biomechanics of the pedal by placing the bottom of the foot below the pedal axis. This was rather a good idea biomechanically, but never caught on. In practice, the pedal bearings turned out to be underengineered for the loadings they had to deal with."
 * The 1982 Shimano catalog on Sheldon's site gives pedal model PD-DE10 specifications: "Crank Thread: BC1" x 24T.P.I. Right-hand screw (Right Pedal)" etc.
 * I'll put something in the article. -AndrewDressel (talk) 20:17, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

About this section again, it says: "Adult or multi-piece cranks have a 9/16 inch hole with 20 TPI (a diameter/pitch combination fairly unique to this application). One-piece or kids cranks use a 1/2 inch hole." This is quite confusing, what about an Adult one piece crank? Will it be 9/16 or 1/2? The same for kids multi-piece (although these might not exist...). If Sheldon Brown is correct it should read: Most cranks have 9/16" x 20 tpi threads, except one-piece cranks which have 1/2" x 20 tpi. Of course there might be exceptions to this rule, but at least it is clear and not self contradictory. HumphUK (talk) 21:33, 11 March 2009 (UTC)


 * 3-piece cranks do certainly exist for kids bikes, they're common in my experience. They usually, but not allways, use 1/2".  The hard and fast rule here is there is no hard and fast rule.  1/2" is far more common on 1-piece cranks, and kids bikes, 9/16" far more common on adult 3-piece.  What about BMX?  I'm not very knowledgeable about them, but I think that BMX 3-piece cranksets still use 1/2".--Keithonearth (talk) 06:48, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Magnet Pedals
Are magnet pedals really "the latest development"? I'm looking at the | Speedplay pedal museum, and one of the items shown is the Exus Mag Flux pedal from back in 1996. 98.197.249.31 (talk) 04:18, 12 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Good point. I'll try to clean it up. -AndrewDressel (talk) 13:46, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Definition
I have moved a couple of points to here from the article:
 * A bicycle pedal is a reciprocating motion control system on a bicycle operated by a cyclist.
 * This may be true, I do not have a copy of the source to check it, but I don't believe it belongs in the first sentence.


 * The ideal bicycle pedal would allow for efficient transfer of energy in both the downward and upward forces exerted by the cyclist.
 * This may be true, but I don't believe that a patent application is unbiased source to support such a claim.

Other opinions? -AndrewDressel (talk) 08:18, 18 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Regarding bullet point #1, are you looking for a web link or a hard copy? While it may not have a place in the first sentence (or maybe the article) I believe it serves as an example of some scientific application beyond just stating what it is, but instead what it actually does from a physics stand point. Additionally, it was the only part of the article that actually defined what a pedal is/does. Nowhere in the rest of the article is a bicycle pedal and its basic function explicitly defined by a reliable source.  Barkeep   Chat 14:22, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

External link to a video you have to pay for?
In the external links section, there's this link: "How to remove and install bicycle pedals (video)". It refers to http://bicycletutor.com/replace-pedals/ this page. You have to register and pay to view it. In my opinion, it should be replaced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.183.138.186 (talk) 05:38, 13 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Yup. It is now gone. When that editor was first inserting links to his videos, they were free. I guess he's trying a new business model. -AndrewDressel (talk) 13:08, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Additional power on the upstroke
The belief that you can pull up on bike pedals is very widespread, and you can easily find 100 sources claiming you get more power by clipping in. Yet this belief has been soundly debunked. For example:
 * http://books.google.com/books?id=0JJo6DlF9iMC&pg=PA79#v=onepage&q&f=false
 * http://roadcyclinguk.com/riding/bike-fitting-the-myth-of-the-upstroke.html
 * http://www.rivbike.com/kb_results.asp?ID=45

I think this subject needs to be treated in much greater depth. We should review the major sources on the subject, and try to trace the history of the belief that clipping in makes you go faster. Why does the belief persist so strongly? Also, perhaps an entry should be added to List of common misconceptions on this (along with countersteering, and the tangle of incorrect beliefs about braking). --Dennis Bratland (talk) 21:23, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Additional eferences

 * and for the clipless section Triplecaña (talk) 18:14, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Nice animation
Quality Image to illustrate the mechanism. 2simple (talk) 12:47, 11 May 2019 (UTC)

Tricycle
Tricycle pedals predated bicycle pedals. Can this be referenced somehow? Darrelljon (talk) 22:52, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Possible neutrality problem
In the section Magnet pedals there seems to be a problem with neutrality.

"Established bicycle component manufacturer, Mavic, introduced a magnetic pedal and dedicated shoe for casual riding in 2009. Others have received mixed reviews."

There are citations, but the wording seems to imply "there are others, but they aren't as good". I've tagged the sentence in question. If anyone can suggest new wording to resolve the problem, please make the change or discuss a proposed change here. (It's also possible that I'm wrong about this being non-neutral – in that case, please let me know). Regards, DesertPipeline (talk) 15:34, 15 February 2021 (UTC)