Take the Super Rat Machine Works pedals.
It's not the Super Rat Machine Works shop that's a joke. They're what appears to be an awesome machine shop based in Kansas City run by fellow rider and FBM Hall of Famer Phil Wasson who makes parts for FBM, Solid and is working on a stem for Terrible One. And it's not even the pedals themselves, which are American-made CNCed artwork.
Nope, in this case it's the pins, of all things. The pedals come with both steel and plastic pins, 16 of each, which get the weigh-in treatment:
As they say on the site:
"that saves you 6.94 grams per pair of pedals! which in reality is probably as much as the mud on your front tire weighs… or 2 pre-1982 pennies, since after 1982 they started skimping on the copper content of pennies. if you’ve got post 1982 pennies, you’re saving the weight of 3 of those."
The weight part is a joke, I guess (it's kind of funny they list them to 1/100th of a gram). But plastic pins in aluminum pedals? For real? I must be getting old.
P.S. You know what else is old? Oh, nothing.
32 comments:
you failed to mention the wine cap:
http://www.superratmachine.com/2008/04/30/little-ol-wine-drinker-me/
nothing on a bike with coaster brakes and one piece cranks. awesome. i remember learning tricks on flyouts bending one piece cranks once a week. this blog rules!
I was pretty psyched on the cork caps.
while I've never spent more than like $35 on pedals, I kinda want to get these.
I think what you fail to realise with regard to plastic is that it is a vey different proposition this millennium.
We are no longer talking about the stuff that children's toys and packaging is made from.
The different types and the stuff that can be done with plastic now is actually amazing.
No, actually I DO understand that. I've got Plegs on my bike, as a matter of fact. But pedal pins? Seriously? It just seems like a bit of a waste.
You run plegs?! Hahahaha they're easily the shitest invention I've ever seen. They have no point outside of indoor parks and are no better than the plastic pegs previously available for that task.
As if you questioned the use of plastic for pedal pins, but then condone it in the most inappropriate of uses.
Also please stop putting words in capitals in an attempted to emphasise, it's pretty fucking creepy.
I didn't see any reason not to try them. It's not like they were prohibitively expensive. If they don't work out, I'll go right back to my Animal Lites. No big deal.
Personally, I think the most inappropriate of uses for plastic is either Z-Rims or one-piece seat/seatposts (or maybe stem bolts or forks), but to each his own.
I like capitalizing for emphasis. Shoot me.
Phil better include some wine in there too.
My super rat bottle opener rules.
You didn't see any reason not to try them? Though you seem to find ample reason to talk shit on some pedal pins that you've never seen?
You're on Odyssey's dick big time, which isn't overly useful for a journalist.
Because you know me so well.
Is this actually shea nyquist?
I know you well enough to know you wouldn't be able to mount any defense of your bias and would probably try to pass it off with some smart ass comment.
If plegs have no used outside of parks (let's assume for a moment that you specifically excluded outdoor parks because you're completely retarded), then you're saying there's a product that has no use outside of a large portion of bmx. Great criticism there. I also like your presentation of complete bullshit as fact regarding previous plastics.
More to the point, plastic pins that aren't made explicitly for weight savings seem to be a decent idea. Surely they'll be cheaper, probably easier to replace, and if you're not bashing your pedal on things, perhaps they'll work just fine.
They have no point outside of indoor parks and are no better than the plastic pegs previously available for that task.
There are a lot of riders that would happily argue against this.
I'm not against plastic pins per se, I just find it funny that they had to put them on a scale.
Not to mention putting plastic pins in an aluminum pedal seems a lot like replacing the frosting on a Krispy Kreme jelly donut with tahini.
Frosting on a falaffel ?
No Chris there isn't. They don't grind and they break easily. They have no point.
And yes vxd I suppose they are equally as crap for outdoor parks so your point is somewhat valid.
why are you so mad shea?
I like the guys who come on here and stir shit without any truly relevant things to add. Statements like "Plegs suck" are never backed up, proof is never given, reasoning doesn't happen...
Yet the often anonymous attackers get away with it because the actual writer of the blog and the other industry heads are too professional to "e-warrior" their point home. In the end the professionals win.
I actually like the idea of plastic pins, and I couldn't give a shit about them.
Can you say no more stripped holes for pins, and less wear on shoes?
couldn't give a shit about the weight*
Falafel's rule!
Plaster pins have to be far cheaper and quicker to produce than the standard metal ones.
As an added benefit they won't tear your shoes up nearly so badly.
The weight is quite clearly a joke.
yeah not realizing the weight thing was a joke is pretty lame Russ
"They don't grind and they break easily. They have no point."
Clear evidence that they grind and "have a point" can be found throughout Jim Bauer's Props interview. As an example, he grinds an aluminum kinked handrail that's covered with skatestoppers.
Riders like Jim Cielencki and Matt Beringer also use them regularly and this can be seen in their video recent parts.
JC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FwREy858sc
Each production batch of Plegs is tested during one stage with hard swings from a sledgehammer as part of their "pass/fail", so to imply that they "break easily", without supplying any information on what has led to the supposed break (usually grinding through the sleeve without rotating it) is misleading and ridiculous.
Anonymity makes life easy.
I seen a pair pretty much shatter from messing about on a foot high curb. Yeah they'll do for coping, but if you boys are pushing them for street I'd be surprised if they lasted long on anything but slippy and apparently also sticky metal.
My little brother kills shit with Plegs. I wonder how many of you shit talkers are doing up rail to whip with your steel pegs?
I was skeptical at first, but after grinding on my brother's bike, I'm sold.
Russ, the wonderful world of the internet will always generate disagreement with your statements, some of which will be unfounded and/or overly negative. Whatever; we're all entitled to our opinions. I freakin' love this site, and even I don't agree with 100% of your stuff, old school as I am. Keep on keepin' on, dude. Your blog rules.
To the "post some riding pics of yourself" angry guy: chill already. Better yet, raise your seat so the post is actually showing, cut an inch or two off your mile-wide bars, and go roll in on a vert ramp.
the fact they need rotating so soon is pretty much their main weakness.
Also I don't know about you, but i've never swung a sledgehammer at my pegs while riding isn't there something closer to actual riding stresses you could use to test them?
Anonymity doesn't really have anything to do with it, i ain't no industry head, calling you out in an attempt to sell more of my shit. i'm just a rider who's seen plegs blow like Semtex. i'm riding the post office curb today so i'll see if dazzy jeff left the broken bit aroubd and i'll get a photo.
No one has ever claimed that the Pleg is "100% indestructible" but they are much, much stronger than what you're trying to write them off as. Additionally, nobody has ever said that the Pleg is intended as a complete replacement for steel pegs either. The Pleg is an alternative choice that can allow a person to grind on objects that were previously prohibitive to steel pegs. They're also light and affordable, and they will last if you actually rotate them regularly and avoid grinding the same overly rough ledge 8000 times in a row in a single day.
Riders should be able to choose alternatives. The Pleg has allowed people to grind on previously "untouched" ledges and rails - whether you want to acknowledge this or not, and that was always one of the major “points” for doing them in the first place.
Hard swings from a sledgehammer can be far worse than what the Pleg will be forced to endure, and as I said previously, this is only “one stage” of the tests that they are subjected to. We’ve also conducted lab tests and we’ve acquired years of riding on them by now.
As for “posting riding pics” (which is entirely irrelevant to the original conversation) shall we also compare penis lengths, the cars we drive and the number of push-ups we can do? Can your anonymous dad beat-up my easily identifiable dad?
I’m at an age where I’ve accepted that my riding will never surpass mediocre on my best day, which is why I’ve dedicated the last ten years toward trying to improve on the products we use, while also trying to provide the best possible support for other riders. I’ve simply looked for the strengths that I have and I’ve made an effort to use them.
The kids that break plegs are the same kids that used to break pitchforks in a hard day of (ghost)riding and (allegedly) shear off bottom brackets with their wicked gate starts.
My plegs have slid brick, human foot, and endured the return of peg bonks. I expect them to last another year or so.
As for the pedals, it's not uncommon for industry to make the wear item of a product out of a softer material, but pedals aren't really made for the long haul, so this seems pretty silly to me.
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