Bought some DMR Vaults at Xmas, opened them up today and they’re full of dirt and the axle is rusty, which is crap for an £80 pedal. Had lots of superstar previously: some last a while, others wobbly within a week.
Is there a reasonably priced reliable and grippy pedal out there that can withstand the Lake District??
Nothing grips like a set of Vaults. Sounds like you had a pair that has been damaged by the distributor or seller during storage.
Superstar will likely be what a lot of others will recommend if you don't want to try another pair of Vaults.
This thread has just influenced me to buy some new pedals in.
Burgtecs are every bit as grippy as vaults, and aren't made of wensleydale. I assume when he says opened up, he means stripped the pedal, not opened the box rayban! 😁
I'm assuming if they had dirt in them and had rusted they were either used or had been stored in a flooded warehouse.
The bushings went on my dmr v12s after little use. Still spin but annoyingly rattly. Superstar nano have lasted much better. Nukeproof horizon composite not durable! And loosen themselves.
Fave pair is one up composite. Great grip, weight and price.
I've been using Burgtec for a few years now.
Mrs stu has just bought some Burgtec composite pedals for less than half the price of my alloy ones.
They seem just as well built and have the same level of grip.
I used to use V8's - dead easy to service, just pack with grease every so often.
I now have Shimano DX flat pedals which have run true for years without needing any servicing thus far and grip is superior IMO to the V8's.
I had Saints for 3 years. Reliable, but found the body wore quite heavily. I had a demo bike with HT components ANS10 which just felt so much grippier so switched to them a year ago and find them much better. The chambered body seems to give fewer pedal strikes too
Nuke proof Electron/Neutron .... cheap as; grippy as; colour doesn’t chip, and they’ll take a bashing
I've read some horror stories on forums and social media about these composite pedals not being as strong as alloy, and snapping under load causing injury.
Is that just one of those one off scaremongering review?
Love the big huge XTs I got from Evans. Sticky as hell.
(Shoe to pedal, not bearing)
My standard boring response is
Superstar Nano Evo > Carbon Cyvles Exotic Alloy > wellgo mg-1.
All so far have been maintenance free. The mg-1’s are the oldest, the Exotics are 2 years old, the Nanos maybe 6 months or so old.
Mg-1’s have the smallest platform and are painted so look scruffy quite quickly. They’re now in my spares box.
The other 2 pedals are quite similarly grippy - the Nano has the small pins that came with them and are the grippiest of the pedals I have. There are longer (monster) pins that came with them if you wanted more grip. I think they have bushings and bearings as a mix.
The exotics feel like pure bearings and have stayed immaculately smooth - although one axle seal is looking a little scruffy. Bargain £10 for a rebuild kit on those.
So I’d go Nano if I were buying another new set of pedals now, unless budget were an issue - in which case I’d go Exotic as they’re usually cheaper.
I've not seen any stories about composite pedals snapping udner load?
I've had a couple of sets and they were great - I did manage to bend the axle of one when I had a pretty major crash.
I'm currently running a cheap alloy pair from Discobrakes.com
Taken a fair few hits, work well with my 5-10s and have survived Peak mud and grit wothout compaint. But so did the Superstar plastic ones, so.....
Si
I’ve not seen any stories about composite pedals snapping udner load?
This. Plenty of hard hitting BMXers use them too.
FWIW I run burgtecs and RF Atlas'
Clean the dirt out and fill them with marine grease and they’ll be fine for ages.
Despite the vaults maybe having crap seals and bushings I love mine.
comfortable and grippy.
so much so just bought a second pair for one of the other bikes.
to be fair though hope f20's with the better pins are awesome, would get them if I could justify the cost.
My first pair of vaults were still going strong after 3 years, but sold my old bike and they went with it. I tried a pair of the Nukeproof neutrons and they lasted less than 2 months, cracks in both pedals, no noticeable pedal strikes. I’ve now got a set of crankbrothers stamp which have been great for the past year and the large size are great for my size 12 boats. I’ve also got a set of vaults on the other bike which I’ve not had any problems with over the past 9 months. The vaults grip is brilliant, but a shin killer.
Had no problems with my plastic nukeproofs, had the same for two years which have helped me through various races, down mountains and DH trail centres.
I'm running the one-up alloy pedals and they are ace. Still running smoothly after nearly a year and properly grippy, although I had been on hope f-20s so greased teflon would feel grippy.
the terrible Hopes have been transformed with the new extra spikey pins! this is annoying ecause i really want some of the new composite burgtecs! but cant fault the f20s at the moment...
curve ball - new kona wah wah's are amazing pedals!!
My vaults made some noise so lubed the axle and been fine since, burgtec penthouse gripwise very similar but I like the nearer crank arm feel of them
Pedals are a disposable item same as tyres, grips, drivetrains they need replacing,
A wise man once said spend money on the sssentials (a good bed, pillow, shoes) I go with the principle that I should be spending 10-20% of the bikes value on maintenance.. some years you get lucky and spend nothing the next year like an mot failure it costs the earth.
For spd £20 m520 are VFM and high quality but I don’t feel you get that with cheap (ungrippy) flats
Never had issues with Superstar plastic ones
I’ve read some horror stories on forums and social media about these composite pedals not being as strong as alloy, and snapping under load causing injury.
When/where? When I looked originally, after Nukeproof introduced the Horizon pedal as a composite, the only thing I could find was ancient issues with old BMX pedals.
I proceeded to beat the hell out of the above NP pedals for the last 2 years & have only just retired them to the spares box. I've managed to batter one corner in a particularly high speed rock/pedal interaction which partially tore out the pin, but that's it. They have never had anything done to them otherwise. I'd have gone through 4 or 5 sets of rebuild kits for some Vaults in the same amount of time & they would have still rattled & felt loose for the majority of it.
When/where?
Aye, bullshit on the internet by the sounds of it.
I love my Nano Evos, but have been eyeing up the OneUp components composites. They look very good value for money, with a nice big platform.
Nukeproof Electrons here. No complaints, bought for wide grippy platform to use on singlespeed. Weighing very little compared to metal is the cherry on the top.
Oneup alloy. Super light, super thin, super grippy with a fivetens (with middle pins removed).
I recently took them apart after a year of use and they were clean inside. Quick regrease and good to go again.
I recently took them apart after a year of use and they were clean inside
The large bearings in mine needed replacing recently as they were feeling a bit rough. Maybe a little over a year but used throughout winter. On the plus side the replacements are available, reasonably priced and dead easy to fit thanks to the ingenious self extracting design. I'm not 100% happy with the shape but they are good pedals
No clear winner then! Pumped a load of marine grease in the vaults and they feel better. Prolly use them until they completely die. Not sure why Shimano spds are bomb proof but all flat pedals never are and suffer sealing issues.
Recent Shimano flat pedals use the same bearing arrangement as the spds.
It must have been BS on one of the social media pages then. Cuz you guys seem to rate the composites.
Apparently a guy went off a jump, maybe a harsh landing and the composite pedal broke and tore his calf muscle. But I spose that can happen with anything.
The Shimano reviews seems to slag off the grip. Is that the case?
I've had a set of F20s since they were released, the pins were changed for the longer (now standard) hollow ones, leaving out the middle ones to create some concavity , the grip is acceptable, the bearing life has been excellent, one pedal has just begun to develop a bit of play. Not bad for 6 odd years of use! I also have a set of Gamut Podiums I picked up cheap unused from a mate, much grippier and more stable feeling than the Hopes, however I'm confident the bearings won't last anywhere near as long and alu pins = just no! They shear if you look at them funny!
For longevity: Shimano DX, mine must be 15 years old, they are battered, not the slimmest/grippiest but when play rears its ugly head you just regrease and adjust, good to go for another 5 years commute!
Big fan of Gamut Podium pedals, light and grippy. The pins are soft so I got some of the stainless replacements to replace those on the leading edge. Been fine since.
