And don’t get me started on the rubbishness of plastic pedals….
The rest of your post sounded very well informed, so I'd like to hear more about the plastic pedals.
I've got Vaults on my "proper" bike, they grip amazingly well and are comfortable. They have just started rattling after about 18 months of use with no maintenance. My bike has just gone in to the shop for some work and I've asked them to service them (because I'm lazy sometimes).
On my other bikes I've got Nukeproof Horizon Comps. Not quite as grippy But I can't fault them for the £30 I paid. They don't get smashed into stuff like my Vaults do so can't really comment on durability like that but they seem strong enough.
As you asked, I personally don’t like them as when you factor in the design direction you have to go for making the injection mould to work correctly you end up with a compromised product
The big problem is the pins are always coming loose as you can’t thread plastic so you have to use nuts or other fudges, and the pin positions are compromised due the the structural and mould flow requirements for the mould
Why is everyone pushing plastic pedals? Money.... you can make a pair of bodies for £1 every 20seconds and make a lot more margin than CNC machining the out of aluminium. Bang a load of the old bike industry marketing fluff on there and people lap them up even though they are not as good.
Sure if you want dirt cheap on a BSO but not for a nice bike. Just my opinion ok
Neil Superstar Components
Race Face Chester, been fine so far. Composite body and no lost pins or wibbly axle.
