a.twiddler
Veteran
27/6/26
How’s it hanging, dude? Fairly vertically, I would Hope.
I have been noticing some foot pain after about 40 miles and am wondering if it’s to do with the plastic MKS pedals I fitted last year. I’d noticed also that they weren’t weighted and often when starting off my feet were hitting them edge on, which wasn’t something I’d noticed with other recumbents or pedals. Before replacing them I experimentally weighted them with lead flashing held on with cable ties so they hung vertically. After a shopping trip I concluded that it worked as they were unnoticeable on starting, but the weights highlighted that they could be more free running as they didn’t always stop in a vertical position. I'd never had cause to think about it previously, but for new riders the angle of dangle could be critical to developing confidence, so a bit of weighting to keep the pedals vertical could be useful.
It’s strange that what with some cyclists obsessing about the type and adjustment of clip in shoes and pedals that all this has passed me by. Despite early thoughts that I’d have to adapt to clip in pedals, I’ve never really felt the need for such things.
The original pedals on the Linear caused no comment. I suppose that they were large and free running enough that putting my foot on them pushed them into a vertical position enough of the time when starting that I had confidence in them. It was very rare to put my foot on them edge on and cause worry on starting. The original pedals were still on it when I sold it.
Sometimes with the Spirit I found that they weren’t in the ideal position when starting but some of that might also be due to the higher BB causing some awkwardness. I might put a bit of weighting on those too. They’re vintage MKS ones but very free running.
Having established the principle I thought I might put the pedals which came with the Rans back on. They were single sided but with weighting they could be made to hang with the correct side facing the rider. However I could only find one, and though it was tantalisingly free turning it was no good on its own.
In the search process I turned up some MKS platform pedals which I’d had on various bikes, using toeclips and straps. Without toeclips and straps they hung at an angle. If I put a bit of flashing strip on…
I was reluctant to add extra weight to what was already a heavy pedal but in fact they hang right and are very smooth and free turning.
Wherever the cranks are they hang more or less vertically.
A bit smaller than the previous pedals. A test ride will have to decide if they’ll do the job. My main concern is that they’re smaller than the rat traps fitted on the Rans so far. This gives a smaller target to aim at when starting off as well as less surface area to spread out the load on your foot. I will need to sort out a reflector or some reflective strip to make them technically legal.
Something for the future. I also dug out some double sided Shimano pedals, plain on one side, clip in on the other, which naturally hang so the clip in side faces the rider. If I ever get the urge to clip in, perhaps in the interests of boosting my declining performance, I’ve got a potential new way of introducing some fear and loathing into my riding experience until I get the hang of it. I can’t help wondering if I might be missing something through not clipping in, though I’ve seen enough springtime cyclists on a nearby junction of NCN 551 inelegantly keel over accompanied by a shower of curses as they fail to unclip in time or sometimes not at all until someone helps them up to make me wonder if it’s for me.
How’s it hanging, dude? Fairly vertically, I would Hope.
I have been noticing some foot pain after about 40 miles and am wondering if it’s to do with the plastic MKS pedals I fitted last year. I’d noticed also that they weren’t weighted and often when starting off my feet were hitting them edge on, which wasn’t something I’d noticed with other recumbents or pedals. Before replacing them I experimentally weighted them with lead flashing held on with cable ties so they hung vertically. After a shopping trip I concluded that it worked as they were unnoticeable on starting, but the weights highlighted that they could be more free running as they didn’t always stop in a vertical position. I'd never had cause to think about it previously, but for new riders the angle of dangle could be critical to developing confidence, so a bit of weighting to keep the pedals vertical could be useful.
It’s strange that what with some cyclists obsessing about the type and adjustment of clip in shoes and pedals that all this has passed me by. Despite early thoughts that I’d have to adapt to clip in pedals, I’ve never really felt the need for such things.
The original pedals on the Linear caused no comment. I suppose that they were large and free running enough that putting my foot on them pushed them into a vertical position enough of the time when starting that I had confidence in them. It was very rare to put my foot on them edge on and cause worry on starting. The original pedals were still on it when I sold it.
Sometimes with the Spirit I found that they weren’t in the ideal position when starting but some of that might also be due to the higher BB causing some awkwardness. I might put a bit of weighting on those too. They’re vintage MKS ones but very free running.
Having established the principle I thought I might put the pedals which came with the Rans back on. They were single sided but with weighting they could be made to hang with the correct side facing the rider. However I could only find one, and though it was tantalisingly free turning it was no good on its own.
In the search process I turned up some MKS platform pedals which I’d had on various bikes, using toeclips and straps. Without toeclips and straps they hung at an angle. If I put a bit of flashing strip on…
I was reluctant to add extra weight to what was already a heavy pedal but in fact they hang right and are very smooth and free turning.
Wherever the cranks are they hang more or less vertically.
A bit smaller than the previous pedals. A test ride will have to decide if they’ll do the job. My main concern is that they’re smaller than the rat traps fitted on the Rans so far. This gives a smaller target to aim at when starting off as well as less surface area to spread out the load on your foot. I will need to sort out a reflector or some reflective strip to make them technically legal.
Something for the future. I also dug out some double sided Shimano pedals, plain on one side, clip in on the other, which naturally hang so the clip in side faces the rider. If I ever get the urge to clip in, perhaps in the interests of boosting my declining performance, I’ve got a potential new way of introducing some fear and loathing into my riding experience until I get the hang of it. I can’t help wondering if I might be missing something through not clipping in, though I’ve seen enough springtime cyclists on a nearby junction of NCN 551 inelegantly keel over accompanied by a shower of curses as they fail to unclip in time or sometimes not at all until someone helps them up to make me wonder if it’s for me.
