MKS GR9 Nickel Dust Caps
 

Saw a few posts on replacing the plastic dust caps on the MKS GR9 pedals with nickels - looks pretty nice I think.

http://somegeek.home.comcast.net/mks...ust_caps_1.jpg

I removed the first one without knowing how it was retained and kinda chewed it up... also figured I was not gonna use it again. The second one I removed with a very small screw driver and removed it with little wear. They could be reused without worry since the seal is formed by the end part of the cap and not the outer lip.

http://somegeek.home.comcast.net/mks...ust_caps_2.jpg

I put a small bead of grease in the slot where the nickle would sit to help seal it(pic doesn't show this)...

http://somegeek.home.comcast.net/mks...ust_caps_3.jpg

Pulled the nickels out of my change jar after some digging, one for my son's year of birth and one for my wife. :)

To install the nickels, I had to hold them over the opening and give them a few taps with a screwdriver handle to seat and they popped right in. These aren't as thick as the plastic caps so I can sneak a screwdriver into the small notch to get the nickels out.

http://somegeek.home.comcast.net/mks...ust_caps_4.jpg

I dig on them. :D

somegeek

cool idea, i like that you used meaningful dates.

put longer bolts on them + double straps
and you're set.

Looking cool, boss. :thumb:

very cool. I just may have to bite off you.

I love little tricks like this!
I "upgraded" my GR9s when you posted this a while back. I used 1986 nickels, the year of my bike.

nice, i love the idea.

FAIL

Jefferson's head should be looking forward.

^fail.
killed the mood.


i love this idea.

weight weenie question: does this add or reduce weight? looks good.

If you can think of a way of turning him around without turning him up-side-down I'd really love to hear it.

I too want to know this.

If you had just put each nickel in the opposite pedal that you did they would have been facing forward, haha. Not that it really matters.

Heh - thought the same after someone mentioned it. Didn't think about that... then again - these guys ain't wearing goggles and the speeds at which I move their eyes would dry out pretty quick facing forward. *flex*

I''ll weigh the cap and nickel here in a bit.

i believe a freshly-minted US nickel weighs 5 grams, and its accurate to three decimal places, supposedly.

Nickel - 5 grams
Plastic dust cap - barely 1 gram
- two caps on my scale had the reading flipping back and forth from one to two grams (right on the verge of reading two grams).

~8 gram weight gain replacing the dust caps with nickels

cool, thanks for going to the trouble of weighing them!

pffftt...eight grams!?! screw it...

This is a cool idea. I have the same pedals and might do the same. Are you sure you'll be able to get them out if need be?

and if you're ever in a really tight place financially, you always have 10 cents on you.

the "Fail" above was a joke...

Do I really need a smiley? :-)

Very cool! Just have to tap them in, huh? I'm going to do this when my GR9's come in next week. The nickles look a lot more nice.

Yeah, I just used the plastic handle on my largest screwdriver to set these in with a few taps. Would not set in by hand.

As I stated above, these sit almost flush with the depth of the notch so removal should just require diving a sharp pointed object into that seam between the pedal and nickel in the notch.

Someone also suggested in another thread - if these seize up, drill a hole in the middle of the nickel and use something inserted into the hole to pry it out.

nickels make the bike heavier.

^ I love it when people clearly don't read any of the other posts before they decide to say something to see if they might be repeating what one or many other people have already said. And if you did actually read, nice deductive reasoning.