Vismund B

Hello, first some background:

I’m riding 5 days a week commuting in NYC through some very bumpy and rough roads. I typically wear steel toe boots during these rides. I weigh about 180lbs. I go over a bridge every ride so I’m pushing hard every ride.

I was using Zacro Pedals and the first pair lasted 6 months and the replacement pair lasted 8 months before the right one snapped off. Is this a normal lifespan for hard use? Any recommendations for a mountain bike style flat pedal that might be better? I’d rather keep the budget around $50 but don’t mind going higher if it’s a quality product that will last.

Thank you!

katsup

You are buying off brand / cheaper pedals which is why they are not lasting. Go with a good name brand pedals that can be rebuilt and they should last.

My high mileage pedal is a Wellgo MG1. One pair has over 10,000 miles on them and they have yet to give me a problem. There are plenty others out there.

pdlamb

Check out Touring and City Pedals - Velo Orange (velo-orange.com)

I'm not sure whether the Sabot or Touring pedals would work best with your work boots.

Ogsarg

No pedal should snap off, not even cheap plastic ones from a big box store. Could result in serious injuries in the right circumstance.

ofajen

I got about 10K miles each from a pair of Odyssey Grandstand pedals before I retired them in favor of platform pedals with sealed bearings instead of bushings. Now I’m running MKS RMX pedals on the road frame and VP-538 pedals on the MTB. Both MKS and VP are good pedal makers.

Otto

Reflector Guy

When I've had pedals fail in the past, it's been because the bearings in them seize and the pedal just won't turn any more. Never had one break off though.

It's been many years though..... Haven't had a pedal go bad since I stopped riding cheap hand-me-down bikes.

Darth Lefty 

The problem with ordering Amazon alphabet-soup stuff is that you don't really know if they are giving you what you paid for. Does that Fooker pedal really have a chromoly axle? Was it heat treated properly? Does the guy cloning it really understand what he's drawing or is he just making a look alike copy? Who knows? The reviews are usually "I opened the box and found a pedal that I installed on my Huffy and it worked so much better," which is useless for assessing if something might last ten years or 10,000 miles. What you get in return for that risk is that it costs basically exactly half of the Race Face Chester pedal it's counterfeiting.

What then do you get from that Race Face pedal? Well who knows who "Fooker" is but Race Face has been around a while, is part of a conglomerate that will continue to be around a while, will sell you replacement small parts (rebuild kits, axles, studs). You get a warranty you can believe in.

Worth it? I dunno. It's only twenty bucks.

livedarklions

Raceface Chesters. If there's a way to wear them out, I haven't figured it out yet. I have them on 4 bikes, and have never had to do anything to maintain them. I believe I have about 10k miles on the first pair I bought.

Darth Lefty 

From the factory, one of my Chesters squeaked and over a year developed play. And they faded badly quickly. Instead of spending twenty bucks trying to rebuild it I spent twenty bucks on Rock Bros pedals. If I die I'll report back.

Bigbus

I absolutely love my Rock Bros. When I got rid of my MTB I put them on my road bike I love them so much. I rode hard with combat boots before switching to road and must have well over 10K with absolutely no problems and they are still going strong. I have the 4 bushing style.

Germany_chris

Cheap pedals are cheap

PeteHski

Shimano Saint pedals pretty much last forever. They are a fit and forget product. There are other decent brands of flat pedal, but some require a bit of bearing maintenance while Shimano pedals generally don't.

canklecat

iSSi Thump pedals are good, serviceable and cost $40 with molded pins, $50 for the version with metal replaceable pins. Generous platform, enough for riding with boots. I've been riding a set for a couple of years, no problems.

Before getting the iSSi pedals I used Stolen Brand Thermalite BMX pedals for a couple of years. Those withstood banging against rocks, crashes, etc. They loosened up after a couple of years and aren't easily serviceable, but for only $15 I couldn't complain.

coffeesnob

thats what I have too. Great pedal with a great grip

Reflector Guy

Rock Bros pedals are a knock off of some other brand; most likely Race Face Chesters. With that said however, I also have Rock Bros and they've been good for me. And they were readily available when I bought them.... The Chesters were only available in weird colors at the time, or some such issue.

70sSanO

I’ve been using Wellgo MG-1’s on my mtb’s for quite a while and have held up fine with a few hits, but may not take real severe abuse.

That said, I have a couple pairs of older Wellgo B-67’s that really seem bombproof, but at 540 grams they better be.

John

ofajen

I’ve had good luck with Wellgo branded pedals over the years. From what I can tell, about 80% of the high end pedal production comes from the Wellgo factory in Taichung, including those sold under many other brand names. Most of the rest of the high end production would be speciality facilities including MKS and Shimano in Japan. But that is only a small part of pedal production in total, the rest is mainly low end pedals made in China.

Otto

Vismund B

Thanks for all the replies. I knew it was a gamble buying some no name brand off Amazon but I figured for $30 it was a gamble worth taking.

livedarklions

Well, you definitely lost that bet, and I'm glad you weren't injured when the pedal snapped off.

Race Face came out with a new line of pedals a couple years ago--the "Ride". Basically looks like a Chester without the metal pins, molded "pins" instead. $35 and it looks like you can actually find some available right now. Chesters seem to be out of stock in a lot of places.

SkinGriz

Will your foreman let you keep the boots at the job site?
Maybe lock them in the gang box?

That won’t necessarily make your pedals last longer.
But I get out of my work boots ASAP.
Used to sneak in wearing flip flops until the suits caught me.

Vismund B

Yeah I probably could but I like to leave as little as possible on the job. Not that I get transferred too often but I hate having to lug a whole bunch of stuff when it inevitably happens. Also, Recently I was bouncing around between 2 jobs.

I feel like I’m a tiny bit more safe riding with steel toe construction boots. I feel like I may be a bit more protected in the event of a crash or collision or whatever may happen.

jaxgtr

For Flat pedals, I really like the Xpedo Spry. Very grippy and very light...

https://xpedo.com/product/pedals/flats/spry/

Vismund B

Thanks for all the recommendations. Good to know some of the quality brands.

I went with the wellgo MG-1s. First ride with them today and they felt good. Not quite as grippy as my previous pedals but my foot felt secure. Only time will tell how they hold up. I’ll update this thread at a later date.

Ride safely.

livedarklions

You didn't answer the most important question--what color?

Kapusta

There are many $50 pedals with high quality bearings that are rebuildable.

Kona Wha Wha 2 Composite and Deity Deftrap are two that I have. These are both quality, respected brands.