chucky

I got a new set of SPD compatible Wellgo pedals. They're my third pair of SPD compatible pedals, my second pair of SPD compatible pedals from Wellgo, and my third pair of Wellgo pedals.

The problem is that the cleat mechanism has some "play" in it in the sense that there's a small gap between the spring and the cleat mechanism. It goes away if you turn up the cleat tension, but if they're any looser than the halfway mark (which is way too tight for my liking) then there is play. My other SPDs work fine right until the adjustment screw falls out. I took 'em apart and put 'em back together in different configurations (springs reversed, etc), but they seem to be correctly assembled.

Has anyone experienced an issue like this before? Should I just keep them at the halfway mark and let the springs wear in or is there something legitimately wrong here?

I've generally had great experiences with Wellgo which is why they're my pedal manufacturer of choice, but I'm not happy with these pedals at all. Only difference I can see is that my other Wellgo SPDs have a single spring whereas these have a two springs like my Shimano SPDs.

chucky

I tried to take a picture of the problem. Sorry I had to enhance the image because it was blurry because my camera can't focus on things that small:



Circled in red is the gap between the spring and the surface it's supposed to be pushing against. When the screw is tightened the spring touches, but only the corner of the surface. It seems the spring is just the wrong shape to make good contact. Should I try bending it?

TLCFORBIKES

Take it back to the store that you bought them from.

chucky

I bought them overseas from the only shop in the world I could find selling them.

Should I call them up and tell them it's defective and that I will return it at their expense? They say they will refund postage for the return of faulty goods, but I'm not sure if that includes overseas purchases.

Problem is I'm not completely sure if it's defective.

TLCFORBIKES

It is always at the manufaturer discretion on what will be warranteed. You say you like the pedals because you have had good luck before with them (I am sure others have as well). They are cheaply make SPD copies. I do not sell them at my shop because of how cheaply made they are. I would rather sell someone a $30 pair of Shimano pedals then a Wellgo SPD style pedal. In my experience they will not work as nice as Shimano pedals. Look up the price difference of those pedals and see how much difference it was between buying the pedals either local or mail order in America.

chucky

First of all, as I said I bought them overseas because it was the only place in the world I could get this style of pedal at any price. I would have paid more to get them locally, but I could not get them locally and when local failed, when mail order failed, and when America failed, I had no choice but to look elsewhere.

Second of all, it has not been my experience at all that Shimano pedals work nicer. Wellgo is my pedal manufacturer of choice because I've generally found their pedals to work nicer with better bearings, better designs, and lighter weight than Shimano et al and of all my other pedals (mostly wellgo) the one pair of Shimanos I own are the worst of my collection (despite the fact that they were also the most expensive, being purchased at my LBS...which is no doubt much like yours: pay more get less).

These pedals were not cheap and I bought them expecting the best, just as every other Wellgo pedal I have is the best. I am not concerned about the manufacturer warranty. I am concerned about whether or not this is a legitimate defect because if it is the shop I purchased from has agreed to pay return postage, regardless of the warranty.

Has anyone ever had to do some rebending of the springs on their pedals? Because so far I haven't, not even on my other Wellgo SPDs which have the smoothest mechanism of any SPD I have tried. So I'm wondering if this is unusual to need to bend the springs or not and if that's likely to fix the problem.

fietsbob

I bypassed all that , bought Time 'Alium' pedals.. though they make lighter ones.

TLCFORBIKES

There is no need to say "America failed". You may want to take a second and look for a mail order company that offers Wellgo pedals. I am a retail bike shop and my interest in mail order companies is very limited but I know Wellgo products are available through mail order companies. All bike shops either have a QBP account or have access to get a account. QBP sells Wellgo. They have your Wellgo pedals in stock right now. Your LBS may have failed you. To say that the LBS & mail order companies and America failed you is very hard to believe.

I did not say that the pedals are cheap. I said that they are cheaply made. The shop can get a RA# from Wellgo to return the pedal. Weilgo will determine if it is a warranty or not. The "Rep" for Wellgo that visits your LBS can also issue a new pair of pedals if he wants to. It should be very easy to get another pair of pedals. As for them being cheap - the word cheap is very subjective. For someone with a nickel who wants a loaf of bread that costs a dime - then the loaf of bread is expensive. In shops I have only seen Wellgo pedals on low end bikes ($500 or less). In the 38 years that I have worked on bikes I have seen Wellgo pedals purchased for low end bikes all the way to high end bikes. If you are not happy with your LBS - send me a PM and see if I can help.

What pedal model are we talking about?

chucky

No, QBP does not have these pedals because QBP only carries a small fraction of the hundreds of pedal designs made by Wellgo. QBP failed which caused my LBS along with every American mail order company which depends on them to also fail.

RB120B


Platform with pins on one side, SPD compatible on the other. I bought them as an upgrade to my Wellgo WAM-D10 (also single sided SPD with pins) which are quite heavy although they have excellent needle bearings and a flawless SPD compatible mechanism (despite being cheaper). Neither Shimano nor any other pedal manufacturer makes a comparable item.

TLCFORBIKES

[QUOTE=chucky;12257594]No, QBP does not have these pedals because QBP only carries a small fraction of the hundreds of pedal designs made by Wellgo. QBP failed which caused my LBS along with every American mail order company which depends on them to also fail.




RB120B













Nobody "Failed" in your quest to purchase Wellgo RB120B pedals. QBP isn't at fault for your LBS/American mail order company inability to get you the pedals. The Wellgo web site offers 155 (different?) pedals. There is no way QBP is going to import all of these types of pedals. 75% Of the parts I order come from Hawley, JB Importers, QBP and Hans Johnsen. All carry Wellgo pedals but no RB120B pedal. Chain Reation Cycles has them on sale for under $30 (normal $65). If you bought the pedals from CRC it would be best to go thru them -- direct.

These look like nice pedals.

chucky

I've decided I don't think this pedal is defective because if you look at the picture here you'll see that the spring also only touches the corner of the adjustment plate.


I'm not sure why Wellgo decided to design the pedal this way, but this is what causes the play when the tension is below a certain threshold. It looks like it's intended to mate better as the spring breaks in...is that possible?

blamp28

You happen to like a particular pedal, 1 out of over 150 that Welgo makes and out of hundreds overall from all manufacturers and every shop in the US that decieds not to carry that 1 item FAIL? Don't you think you are being a little dramatic here? If you owned a business, would you stock something that sold for relatively few dollars of profit for that one in 1000 shot at selling it every few years? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with you liking that pedal just with your expectation that sellers FAIL if they don't have a channel to something they could not make a reasonable profit on,

chucky

I was only arguing against the implication that this issue is my fault for not buying "local or mail order in America".

There's a certain sentiment around the bike forum that one should shop at the LBS because "you'll be sorry when they go out of business". Why would I be sorry if there isn't a single LBS in the country who is capable of making a profit servicing me as a customer? America has always succeeded by working harder to outcompete other nations and exceed expectations. This notion that Americans should buy inferior products and services just to keep their countrymen in business will be our downfall.

blamp28

Wow! Hate much? I have no such notion that you should buy inferior products. Your LBS and for that matter the internet retailers market those products which are most popular so that they can make a profit and stay in business. Some make more room for those harder to find or less popular items but you have clearly not found any for this particular purpose. To infer that the Shimano, Crank Brothers, Time, Look etc. pedals available ALL OVER the US are somehow inferior to a midrange Welgo/SPD knockoff just illustrates a limited perspective. There is no FAULT inferred upon you by anyone here. The only fault inferred in fact is that you blame retailers for not selling a product with a very limited following. If they could sell thousands of them, they would bring them in but they cannot so they choose not to tie up thier investment dollars in inventory that will sit for extrordinary amounts of time.

People choose a pedal for a variety of reasons and there the pedal you like, the RB120B has an interesting design. The fact that you have been unable to find a more readily available pedal short of going half way around the world opens you up to more risk in the transaction naturally but you already know that. Have you ever tried these pedals? They are quite easy to find and last a long time. I have two sets on my tandem that must be at least 5 or 6 years old with thousands of miles on them. Not bad for $50.
https://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont..._mountain.html

chucky

Yes I have those pedals (Shimano M424) which I, regretfully, purchased at my LBS. I put a few thousand miles on them, but found the design sorely lacking in that they don't really offer any control over whether or not you're going to clip in. In other words, they help you pedal if you can't clip in, but they won't help you if you want to desist from clipping in.


Single sided spd/platform pedals, on the other hand, allow you to choose whether or not you want to clip in by selecting the appropriate side. Unfortunately, the Shimano versions of these are also flawed because the platform side doesn't provide enough traction for pedaling with cleated shoes (which are missing large chunks of sole):



So I got some of these pedals from Nashbar for $50 (made by Wellgo) which have pins on the platform side and I put a few thousand miles on them, but the only problem is they're quite heavy and the pins are not as effective as they could be because they're basically arranged in two parallel rows.


That brought me to the R120Bs, which are lighter and with a better, more diverse pin arrangement. Although since I only clip in for about 25% of each ride I'm starting to wonder if I should just ditch clipless pedals altogether rather than going through so much trouble to allow myself to effectively pedal unclipped with cleated shoes. So I'm investigating Powergrips and the lightest Powergrip compatible pedals with good bearings are, you guessed it, made by Wellgo and unavailable through American bike shops.

blamp28

Well it certainly appears that you have arrived at your personal choice through lots of trial and error. I can't really speak to powergrips though many in the recumbent community like them. I rode pedals with toe clips for years before switching to clipless in 2000. I'm so accustomed to them that I cannot do much more than a simple test ride around the block without clipping in.

When you choose a product that is simply not mainstream enough to be economic to offer domestically, that is a decision with predictable results. It will be more difficult for you to have a simple retail relationship due to the distance. No big deal really. It's your choice and I still did not see where anyone "blamed you" but please don't "blame" shops for catering to the masses. They have mouths to feed and are just making business decisions.