Originally Posted by darkmother

You're right, maintenance would not have changed the outcome. These were cheap platform pedals, I believe made by welgo. The inboard bearing is a brass bushing, the outboard is a radial contact ball. Pedals had about 7 000 km on them, give or take.

The failure was due to fatigue, I checked out the fracture surface after it happened. There were beach marks, and it looked as though there may have been void in the axle, initiating the crack. I tossed the axle in the garbage, otherwise I'd show you a picture. I've had axle failures in pedals from this company before, but in the past they have occured near the outboard bearing. Then the failure is not really dangerous, and you can even ride fairly normally after it happens.