PistolSlap

I've had my pedals for about 9000km and they've been really good but recently something went wrong in one of them and now it doesn't spin smoothly, it scrapes and stops pretty quickly when i spin it freely with a quick flip of the hand. Actual riding it still is working find other than a grinding sensation and clicking. Obviously the bearings have blown or something. I talked to someone who said that if that isn't changed right away, the pedal could seize while riding. My question is, is that a significant concern? would it just be irritating or could it cause me to crash? I'm almost at my annual spring tuneup where I get a full makeover to the bike including cleaning everything, and i have to swap out the brakes and the bottom bracket and obviously these pedals, and i was going to get it all done at once, but can it wait a couple of weeks or is this pedal an immediate threat to safety and should be dealt with pronto?

jyl

Is your bike a fixed gear? Are you using foot retention (clipless pedals or toe clips or foot straps)?. If either answer is " no" then if the pedal did seize, wouldn't your foot simply come off the pedal and/or wouldn't you just find yourself coasting?

PistolSlap

well no i don't just sort of trundle along. I ride hard. Last time my foot came off the pedal i veered hard to one side and hit a giant sequoia and wrecked my bike. one time the chain came off, then my foot came off the pedal and i lost control and almost hit a parked car. another time I bailed into traffic. i am often riding standing up putting a lot of pressure on the pedals, so having a foot come off the pedal in a situation like that isn't too successful.

dabac

If you ride flatties, what'll happen if a pedal seizes is that it'll roll your foot off forward. Under power, that's quite nasty. You'll have like 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn to notice the seized pedal before it dumps your foot off.
Now, I've had pedals seize bad enough to roll my foot off during seated riding, but I can't give any odds for it to happen during standing riding.

GravelMN

Swapping pedals is easy, why wait?

bikemig 

+ 1.

dsbrantjr

+2 It would be little more work to swap the pedals than to ask us whether you should do it.

If it worries you fix it.

Wanderer

Try dripping some oil in them until you can get them replaced. At the bearings!

Andrew R Stewart 

If a pedal were to seize on it's spindle the rotational forces would tend to unthread it from the arm. Would that happen depends on how tight the pedal was originally installed, the connection between the pedal and one's foot and how strong/stiff one's foot/ankle is.

Replacing the pedals or servicing them is a much smarted choice (then experimenting with one's feet/ankles). Andy.

nfmisso

But Andy; I think that the OP is trying to break his ankle and foot, and maybe some other things too.......

Little Darwin

Back in the dark ages, when I was a mere teenager, my bike had rough spinning pedals. I did not ride with toe clips, though I had metal pedals.

One day as I was riding slowly (and seated) through a parking lot, I was still pedaling as I rose from the saddle to glide over a speed bump when my left pedal seized, and the pedal rolled my foot off in front of the crank... If it had lasted just a few more seconds, I would have been seated, and probably better off. My foot planted on the pavement, and even though I was trying to stop in a more pleasant manner, the bike stopped when the pedal dug into my leg at the Achilles tendon. Fortunately there was no major damage, but there was some pain that I would have liked to have avoided. As I was a healthy lad, the healing was relatively quick, but it did take a week or so before it stopped bothering me enough to notice. Your experience may vary, especially if your pedal seizes while hammering...

In my case, the bike quickly got new pedals, but I would have been better off doing it before they seized. Oh, and to show that I was not a bright lad... I rode the bike home, since the pedal once again returned to spinning roughly, but I did do it carefully. So the good news is that if your pedal seizes, it may be able to be rectified by colliding with the back of your leg.

So, to answer your question... Yes, pedals can seize, and they can cause injury when they do.

If you must ride on your old pedals, lubricate them well... but ideally replace them. Even a cheap pair of *Mart pedals would be better than a set of high quality pedals that are ready to seize up.

HillRider

Given this record it sounds like you need both new pedals and improved bike maintenance in general.

fietsbob

Not to me.. I service my pedal bearings occasionally ..

Fastfingaz

I think pistolslap already has a lot of experience on foot slipping off pedals and landing in the street,, I think he'll be alright

PistolSlap

What do you mean?

PistolSlap

++++1. funny presentation of the anecdote too.

alcjphil

There are 2 different things that can happen if a pedal spindle seizes. Neither is good. Either the pedal rolls your foot off the front of the pedal and bites into the back of your leg when your foot hits the ground, or when the axle seizes the pedal unscrews from the crank and you still hit the ground with your foot. The faster you are going the worse the damage. If you notice that something isn't working properly, now is the time to take action. Preventative action doesn't take place after something bad happens

SquidPuppet

PistolSlap

why are you mocking me

SquidPuppet

It wasn't intended as mocking. Just chuckling at the fact that the first statement generally means that it's already too late.

PistolSlap

ah ok well i will just replace the pedals then. thanks guys