Brompton folding pedal replacement: Suggestions?
 

I was just setting off Second Avenue in NYC this evening when my folding pedal exploded and burst into flame like some sort of Michael Bay movie, depositing me in the middle of 59th Street. I bounced several times and while in the air began thinking about perhaps replacing the stock pedal, which appears to be made out of Play-Doh, with something a little tougher. Particularly since it's a $70 item.

Anyone have any suggestions? Any pedals fold up nearly so neatly?

Thanks in advance,

Steve M.

How about MKS FD-7?

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...FD-7_BS_UF.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o..._FD-7_BS_F.jpg

I am going to replace the stock VP plastic folding pedals on all my rental bikes with the MKS FD-7's. Just this past week, two customers had the plastic pedals break off while riding.

Being a big fan of MKS products and also a fan of using full pedals, I prefer the MKS EZY pedals
I learned about them from Calhoun Cycle in Minneapolis (I live pretty close to them).
John

You pedaled into a LH corner and hit the pedal into the pavement, didn't you?

they do weigh more than the right one, so tend to hang low when pushing the bike.

Got a pedal wrench? you can install any 9/16" left pedal or pair, you wish.
'Spud' or whatever.

old Brompton pedal takes a 24mm socket to unscrew,
new and Ti one, an allen wrench.

not as low & flat a profile when folded .

There are removable ones ,with a QR, the EZy
but then you have to make sure you don't lose them.

maybe just get another left pedal like the right one ..
accept that it wont fold , or bring a wrench to remove it .

6mm allen hex fitting in the end of many pedals now.
That Includes the current Right hand pedal,
and as there is a matching left hand pedal, sold currently ,
10 bucks and a 6mm allen wrench in your bag and you are good to go.

Your post made me worry. What happened to the pedal? Any picture? Have you contacted Brompton or a dealer? Are you aware of other cases?

The Brompton folding pedal seems pretty strong to me with the exception of the bearing, I'd expect the bearing to break before anything else.

MKS FD-7 is too heavy for my liking, though well-made.

I have a pair of MKS EZY pedals. When you use the plastic security clip they stay on during even hard riding, but the clip is a real pain in the butt if you want to pull the pedals off the bike more than a couple times a week. The clips are also easy to loose.

I tried riding without the clips so I could remove the pedals frequently and easily, but my shoe would cause the QR mechanism to activate which wasn't much fun.

I went back to the stock BF folding pedals for day to day use and kept the MKS pedals for traveling/touring use where less frequent remove would be needed.

Same experience here though other reported that they had no problem riding without the clips.

One way to not loosing them is to put them back on the crank after you remove the pedal. The Superior line of MKS pedals do not need a clip http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/pedals.htm

I find that the MKS EZY pedals only release themselves without the clip if they've not quite been put in properly. If I pull the mechanism firmly shut then no problem, whereas if I let them self-clip just by inserting the pedals then they can release whilst riding.

If few occasions I made deliberate experiments, hopping to get rid of the clips, and in all cases a pedal detached within 2-3 miles. I was using the MKS EZY.

The trouble is that even if they only detach unexpectedly once every 10 rides you won't get motivated to stand up and hammer on your bike if you aren't confident with the safety of your pedals. I played around with the QR mechanism hoping to solve the problem, but never achieved success. I have wide feet and often wear wide shoes which likely exacerbates the problem.

Agree. Looks like it was added by engineers, not by lawyers ;-)

Long time lurker ... I just picked up some new pedals today for my Brompton here in Japan.

MKS Urban Step EZY Superior (mouthful, I know!)

They are essentially a folding version of the Shimano A-530 pedal. Have about 10km on them so far but the first 10km to the shop was on the Brompton pedals which I've been riding for the past few weeks. MASSIVE difference in stiffness, and a good improvement in bearing quality from the get-go.

They BITE into your shoes as well with regular flats on, not sure about the clipless part yet as I don't have my shoes here, but I will be getting on those later on.

The Superior system is also very nice with NO chance to un-do the pedal while riding. No pictures yet of my setup, but you can find them online here: http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productD...categoryID=403

The other links I've seen have them on Rakuten, and didn't see much in America. I was told that these are brand new from Mikashima - I didn't even see them on the website!

Hope this helps someone - PHENOMONAL pedal.

Looks like tiny platform.. is it weighted? which side is default up?

It turns out the 2012 Brompton folding pedal has supposedly been reinforced somewhat.

Default up with the flat of the pedal perpendicular to slightly tipped forward to the ground. Like this it's easy to pull the pedal back with the flat for your foot to rest on.

Platform size is roughly the same size as a Shimano A530 when held next to each other. I will see if I can get a photo when compared to the 2012 Brompton pedal.

The 2012 Brompton pedal is no comparison to stiffness/bearing smoothness for this, the MKS is much better in this regard. The difference is instantly noticeable if you've spent a lot of time riding clip less pedals. I expect more comparisons & pictures once the pedals are available outside of Japan! Hope that helps some more!

Brompton pedals are made by Wellgo, at least the ones that came on mine, so you are comparing in essence MKS with Wellgo's cheap entry-level stuff.

Left pedal is probably sourced differently from the right side one,
right side is just a normal right pedal, it has no need of folding..
new right side pedal is better now than back in the 90's, Union was supplier then.

though the included reflector is integrated rather than external..
left pedal has to have external reflector, because of the latching mechanism.

Bike Friday has several folding pedals and ones that easily detatch without tools. We are using the folders on three BF bikes we have.
https://www.bikefriday.com/thestore/...CLJV0&cPath=33

Besides that this would be a very silly way of doing business (supplying the left pedal from a different place than the right pedal which is already a pedal manufacturer!), I have examined mine's two pedals carefully and there are stamps, markings and other characteristics matching other Wellgo pedals I have, which make it VERY clear they are both from Wellgo.

thats nice.. enjoy your bike.. :rolleyes:

OK I bow to your superior knowledge, experience, years and arrogance.

All the more reason to replace them!

I'd assumed the folding pedal was made in-house, at least the pre-2012 version. The plastic inner section looks like all the other older plastic parts, such as the luggage block and the alloy sections look like simple extruded profiles, i.e. like the hinge clamp plates.