I bought a pair of A530 pedals knowing that a frequent "customer review" complaint is that they are "slick" on the platform side with "street" shoes.

I rode them today in a light rain, without bike shoes, and found them to be a bit slippery. I think mostly because I expected them to be.

I did a forum search for "A530 slick" and came up with three results. Non of which are any help.

Does anyone have any tricks to make them (a fairly smooth platform pedal) have a bit more grip??

YES, Buy different pedals!!!

You admit to knowing about customer reviews frequently complaining this product is slippery but you buy it anyway and then come to similar conclusion...what were you expecting you would experience?

Didn't Einstein say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation of different results?


-j

You could try adding strips of skateboard grip tape to the platform side of the pedal, there is not much surface are available on the pedals but the tape may help.

Are they wide enough to drill through, tap the holes and screw in some pins? If you can't do this yourself, it almost certainly isn't worth it.

Both of my suggestions have been posted above. I would drill and tap for pins.

Thanks. I was thinking about adding pins. That wouldn't be too difficult to do.

The skateboard tape was the type of idea I was looking for. Something I had no idea that existed but will probably work. I'll check with the kids down the street....I bet they have some.

"Didn't Einstein say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation of different results" I believe that might have been him. I did the same thing over and over with the belief that some input the results may be changed. Quite different than buying them and saying dang, those reviewers knew what they were writing. It's not some theoretical science......I figured that when someone that can type says that pedals are slippery they pedals will probably be slippery. But that they can easily be improved.

Yes you could drill and add pins. Because pedals are not all that expensive you might want to buy another pair that is designed to grip the sole better.

They sell "sand paint" for use on things like stair treads. I'm not suggesting you buy a gallon of that, but you could get some fine or medium grit sand at the beach or from a construction materials company. Or swipe a tablespoon or so from the pile at a construction site. Mix it into an enamel paint base, such as nail polish. Then use acetone to truly clean the top surfaces of your pedals and paint on traction strips. Make sure to let it cure completely before riding.

I think friction tape would work as well.

"Skateboard Tape" is sold in almost any hardware or home supply store as "Suretape Anti-Skid Tread Tape" to improve footing on stairs, ladder treads, skateboards, etc. It came in a 15' x2" roll with a strong adhesive backing for a few dollars.

The first bikes I got for my granddaughters had very slick plastic pedals and their shoes were always slipping off. I wrapped each pedal in Suretape using both the adhesive backing and a couple of small sheetmetal screws to keep it in place. It solved the slippage problem completely.

+1, Stair tread self stick tape is sold by the roll in hardware stores..

like the bigger widths sold thru skateboard shops , but, per foot, cheaper ..

I say just lay down some grip tape. Should be simple enough

Hi,

They look like they'd be fine with most casual foot wear with
any sort of decent grip sole. For slippier smarter footwear I'd
say just learn to live with it, though it seems some form of
renewable coating fore and might help, but what ?
Thing is I can't see any treatment lasting long at all,
though sand mixed with varnish seems worth trying.

rgds, sreten.

If you never used the other side you wouldn't probably
think they are slippery, most pedals are slippery if
your pedalling technique is based around using SPD.

Maybe you could affix something to the bottom of the shoe which could engage with part of the pedal.
Oh wait, nevermind.

That is funny. I guess that I should probably use the "top side" when it rains!!! They actually were fine today in the dry. Quite handy.

FB has a great idea. I'll grab some sand out of the sandbox my dad made 20 years ago for the kids and mix it with....something.

Amazon Prime has skateboard tape, if the grit-paint mixture doesn't do the trick. You can see in the picture that serten posted that there are raised ridges that drastically reduce that surface area for the tape to stick to and work.

Thanks for all the responses.............greg

Looking at the pedal I see another option. Drill 2mm holes in some of the raised areas, and tap in short lengths cut from a spoke. File or grind them until they protrude about 1/2mm or so. That should provide some bite, but if you pronate as you pedal, it'll be hard on the shoes.

The raised areas are not as high as they appear in the picture. I was thinking instead of pins, to drill between the raised bumps and screw in a hex head screw flush, but with enough of a head to sit proud of the bumbs.

I found some black touch-up paint and am gonna try the gritty paint thing first. I really think that the fine play sand might do the trick.

If not, I've found that on dry roads that my "walking, sport" shoes do fine on the couple of miles to the corner store. Other than that when it's wet out I'll just wear the SPD shoes.

Thanks, FB

Personally, I would use a triangular file to add some traction. As a former skate rat, I don't think the griptape will stay in place very well. The surface of the pedal seems too contoured to let the stiff backing on the grip tape mate very well. Drilling and tapping for pins could be fun, but very time-consuming.

I had actually thought about a "checkering" pattern, or more workable, grooves in a "vee" pattern from the center out. I do have diamond grit "jewelers" files in my luthier tools to use.......

if the sandy paint doesn't work.

Cannondale puts grip tape on some of their pedals for some urban model bicycles and Ergon pedals use that strategy as well. I've had a close look at the pedals in question and think that a paper templet could be cut and then panels out of grip tape. The pedal area is flat and the contact area large enough that it should be effective - in fact - I might do it myself.

Not convinced that paint will adhere well enough, but epoxy sprinkled with sand might be a good alternative.

I solved the problem. It was the shoes!!

Here I am. Ready to ride:

nice comeback