Category: Skate Deck Pedals

skate deck color check

I had a skate deck color request for “not quite chartreuse, not quite olive-y acid green.” I thought all my decks were black (with a sexy black band around them), but I had a rasta deck hidden away as well.

This seems more “not quite Juaritos limon soda,” but I really like the stickers.

rasta-deck

I think I can make matched pedals by using pieces that match diagonally. Usually a pair is directly attached, where the left side of the deck becomes the right pedal deck, and vice versa.  Just have to be a little more careful in the measuring…

Update: Success – the diagonal matching works! This whole deck is getting that treatment. I’m prepping more decks even now. They’ll go on Etsy, with cleats, at a dramatically inflated price.

recycled wooden platforms for clipless pedals skatedecks for clipless pedals

How to make skateboard pedal decks for clipless pedals

Hey! I did a guest post on Problem Solvers’ blog, all about how to make skate board pedal decks for your clipless pedals. I’ve been meaning to do this for years, now, and I’m pleased it’s up now, over on the PS site.
Read the post!

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They also made me a brilliant “Certified Problem Solver” graphic, which makes me very proud.

Busted eggbeater spring

I’ve had these for a long time, and they cracked a couple years ago. The other day they dropped a piece on the road. The down side is the fact that they also welded themselves to the cranks about a year ago! I can still use two sides of this one, and four of the other, but I don’t see these lasting more than three or four more years…

That’s also the ugliest pedal deck I’ve ever made. It’s a prototype for a mud-shedding deck that might be a hair lighter. It’s stupid.

quill pedal skateboard inserts

 

quill pedal skateboard inserts, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

These pedal platforms feel like cubes after riding the Crank Bros. skateboard platforms for so long. I can flip (roll, actually) into them pretty easily now, but sliding my foot forward wants to roll them right back over.

They are 1000x times more comfortable than the Campy Victory pedals I took off. I think the key is to get some pedals with removeable cages and just put any sized deck on there I want.

Check out the relative sizes of the pedals I usually use, and the famous ‘bikesnob’ XLs. Expressed as a percentage, these are quill pedals are “dimpy.”

skateboard grip tape on MKS GR9 platform pedals

I’ve had these pedals for a while, but found them to be too narrow for my size 12 feet. I put them on my wife’s 3 speed Steyr when she broke a pedal axle.

They get a little slippery in the rain, at least for me. Hopefully the grip tape will add some gription when it’s wet. She wants rubber block pedals again, so I’ll probably try them with clips and straps on another bike pretty soon. I don’t know if the tape will make it too hard to use clips, or not.

I cut out a square of “Mob” grip tape for each pedal, and used a woodworking blade to cut around the pedal shape.
I also used the flat of the blade to press down around the bumps on the surface of the pedal. In some cases, I scored the edge of the bump in order to make it look ‘raised’ enough.

Prototype skate-deck platforms for quill pedals

skate-deck_mks-pedal, by BikeTinker.

At any rate, I’m experimenting with attaching the skate platforms to other kinds of pedals, starting with the uncomfortable and slippery ones I already have.

Quill pedals always hurt my size 12 feet. There’s a big spike at the end, and the cage digs through my shoes. I don’t find them to have much gription, either, especially in the rain.  In order to use these pedals without clips or straps, I decided to see if applying Skate Deck Technology to them would make them more comfortable and more usable.

I’ve been riding my skate-deck clip-in pedals on Crank Bros pedals for years. I love the feel and grip of the skate deck platform, but I never ever ride clipped in, so the ‘convertibility’ factor isn’t useful for me anymore. I think there’s still a lot of value in the idea for people who do clip in for long rides, but would like to jump on their good bike to ride with the family, or run some errands.

I may go to a BMX pedal with tape, but first I’m going to see what I can do with my Campy Victory aero pedals with the foot-guillotine rear cage.

Extremo pedal – the Very Large Deck platform pedal

You can buy these from me for $25/per pair, shipped, withOUT cleats. They’re drilled for Eggbeaters, which works for SPDs as well. Email me your request at philip@biketinker.com

These are the biggest. For riding 10 minutes to work, I thought they were silly, but for hauling four hours over 35 miles of gravel, they worked great. The shoes are extremely flexible Borns, very soft and comfortable. I huffed and I puffed, but my feet held up great.

They are marked R and L, but the R is on the left, and the L is on the right. What looks best isn’t always what feels best. These don’t seem that big in comparison to my size 12 feet, either. Maybe I should make an even larger pair , and call them the “molto extremo.” Maybe use an entire skateboard for each pedal.

The whole point of these pedal platforms is so you can ride to the store on the same pedals you race cross in, but it’s gotten so I just like riding on such a big grippy surface that I’ve gone a little nuts.

skeleto skate deck pedal in the rain

Excellent grip in the wet; we didn’t encounter the right kind of friction-free mud to see if the holes helped with that. They certainly don’t hurt, and they look cool.

These are prototypes made from (what appeared to be) unusable pieces of skateboard. Please forgive the unfinished hole-edges.