Ergon PC2 Pedals

[rafiki]

Anyone tried or seen these new Ergon pedals? Are they as innovative as they claim?

[Paulson]

As far as I know they are not available yet, they are due to be launched any time now and are meant to be priced at around the £60-65 mark I think.  They were previewed at the bike shows last autumn and look as though they are designed for commuters who maybe don't want their foot clipped to the pedal - I suppose given what they did for the handlebar grip market, you can only suppose these will be very good, but for a specific purpose. 

[Matt2matt2002]

Can I bump this one up?
I was about to pose the same question.
Now that a year has passed, has anyone any experience of these pedals?
I am thinking of specking them with my new Nomad

[jags]

emm interesting i never heard of them 

[Matt2matt2002]

They are in the sjs site

[il padrone]

Reviewed by Road.CC, and BikeRadar.




Seems that they're pretty pricey for what they are - a nicely shaped plastic pedal with good reflectors and smooth bushings.

[Danneaux]

...bushings

Bushings? Bushings?!? Wha' happened to bearings?!?

I remember how shocked I was when I first learned bushings had become common in pedals. Man! How does one take-up play? Rebuild them? Or...maybe one doesn't...?

The link here looks rather more encouraging: http://www.igus.com/wpck/default.aspx?Pagename=plastic_bushings&C=US&L=en

iglide® self-lubricating plastic bushings do not suffer from any of the pitfalls of sintered bronze bearings, because they are injection molded from a blend of thermoplastic materials, embedded reinforcing fibers and solid lubricant.

The fiber reinforced materials maintain the bushing’s strength and resistance to high forces and edge loads. The solid lubricants help to lower the coefficient of friction. Since the lubricant is embedded inside millions of tiny chambers, it can not be pressed out. From these chambers, the plastic bushings release tiny amounts of solid lubricant during movement.

iglide® plastic bushings have a low wear rate, superior chemical resistance to sintered bronze bearings, and operate quietly. They are dirt, dust, UV, and corrosion resistant and have a high load capacity.

Best,

Dan. (Shocked! And dismayed! But maybe it's not so bad after all! Bet we see more of 'em...)

[Erudin]

http://onelessindenver.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/ergon-pc2-pedals-reviewed.html

[JWestland]

Great grip surface, concave surface for properly aligning foot...I see a lot of good in these if you don't want to go SPD/toe clips 

Just...plastic...£60...ouch...those guys will have a massive marketing problem on their hands, as I for one won't shell out that much for a plastic pedal, and plastic is associated with "cheap and nasty".

Plastic bushings on SPD however...hm...yes if you can replace them easily why not? It's a dirty job to repack a pedal and you need a few tools for it.

[Andre Jute]

Ouch! What do you actually get for THAT much money?

The famous VP 191 ball bearing pedal is made in such numbers that it is priced down to almost €15 at the discounters -- see for yourself at  http://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/1174754_-vp-191-vp-components.html --- and is used by most of the upmarket brands in Europe.

At that price, the Ergon PC2 handily makes my list of components for posing with rather than riding on.

[Danneaux]

...my list of components for posing with rather than riding on

Andre, do you remember the CNC'd purple-anodized MTB components craze of the 1980s? Lots of apparent bling, but the underlying parts were rubbish. Any guy with a CNC mill and some anodizing tanks could set up shop and sell stuff. There were some Big Names that went under quickly when the stuff broke in casual use far below expected limits.

Sure looked nice for poseurs. Provided one liked purple, of course.

Best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

Andre, do you remember the CNC'd purple-anodized MTB components craze of the 1980s?

What do you mean do I remember? I had a bike that was all purple! At the time it was the most expensive bike ever sold in Ireland. The boss of the Peugeot distributors himself drove all the way from Dublin (I live at the far end of the country) to sell it to me. Some years later I gave it to my LBS as a goodwill gesture because I was switching over to buying my bikes in far-off countries on the internet, but wanted to keep him onside in case I needed to use his specialist tools. He sold that bike to a chap who always gives me a wide smile and a loud halloa when we meet on the road.

That bike wrecked my back, and permanently destroyed my faith in French engineering.

Duh. I'm not too smart to learn from my mistakes. That bike explains why I now have such a down on fashion-victim components.

Andre Jute

[JWestland]

An all purple bike? Are you a predecessor of the current hipster cyclists?

In all fairness the shape of the pedal does seem good. Not sure if they're £60 good.

One of my bikes has basic plastic pedals and in wet weather these just aren't optimal unless you wear anti-slip boots.
Metal toothy pedals can be a bit "harsh" to feel.

Powergrips toe straps are another option for more grip and no SPDs they're about £25 on e-bay uk but not all pedals take them.

[Andre Jute]

I am The Edge. My purple bike came in 1990. By the time the hipsters came to do their copy-cat thing, I was riding a solemn black Dutch bike. By the time black came in again, I'd moved on to British racing green with gold coach lines such as last seen in the 1950s. I asked my wife to take my bellbottomed pants, from Fletcher Jones of Adelaide of course, and in bright Kerry green and aubergine and so on, out of storage, so I can bring them back into fashion. You'll see, in four or five years, cross frame bikes like mine will be the "latest thing", and I won't be seen dead on it.

You want to know something screamingly funny? I ordered a Nordic Air Strider, in stainless and black of course. When it came it was purple. The first thing I pulled out of the box was a slip of paper that read, "PURPLE IS THE NEW BLACK."

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

Powergrips toe straps are another option for more grip and no SPDs...

Hi Jawine!

I decided to spec PowerGrips on the Folder I'm building. I wanted something that gave toe clip-like levels of grip, but would still conceivably work with street shoes. I've yet to try them, but they look promising in trials. Given I haven't tried them and only played, the one concern I have relates to getting the um, stirrup? adjusted ideally so the foot is fully captured, but not uncomfortably so.

A lot depends on using shoes with soles of nearly the same thickness. I set the PGs for a Merrell trail-running shoe...then found the stirrup too loose for a leather-soled dress shoe and too tight for a trainer. I think if you go this route, you'll have the greatest success if you use the same shoes each time. Or keep a screwdriver handy. The PowerGrips don't adjust instantly like a toe strap. You have to undo the stirrup clamp and fiddle, then do it up again.

If position is really important to you (Danneaux's hand is raised on this one, then foot position on the pedal won't stay the same unless you always use the same shoes.

The fabric used to form the stirrup is surprisingly stiff and harsh, which was a surprise to me. I can see it eventually leaving some rub marks on nice shoes. I slid my foot into a loose PowerGrip-equipped pedal as I worked at the computer the other evening, to see how they felt longer-term (remember, this wasn't attached to a bicycle, so the whole pedal could still "float") and after a half-hour or so, found my foot burning at the outer metatarsal head (outside ball-of-foot). Took off my shoe, and a toe was pretty red, kind of like when the strap on a Keen or Teva hiking sandal comes in the wrong spot. Again, I think it is down to adjustment but I am beginning to think it would be a Really Good Idea to leave these things sorta loose. Looser than I usually run my toe straps.

Sorry I can't offer a more real-world review of the things, but the bike they're intended for isn't finished! Time to put on the brazing goggles, rev up the ol' oxy-acetylene torch, and lay some more fillets.

Oh! One last thing...in the past, I've approximated the Ergons by sticking pieces of non-skid deck tape (sold for use on boats and on concrete house steps) to flat-topped touring pedals. The people who used them, liked them (I'm a clips-and-straps person). Roger Durham (late of Bullseye sealed-bearing hub fame, popular during the 1970s-1980s) did me one better -- he fastened wooden platforms on pedals and then put deck tape on those. Roger had some really great ideas, and he was absolutely convinced the Woody pedal (named after the wooden boards he used) was The Future for many cyclists. Unlimited float, no limitations on shoes, grab-and-go. The beauty is, anyone can make up a set and try. I've attached a photo I found online. Roger was a real innovator (sealed-bearing der pulleys, pre-HollowTech crank with steel-tubing arms, roller-bearing BB, modular hubs, platform pedals, etc)...and so was Pino Morroni, who did lots of innovative things with titanium in the early days and had a left-drive track bike that made all the sense in the world, but that's a story for another time. If you're interested, some links on him here:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/Pino_Moroni_main.htm
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/pino/Pino%20recollection.htm
http://www.cyclingutah.com/april/april99/classic.html

Best,

Dan.