Re-Tread Your Slippery Pedals

Intro: Re-Tread Your Slippery Pedals

Cycling in the rainy NW ,pedals without clips require Grip .  Heres a quick cheap (free) way 
to give new traction to your old slick and slippery pedals before you slide off and crunch 
your shin or 'you-know-what' =( .  It was just about to happen to me .

STEP 1: Dremel Will Travel

This could also be done with a hacksaw blade but a dremel is what I used .
It took all of 5 minutes .   This is my 1st ible so feel free to lay on the critiques .

STEP 2: Things U Need (tools)

gather your stuff :
-SAFETY GLASSES (&or face shield)
-SAFETY GLOVES
-pedal wrench (usually 15mm)
-pedals
-dremel & cutoff wheel or hacksaw blade 

STEP 3: GRIND SOME GRIP

I alternate the direction that i cut the grooves hoping for better foot traction . 
Every other spike cut alternates 90 degrees from the one next to it .
I also cut a few lines into the flat surfaces of the pedal for good measure 

STEP 4: Re-install Pedals

clean off the metal shavings .
put em back on your cranks .
Go test with your usual bike shoes  .

.. Tested . The pedals have at least 75% more grip. 
I recommend giving it a try with some worn but working 
pedals . 

I'm gonna try and add grip to some worn plastic Odyssey 'Twisted'
pedals next . Stay tuned please.  

Comments

[Databanks]

I'm wondering if you could use some silicon to add friction instead. Opinions? Or maybe both

[dkfa]

Sharpened pedals....While they do provide more grip, just be careful because you might do what I did...

[dkfa]

Contains slightly graphic images...

[mbecks]

Yikes, guess that's why they suggest wearing shin and knee guards for biking. I was going to add screws to my pedals (spike outwards) for intense grip during the winter. you my friend have changed my mind.

[BtheBike]

thats bad dfka ! i still have some scares for bmx KKT pedals from the 80s =/
these resurfaced pedals are Nowhere near as aggressive . Instead the gripping property is recessed unlike beartrap type pedals

[dkfa]

One time, I was riding a 90's mongoose with beartraps. I repainted my shins.

The pedals that caused that picture though were my welgo ones.

[Yard Sale Dale]

I am not quite sure what you did, unless you just roughened up the "spikes".

I have some pedals about like that. I have been collecting little set screws and got a tap in the same size, hoping to just drill for traction pins and threadlock them in place.

The ones you show with screws for the plastic pedals may work, but you should saw-off the points or surely you will spike your shoes and maybe cut your leg really badly. Good luck.

[BtheBike]

hi Mtaylor .Ya ,thats pretty much what i did . Ruff up the contact surface to make them less slippery . It worked well too .

The plastic ones would the head screw head as the foot contact surface , not the screw point . You're right , that would asked for shredded shins =/
They actually make pedals with screw heads type surface .

Love to see your ible with your pedal idea . Sounds pro =)

[Yard Sale Dale]

Thanks. It is not hard, but unless you can get a lot of the pins, threadlock, and a tap for a low enough price, it may be cheaper just to get replacement pedals such as Nashbar beartrap pedals. If you like running toe clips or SPD, you can get velcro "hipster" type toe straps with a large padded surface, instead of the old metal clips (ouch), for about $30. Great for sneaker rides.
Best bet is to find a bulk fastener dealer like Fastenal or mom-n-pop hardware store. You will need 8-16 set screws per pedal. Cheap nail polish works for threadlock on many non-critical things. Taps are about $2-5 each for small sizes that grub screws come in.

[BtheBike]

i'm a cheap skate and won't dish out for tools that only get used once .

I've made diy powerstraps like these https://www.instructables.com/id/Pedal-Belts-for-cycling-efficiancy/?ALLSTEPS didn't prefer them compared to flat pedals really .

[Yard Sale Dale]

After going to all the trouble to fix the traction problem, you can repack the bearings easily enough: drill small holes 1 per dust cap, and spray lithium grease in there with canned spray grease and the red tube. NOT wd40!

[BtheBike]

Yes =) . I have a load of pics repacking and kind of refurbishing old pedals . might upload em at some point . Yea, No wd40 (pather piss)!!

I prefer removing the dust cap with small driver rather than making a hole. I used mid-viscosity grease gun ,on spindle ,threads, bearings.. . Like new =)

[vader9900]

I have a Boba Fett helmet, will it work in place of the Clone helmet?

[BtheBike]

well , you know they dont' make em lie they used to anymore =).
Can't beat the original prototype