CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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I am thinking about ordering some Pedalite pedals for my commuter bike after spotting a bike on the canal towpath with them last winter and being impressed by the effect.
The best price I have found so far is from the Smart Green Shop for just under £36: http://smartgreenshop.co.uk/pedalite-bibycle-pedals.html
There is an additional discount of 3% for ordering two sets and 5% for four so just wondering if anybody else is interested?
I used to have a set of those, but got rid of them without ever using them. Reason?
I was absolutely horrified by the amount of force/torque required to turn the spindle on the pedal and the weight of them.
It seems the spindle is connected to a standard gearbox, then motor/generator, all to generate the tiny amount of current needed for the LEDs.
Strongly suggest you feel the weight of them and turn the spindle by hand, then make your own judgement
@edd1e_h thank you for the information. As it turns out Greenroofer has an old set of these that I'm going to take off his hands to test out so I'll look for these issues.
Having just dug my old pair out to give to @jdanielp, I concur that twisting the spindle of the pedal between your fingers to generate power does need quite a bit of force. I did use them for quite a while when they were on the bike, and don't recall it being noticeable when on the bike (where you're using bigger muscles and have more leverage).
I stopped using them mainly because I got SPD pedals (although I have a vague recollection that perhaps they didn't work reliably in the wet, which may have contributed to my decision to move away from them).
edd1e_h you'll find the same with a dynamo lamp, when you spin it by hand it feels notchy and spins down very quickly but when on the bike your own weight quickly swamps the resistance.
Obviously there is more physics going on with a dynamo wheel but then it's drawing a lot more power.
@steveo that's what I was hoping, especially on my hub geared commuter which generally feels like it has rather more resistance than a derailleur geared bike in any case.
I fitted Greenroofer's old Pedalites last night and then ended up leaving work relatively late tonight so that was good timing. I can maybe perceive a slight increase in my effort required to pedal at a certain cadence, but on the whole I am surprised by how nice they feel under my feet, although making sure that they are aligned the right way round may take a bit of practice. Unfortunately the front LED on the right hand pedal seems to have stopped working since I fitted them (the pedal now rattles) despite being ok, if weak, when testing before, but I am still happy :)
@jdanielp - they are nice big pedals with good knobbles on, aren't they? Glad to hear that they are working OK(ish).
@Greenroofer indeed! One review I saw suggested that they weren't very grippy but they seem decent to me. Rain will be the true test of the grip and LED functionality though. I wonder if the LED in the right pedal has somehow shaken itself loose? Unfortunately I don't have triangular allen-style keys to attempt to investigate. Thanks again anyway!
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