West Biking Pedal Adapter

[EMGX]

Am I the only one desperate enought to give these things a try? Picked them up for <$15 on impulse just to see, not saying they help but won't yet say that they don't. Rode down into town and back on a bike with 500w TSDZ2, last time on this bike was about 10 days ago and I used the two highest settings on the steep stuff. Today I didn't use the highest setting at all, second to highest setting on steepest sections and lowest two settings for the rest - and wasn't as exhausted as usual. I'm not convinced yet but I'm not taking them off yet either. Ride to town 4.5 miles with 200 ft of climbing, ride back home same route over 900 ft of climbing with grades up to 16% per Garmin when I bothered to check.

 

[fooferdoggie]

what do they do? adjustable offset?

 

[DaveMatthews]

what do they do? adjustable offset?

I suppose you could point them forward and extend your crank length?
Bad idea for me with pedal strikes pointed down or forward.
You could shorten your cranks pointing backwards...

 

[EMGX]

Not adjustable, they have a bearing that allows the adapter 360 rotation at the crank arm and the pedal, of course, rotates 360 at the adapter. What I can say is that they lower the pedal at top and bottom of the stroke by 1" and they increase the Q factor by 0.75" each for a total of 1.5" increased Q. As Dave notes you have to be careful about pedal strikes keeping the inside pedal up in curves which isn't a problem for me riding paved and smooth gravel. I did lower my seat by an inch to maintain leg extension - benefit for me is that it essentially raises handlebar height which I like on this bike. Increased Q hasn't bothered me yet. They claim "20% energy savings" without backing it up with any data (they also claim that the crank arm bolt is titanium but a magnet is strongly attracted so that seems doubtful too). People who actually use them tend to give positive reviews especially those with knee issues, while people who haven't tried them universally reject them as ineffective. I expected to be in the latter category but I'm undecided for now, except that I do like the effect of lowering my seat by an inch while maintaining leg extension. I'm keeping them on for now. I wouldn't have bought them at Ebay price or West Biking MSRP but got a pair for <$15 including tax and shipping so here I am.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Not adjustable, they have a bearing that allows the adapter 360 rotation at the crank arm and the pedal, of course, rotates 360 at the adapter. What I can say is that they lower the pedal at top and bottom of the stroke by 1" and they increase the Q factor by 0.75" each for a total of 1.5" increased Q. As Dave notes you have to be careful about pedal strikes keeping the inside pedal up in curves which isn't a problem for me riding paved and smooth gravel. I did lower my seat by an inch to maintain leg extension - benefit for me is that it essentially raises handlebar height which I like on this bike. Increased Q hasn't bothered me yet. They claim "20% energy savings" without backing it up with any data (they also claim that the crank arm bolt is titanium but a magnet is strongly attracted so that seems doubtful too). People who actually use them tend to give positive reviews especially those with knee issues, while people who haven't tried them universally reject them as ineffective. I expected to be in the latter category but I'm undecided for now, except that I do like the effect of lowering my seat by an inch while maintaining leg extension. I'm keeping them on for now. I wouldn't have bought them at Ebay price or West Biking MSRP but got a pair for <$15 including tax and shipping so here I am.

Aha! I did not realize that they rotated!
Cheers!

 

[fooferdoggie]

Aha! I did not realize that they rotated!
Cheers!

I was thinking it rotated it looked like a bearing but never saw anything like that.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I was thinking it rotated it looked like a bearing but never saw anything like that.

Yeah, still no good for me with roots/rocks and stuff