Back in the spring of 2014, we began testing a set of RaceFace Atlas Platform Pedals. In the Product Spotlight of the RaceFace Atlas platform pedals, I wrote “I have a new bike as of last winter and I’ve been lusting after these RaceFace pedals. My new Fatback 190, Otis, is built up with a heavy dose of RaceFace’s components. The Bar, Stem, Seatpost, and Crank are all from our Canadian cousins out there in Vancouver BC. So it made sense (to me) that Otis should rock a set of RaceFace Atlas Platform Pedals.” About seven months later, I penned a long-term review of the Atlas platforms and posted.
Our set of test pedals never gave me a reason to pay them any mind. They just disappeared into a total seamless functionality that we all look for in any component that we bolt to our pride and joys! I really like the longer pins on the Atlas and the ability to adjust the length of the pins. The Atlas pedals haven’t developed any slop or play, at this point, and the finish on these pedals has really gone amazingly unscathed. These things look almost as good as the day they came out of the box. Check out the Side By Side Shot of them below.
(click to enlarge)
Our test pedals are over four years old and this summer, I noticed that my drive-side pedal felt a bit crunchy. I checked the price of the rebuild kit ($41.00) and put it on my list of things to order. Some time passed and the pedal started making noise and then one day out at Kettle this happened (photo below).
This is where I have to post with all honesty, that this would not have happened if I had taken the pedal apart when I first felt the crunchiness of the bearings. I also have to say that four years is an amazingly long time to last, considering the abusive environment that these pedals were exposed to and the high volume of hours that they were put to use. The beautiful thing about this situation is that the Atlas pedals are totally rebuildable.
The pedal rebuild kit (pictured above) didn’t come with any instructions, so I searched for a video and came up with a couple of them. I chose to share this one from Art’s Cyclery because it features a goat. The kit comes with a complete set of replacement bearings, a seal and two tools to remove the old bearing and seat the new ones. The kit also came with new shiny black dust caps (the originals were green). The forty-one dollar price tag still felt a bit steep, but if you compare that with the price of a new set of comparable (sealed bearing) alloy pedals, it’s a bargain.
The process was nearly as easy as in the video but a bit dirtier. If you don’t have the tools or the time, for this sort of operation you could always take your pedals to your local bike shop and have the professionals take care of that for you. In the broader sense, maybe next time that you catch a bad case of upgraditis and you want a new set of (pedals/hubs/etc.) be sure to take into consideration whether the apple of your eye can be rebuilt instead of replaced. The photo above shows the rebuilt pedals ready for another few years of fat-bike funskis. ¡Felices Caminos Amigos! ~g
For more information about RaceFace visit – www.raceface.com
The video left me in a state of suspense! I kept waiting for one of them goats to eat the little pieces he kept popping out of the pedal!
How-to videos are better with goats.