The first commute of may was sure interesting... Like the "Interesting times" in that ancient Chinese curse.
About a week ago I bought a set of new all-metal pedals to replace the worn-out stock plastic ones that came with the bike. I probably did something wrong at some point because when I unscrewed the left one it came out taking about half the crankarm threads with it (Which is what generally tends to happen in any systematically stressed joint between two metals of radically different hardness: the harder one eats through the softer one. Apparently whoever made the decision to use 100% alu crankarms in the design disregarded that particular bit of engineering wisdom).
[click on the images for a larger version] This did not prevent me from installing the new pedals anyway, since the other half of the threads was intact and held the pedal nicely.
The bike performed awesomely after that. Until today, that is. My bike has a pretty small pedal-to-ground clearance, a natural result of it being a hybrid, so it tends to scrape the ground with the pedals on steep turns. Usually I put the inner pedal into the topmost position before turning to avoid this, but not this time. And it was a
left turn.
The effect was not immediately noticeable, but as the now-free steel threads ate an ever-bigger hole through the aluminum (the progress can be clearly seen by comparing the two images below), it became worse as I rode on in the hopes that the arrangement will at least last until my destination. Those hopes were destroyed by the pedal falling out about halfway there. Oops.
So, what do you do with a bike with only one pedal? Why, you ride it!
Getting the hang of powering a bike with a single pedal was a bit tricky. Overall, you do it as follows (assuming missing left pedal):
- Push the pedal with right leg
- As the pedal nears the bottom, guide it as far as you could, using its grippiness
- As it passes the bottommost position, step with left leg on the left crankarm and try to pull the right pedal up
- The tricky part is getting the remaining pedal over the top. If it stops before reaching it, it will fall down backwards under its own weight (without a second pedal to counterbalance it)
First, you just struggle with trying to not let the remaining pedal fall backwards. Then you finally get the hang of it and start going in single strokes with your right leg, bringing the pedal back to the top with your left. Then you start doing it nonstop. Then you learn to actually apply some force in the no-pedal portion of the cycle. Then you learn to switch gears while doing all this. And then you carry on with the rest of your commute LIKE A BADASS. Including a couple-kilometer-long 5° climb. And end up taking only ten minutes more getting to your destination than your average.
In fact, this was one of the funnest rides I've ever had, propelling myself in this crazy way. It's almost worth intentionally unscrewing a pedal just to try it.
I
am going to replace the crankarm (unless I somehow miraculously manage to find a way to add material to this thing and then cut a 9/16" thread here in metricland), since despite the fun this mode of transportation is quite inefficient. Also, 5° slopes are about the limit and Moscow is a moderately hilly city, with way more than that in some spots.
To summarize, when Life gives you lemons, you:
- Do not make Lemonade
- Kick Life's ass (with just one leg) and make it take the lemons back
- Make fun of Life for even attempting to do that to you
- Walk away like the badass you are.
Good day to you all, and kick ass.
