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hot pick for racers was the Brampton B8
Is there any significant difference between the B8, Constrictor BOA and BSA quill pedals? On the lookout for a set and in the end decided not to bid on the recent pair of B8 on ebay. Went for £20 in the end >.<
The nos ones on ebay are too rich for me, but I'd rather those than the new CL :)
veloham-
Is there any significant difference
I doubt it, there was basically one level of technology back then.
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Surely the significant difference between one pedal and another is their condition. Aside from the obvious - rust, knackered bearings and cages falling apart, there is the problem that the spindles may be bent. It's only too easy to damage a spindle - I once ruined a Chater spindle by hitting a traffic cone (forced into it by a skip lorry). A bent spindle causes the pedal to feel as though it's twisting under your foot, but unfortunately you soon get used to the twisting and cease to notice it until you get on another machine with straight pedals - and then the 'true' pedal feels wrong. The same problem applies to cranks, and it can be hard to tell where the fault lies; pedal or crank or both.
Unfortunately your knees will not fail to notice that something is wrong, and this is a classic cause of cyclists' knee problems. Graham Webb (World Amateur Road Champion 1967) attributed his lack of success as a pro to knee damage caused by a bent but unnoticed pedal.
Another issue is the length of the thread. Pedals for steel cranks have a shorter thread than for ali. It's possible to use the wrong combination, but a steel type thread in an ali crank is thought by many not to be safe (failure of the crank at this point is not rare and can have disastrous results), while a long thread in a steel crank will result in an ugly projection which may have the potential to catch on the chain.
So my conclusion is: don't worry too much about the brand and don't pay exhorbitant prices, just try to find something that will work for you and your set up. Pedals are both critical and expendable.
gbj_tester
clubman
Consulted the oracle as I'm visiting for Sunday dinner and he has this to say:
While Chater Lea pedals existed in the olden days, they were considered a bit shit because the shape of the cage gave poor clearance at the track and the cages tended to work loose* The hot pick for racers was the Brampton B8
*It will be perversely impressive if the new pedals retain this feature even after changing the design to eliminate the swaged joints which gave rise to it on the original ones 🙂