Or by the infamous "slave labor" which allegedly is used in China. Given the still good quality of their rings and crankarms, one wonders if perhaps the pedals have been outsourced to a contractor, maybe indeed to China. I've only had problems with the finish on the body, but your description wouldn't put them among the better Chinese products either. A lot of Chinese goods are better than what you describe with these pedals. Maybe that's why Velo Orange has evidently stopped selling TA pedals and started having their own made in Taiwan, which is well ahead of Mainland China in quality control.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: George Allen <jgallen@lexairinc.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR] modern TA pedal thread problems - any history?
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 1:48 PM
> Jerry,
>
> I removed the dustcaps with my specially-made tool: old
> channel-locks with duct tape wrapped around the jaws. They
> came off without a scratch. I suppose the pedal bodies are
> die castings as there are parting lines (which rules out
> investment castings) and they are definitely not sand
> castings. Dies definitely wear out over time and are
> incredibly expensive to replace. However, worn dies probably
> are not responsible for the porosity in the castings. That
> is almost always caused by gas in the molten metal. Worn
> dies could explain the terrible surface finish as that would
> be consistent with die checking. Being in the manufacturing
> business myself, we deal with all sorts of castings and
> precision machining. I can assure you we would never let
> product like this leave our building. Bad bearings, terrible
> surface finish, porosity so severe there are voids in the
> castings and nonconforming threads speak to horrendous
> manufacturing and nonexistent quality control. There can be
> only one explanation: they were made by shallow, drunken
> rednecks more interested in pro football than quality
> manufacturing! ;-)
>
> Tongue Firmly in Cheek,
>
> George Allen
> Lexington, Ky
> USA
>
>
>
>
>
> Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
>
> > George, how did you remove the dustcaps? I think
> there is or once was a t
> ool made for these, but I've never seen one. Looks like
> one could always us
> e channel locks, but that might scratch up the dustcaps
> pretty badly.
> >
> > As I recall the TA pedals were unavailable for several
> months in maybe 200
> 7 while they supposedly replaced the dies (or moulds) that
> were said to be worn out, which was blamed for the voids in
> the bodies you describe. I had
> some made just before that that had the poor finish you
> describe. I've bo
> ught a couple of pairs since that interruption, and they
> are better, but I'
> m not sure they are up to the standards of several years
> ago. I've not yet
> found a pair that won't go into BSC cranks, but they
> might be lurking in m
> y parts bin. Other than just a screw up in manufacturing
> the only thing I can imagine is that these oversized threads
> might be made for cranks that h
> ave been stripped and rethreaded to a larger diameter, like
> when one instal
> ls helicoils to repair cranks. That seems a real long
> shot, since there ca
> n't be much market for a pedal like that. But TA has
> made some pretty unus
> ual stuff, like special cage plates for riders with one leg
> > significantly shorter than the other. But no matter
> why these were produ
> ced, it was a definite screwup to allow them to get shipped
> and sold as BSC
> (or now ISO I guess) pedals.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
> > Big Spring, Texas, USA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Mon, 2/2/09, George Allen
> <jgallen@lexairinc.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> From: George Allen <jgallen@lexairinc.com>
> >> Subject: Re: [CR] modern TA pedal thread problems
> - any history?
> >> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> >> Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 2:21 PM
> >> Dan,
> >>
> >> Good, I'm not going crazy. I, too, recently
> had the
> >> exact same problem. The box of the modern TA
> pedals are clearly marked 9/16-20
> >> but they will not thread into my TA cranks which I
> were sure were 9/16-20
> >> as well. I don't have any French threaded
> cranks so I couldn't
> >> check them as you did. I guess I should try to
> install some Campy pedals into
> >> the TA cranks to insure I have 9/16-20 threads in
> the cranks.
> >> Also, the cartridge bearings in both pedals were
> bad right out of the
> >> box. So I had to order some new ones to replace
> the originals. And
> >> the casting quality and finish on the bodies is
> horrible. There are
> >> actually voids in the casting where the cages are
> attached. I had read and
> >> heard that TA pedals were some of the best ever
> made. Unfortunately,
> >> my experience speaks otherwise. Perhaps the
> quality problems are unique
> >> to the modern versions but I won't be paying
> big bucks for an old
> >> pair to find out.
> >>
> >> George Allen
> >> Lexington, KY
> >> USA
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> dan polito wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> List -
> >>>
> >>> I apologize if this is OT, but due to the
> classic
> >>>
> >> content of TA as a
> >>
> >>> company, I felt it was appropriate.
> >>>
> >>> I recently purchased a brand new set of
> contemporary TA
> >>>
> >> piste pedals
> >>
> >>> direct from the importer. The box and bag are
> marked
> >>>
> >> 9/16 x 20,
> >>
> >>> standard BSC threads. When trying to install
> these
> >>>
> >> pedals into marked
> >>
> >>> BSC cranks, I am having some difficulties.
> >>>
> >>> I attempted to install the pedals onto the
> following
> >>>
> >> arms, all marked
> >>
> >>> BSC: NOS Mavic 631 cranks, used sugino super
> comp, used
> >>>
> >> campagnolo
> >>
> >>> super record, new dura-ace pista. I retapped
> the
> >>>
> >> suginos for fresh
> >>
> >>> threads, and still no luck.
> >>>
> >>> I then attempted to install the pedals onto
> the two
> >>>
> >> french-threaded
> >>
> >>> cranksets I had lying around the shop, a TA
> pro 5 vis
> >>>
> >> and a
> >>
> >>> stronglight competition steel cotterless.
> these would
> >>>
> >> also not thread
> >>
> >>> in.
> >>>
> >>> I have installed many pedals, both new and
> used, to
> >>>
> >> many cranks, both
> >>
> >>> new and used. I have never had this problem
> before.
> >>>
> >>> Has anyone else had any similar problems with
> these
> >>>
> >> pedals?
> >>
> >>> Thanks.
> >>> Dan.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> -- This message has been scanned for viruses and
> >> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> >> believed to be clean.
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Classicrendezvous mailing list
> >> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> >>
> http://www.bikelist.org/
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> -- This message has been scanned for viruses and
> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> believed to be clean.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Classicrendezvous mailing list
> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> http://www.bikelist.org/