Pedal Extenders?

[Riverman]

Hello
Does anyone know where I can get a top quality pedal extender?
I have problem with pain in my right knee after a long ride.
Basically solved in 2019 after purchase of the ‘Bikefit Hex+ Pedal Extender Kit’ from I-ride.co.uk.
However I find myself needing perhaps another two for other bikes and I-ride have advised they are now discontinued from their supplier in the US (Company BikeFit Systems LLC was bought out and the new owners no longer manufacture and sell them, apparently). I am unsure of the quality of the cheap Chinese ones on eBay as I fear that they may snap under load when out of the saddle, for example. The Bikefit one (sold in pairs L and R) is fantastic quality and wasn’t cheap.
Anyone any advice that could help?
Many thanks.

 

[Frankenorange]

I wouldn't use the cheap ones that are all over ebay, for example. Tbh, though, there are enough of them being sold and the only snapped extenders you read about, on the internet, are the original Specialized jobbies. Then it was only a handful and i think it was mostly due to people doing them up too tight, or onto cranks without a machined area for pedals/washers/extenders. Maybe a combination of both?. Being america they ended up doing a re-call on all of them anyways.

Anyhow....these i have used and would trust 100%

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pedals-cleats/20-jtek-qplus-pedal-extenders-916-inch/
They don't have a hole through them for an allen key though, if your pedals don't have spanner flats.

I had pedals without flats and needed an 8mm allen key to tighten/loosen. I found a neat thing from a multitool that is an 8mm allen bit that slips over a 5mm allen key. I drilled the above extenders, on a lathe, to clear a 5mm key and chopped the 8mm converter down and lightly bonded the shorter 8mm bits into the pedals. I could easily get enough torque in the 5mm key to deal with tightening the pedals. To be on the safe side it pays to undo the pedals regularly so they don't get beyond the capability of a 5mm key.
I learnt this the hard way, but i can confirm that a quality 5mm allen key can handle an 8" extension and undo a very tight pedal, without snapping

SJS also sell the Kneesavers extenders at £50.

I use extenders due to some knee issues and it was a gamechanger. I had a go with 20mm, went to 25mm, but settled back on 20.

 

[Riverman]

I wouldn't use the cheap ones that are all over ebay, for example. Tbh, though, there are enough of them being sold and the only snapped extenders you read about, on the internet, are the original Specialized jobbies. Then it was only a handful and i think it was mostly due to people doing them up too tight, or onto cranks without a machined area for pedals/washers/extenders. Maybe a combination of both?. Being america they ended up doing a re-call on all of them anyways.

Anyhow....these i have used and would trust 100%

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pedals-cleats/20-jtek-qplus-pedal-extenders-916-inch/
They don't have a hole through them for an allen key though, if your pedals don't have spanner flats.

I had pedals without flats and needed an 8mm allen key to tighten/loosen. I found a neat thing from a multitool that is an 8mm allen bit that slips over a 5mm allen key. I drilled the above extenders, on a lathe, to clear a 5mm key and chopped the 8mm converter down and lightly bonded the shorter 8mm bits into the pedals. I could easily get enough torque in the 5mm key to deal with tightening the pedals. To be on the safe side it pays to undo the pedals regularly so they don't get beyond the capability of a 5mm key.
I learnt this the hard way, but i can confirm that a quality 5mm allen key can handle an 8" extension and undo a very tight pedal, without snapping

SJS also sell the Kneesavers extenders at £50.

I use extenders due to some knee issues and it was a gamechanger. I had a go with 20mm, went to 25mm, but settled back on 20.

 

[Riverman]

Frankenorange

What a FANTASTIC reply and advice! Thank you VERY MUCH for such a comprehensive reply. All noted. I use Look Keo 2 pedals on one of the bikes I need another one for (no pedal flats, 8mm Allen fixing I think ) and the other is an old mountain bike with the flats so the Jtek ones should work there okay. To be honest I’m not sure what you mean re adaptation to fit to ones without pedal flats: sounds complicated. Will read it again and try to get my head around it.

Thank you very much for the fantastic information and taking the time and trouble to advise.

Best regards

 

[Frankenorange]

To be honest I’m not sure what you mean re adaptation to fit to ones without pedal flats: sounds complicated. Will read it again and try to get my head around it.

Ok...i will try again

If you have pedals that use an 8mm allen key, to tighten/remove, then the Jtek extenders need modifying by drilling a hole through the endof them, so you can get an allen key into the pedal spindle.

I didn't like the idea of drilling a hole big enough to put an 8mm allen key through , as there could be a point of failure where the wall thickness between the drilled hole and the reduced external diameter between the end of the male thread and the shoulder , that butts up to the crank arm.

So.....i found an 8mm allen key bit, that is part of a multitool, and this bit slots onto a 5mm allen key so your 5 becomes an 8. I can't remember the name of the tool but i could buy the bit on its own as they must be very easy to lose. It may have been SJS that sold these, too.

Anyway... i bought two of these bits and cut them so they would fit into the pedal spindle and i lightly bonded them in place so they wouldn't fall out and could still be removed. I had to buy two as one bit was too short if just cut in half.

I then put my extenders into a lathe and drilled a through hole in from the blank end into the female end, that is for the pedal. This hole only needs to be big enough to clear a 5mm allen key so maximising wall thickness. I think it may have been 6mm.

Once this is done you can mount the extenders onto the crank arms as per normal. Then to mount the pedals you put your 5mm allen key through the extender and into the bit that is bonded into the pedal and thread the pedal into the extender.

You will have to use the long end of the allen key, to go through the crank arm and extender, and then use something to nip up the pedal on the short end of the key. I used a ring spanner as a lever. It is sufficient as pedals don't need to be torqued up within an inch of their lives. Just nipped up with some copper slip, or grease , on the threads. Same goes for the extenders.

As i said before; it is wise to undo the pedals regularly, if using the 5mm plus 8mm expander bit as IF you leave it a long time you may find the pedal is super tight in the extender and the 5mm allen key a bit weedy to remove the pedal. I made this mistake but found a quality 5mm allen key can survive some serious leverage and the pedal will loosen.
After that i made a point of just undoing the pedals every couple of weeks, or so, checking they still had some lube on the threads and then retightened them. I think it is something worth doing with any pedal setup, especially if the bike is an all weather/commuter bike.

Hope that explains it all better.

 

[Riverman]

Ok...i will try again

If you have pedals that use an 8mm allen key, to tighten/remove, then the Jtek extenders need modifying by drilling a hole through the endof them, so you can get an allen key into the pedal spindle.

I didn't like the idea of drilling a hole big enough to put an 8mm allen key through , as there could be a point of failure where the wall thickness between the drilled hole and the reduced external diameter between the end of the male thread and the shoulder , that butts up to the crank arm.

So.....i found an 8mm allen key bit, that is part of a multitool, and this bit slots onto a 5mm allen key so your 5 becomes an 8. I can't remember the name of the tool but i could buy the bit on its own as they must be very easy to lose. It may have been SJS that sold these, too.

Anyway... i bought two of these bits and cut them so they would fit into the pedal spindle and i lightly bonded them in place so they wouldn't fall out and could still be removed. I had to buy two as one bit was too short if just cut in half.

I then put my extenders into a lathe and drilled a through hole in from the blank end into the female end, that is for the pedal. This hole only needs to be big enough to clear a 5mm allen key so maximising wall thickness. I think it may have been 6mm.

Once this is done you can mount the extenders onto the crank arms as per normal. Then to mount the pedals you put your 5mm allen key through the extender and into the bit that is bonded into the pedal and thread the pedal into the extender.

You will have to use the long end of the allen key, to go through the crank arm and extender, and then use something to nip up the pedal on the short end of the key. I used a ring spanner as a lever. It is sufficient as pedals don't need to be torqued up within an inch of their lives. Just nipped up with some copper slip, or grease , on the threads. Same goes for the extenders.

As i said before; it is wise to undo the pedals regularly, if using the 5mm plus 8mm expander bit as IF you leave it a long time you may find the pedal is super tight in the extender and the 5mm allen key a bit weedy to remove the pedal. I made this mistake but found a quality 5mm allen key can survive some serious leverage and the pedal will loosen.
After that i made a point of just undoing the pedals every couple of weeks, or so, checking they still had some lube on the threads and then retightened them. I think it is something worth doing with any pedal setup, especially if the bike is an all weather/commuter bike.

Hope that explains it all better.

Ah, Frankenorange…. You’re a ‘Gud Un’!!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Brilliant!

Now I get it: a lot of work but to get over the uncomfortable knee pain it is worth it.

Not being lazy but was hoping my enquiry would turn up a simple proprietary extender for Allen-key fitting (Keo2) pedals that would fit straight out of the box … like these excellent BikeFit ones. Would rather have a few fitted to my bikes than swop one set of pedals over between bikes. The bike fit extender has a small Allen key reducer that drops in if I remember correctly and the whole extender is now seized on to the pedal (even though well copper slipped during installation) and can’t be removed to fit to another (new/different) pedal. They work really well though: I would recommend them - solved my knee issue. Now … if they only re-started production…

But it seems I have no choice but to attempt you modification method.

Thank you VERU MUCH Frankenorange.