New XL pedal rattles

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I received my XL pedals yesterday and have been out riding with them a couple of times. They are indeed more comfortable.

One of them however has quite a bit of play, enough to wiggle it around by hand (when unfolded) and to feel loose when riding (rattles when riding over bumps)

Between the random motor vibrations, broken FW updates and now this, I’m quite underwhelmed by kingsong.

I swapped the pedals side to check if it was the L bracket coming from the motor, but the loose pedal still rattles. Wiggling the rod in the L bracket allowed to see that one of the sides is loose too. So both a pedal and a bracket is crap.

Is there anything that can be done? I’m fed up with paying good money for DIY stuff 😒

Edited December 8, 2019 by null

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I’m not the first one, @Smoother suggested to insert an aluminium sleeve. Thanks for the suggestion, I guess I’ll have to do that.

Edited December 8, 2019 by null

[mrelwood]

Well, don’t ever buy an MSX or an Airwheel A3 if you feel that way about joints rattling... sheesh! I think this is generally not a big issue though since while riding, your weight should effectively tighten the system and prevent any rattles.

I think the video with the washers was about an 18S, and for example my 16S didn’t even have washers.

But with washers and the soda can strips on both the pedal bracket and the pedal itself you can have the pedal as tight as you want. I used springy locking washers on my MSX to ensure a good fit. You know, the kind that looks like a single loop from a spring. They are a bit challenging to put on both sides though.

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Thanks for the response. 
Yes I feel fairly strongly about this, as in France an 18XL is 2500€ and 16S 1500€, at that price they should neither ride like a Hitachi wand nor be rattling as soon as we ride over some bumps (then my weight isn't compressing them). I also don't like rattle because it will typically get worse, just like you'd jank a nail to get it out.

The side washers might not be necessary, but the aluminium strips yes..

If they aren't able to drill a hole to the right tolerance they should design the system so it can be tightened.

Edited October 22, 2019 by Mimolette

[Rywokast]

i wish i had that problem.. most of my kingsong pedals are a workout to open and close lol.. im curious how the rod could possibly be loose since it gets way smaller at one end and youre meant to hammer it in all the way and then put in the grub screw to tighten against it, how it could ever move at all is beyond me unless you didnt tighten it and ever pedal ive ever had from ks has a very very tight metal "spring" plate on it that pushes hard against the bracket making it a very tight fit, a pita to change the pedals... i suggest you make completely sure you hammered that rod in all the way and fully tightened the grub screw, maybe add some thread locked but if you have the pedal off you can bend the metal plate on it outwards more before installing it to make it a tighter fit.. perhaps it just got bent out of shape somewhere along the line

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Two issues: one of the pedals has a larger diameter hole. So yes on one end of it the tip of the rod is held by the smaller diameter of the end of the hole (though only the tip, not great structurally) but on the other end the grub screw can’t keep it from moving. It’s just flat surface to flat surface which only keeps it from sliding backwards. The forces in the other directions are too strong, even if tight to start with.

The other issue is that one of the EUC motor brackets has too large diameter. The rod rattles around in it and there is nothing that can be tightened.

This doesn’t result in a pedal which is easier to unfold, only that it is loose / rattles when folded open.

The folding tightness is linked to the rounded spring steel sheet on the pedal. You could consider bending that to lessen the resistance..

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I got new pedals for my 18L and noticed the tolerances were a lot worse than the original. The material the pedals are made of, is also very soft. They feel much better, but the excess rattle was unnerving at first, especially as I rode way up on my toes for acceleration. They also are very loose to fold in compare to the older, tho I suspect a small shim under the flex tab, would solve this. I was tempted to address this slack somehow, but then just said to h*ll with it and maybe i'll address this when something else breaks. I do recall thinking it could be a problem to remove the axle pin, as the new pedal design isnt drilled thru, enabling you to push from the back. I may have to drill a small pilot hole if the pin doesnt just fall out. I did waxx the crap out of it, hoping to stall the inevitable corrossion from differing metals in contact. Fwiw, I noticed my pedal axles were NOT ideally round, nor of indentical spec to each other. I got a micrometer out to check, and gave up, as its just obviously cheap manufacturing with huge tolerances. I say this in a non judgemental way, as I know NOTHING of the market demands and pricing structure of this tech. As an OCD tech myself, these things somewhat irk me, but I have learned to ignore it, for fear I'd hate everything.

Edited January 1, 2020 by ShanesPlanet