Mten3 pedal options

[Glenn@mansfield]

Hi all. I have been looking in to pedal options for my mTen3. Fairly happy that i can fit any gotway pedal. I can see a few peoples individual opinions here but not much comparrison.  Just wondering if theres a general consensus of what the best possible pedal option really is. The tiny standard ones hurt my feet real quick. Would I be right in saying ACM 2 pedals are the best all round or is there something better. Love the pedals on my Nik plus but fear they may be a tad too big? Any thoughts. Thanks everyone. 

[Dan Hillary]

I enjoy the ACM pedals on my wife's Mten3; when my MSP gets here I'll try its Nikola pedals on the MTen3 just for laughs (and pictures).

[BoseHeadphones]

I actually recently put Nikola+ pedals on my Mten3, it's simple swap and highly recommended. It's a solid upgrade even from the ACM pedals it came with. The nice thing is the Nik+ pedals have magnets in for both Nikolas and the Mten3 (my base Nikola pedals did not have the magnets in the centered position where the Mten3 needs it):

[.....]

I used a flat file and reduced the angle of my pedals. I found it was the ANGLE and not the size, that made them hard on my ankles, knees and hips. Since leveling out the pedals a little bit, they are WAY more comfortable and I dont seem to be forced into the wheel with my leg as easily.

[Darrell Wesh]

52 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

I used a flat file and reduced the angle of my pedals. I found it was the ANGLE and not the size, that made them hard on my ankles, knees and hips. Since leveling out the pedals a little bit, they are WAY more comfortable and I dont seem to be forced into the wheel with my leg as easily.

I think the tilt of the wheel forward and back has much more effect on your hips and knees than the inward angling of pedals. Calibration is your friend for comfort 

[.....]

21 minutes ago, Darrell Wesh said:

I think the tilt of the wheel forward and back has much more effect on your hips and knees than the inward angling of pedals. Calibration is your friend for comfort 

Not in my case. I rode the mten quite a bit before the angle change and after. Just as my Ks18L, the flatter angle definitely relieves the pressure on my hips. Now I'm 6'3" tall with arthritis in hips and knees. Perhaps my height has something to do with it, as the angle from my ankles to my hips is lesser at a set distance at the feet, than a person shorter. I dunno, Ive always been tall and cant comment on how it would do for a short person. Ive never noticed any pain from having to lean forward and back from excell and decelleration on either of the wheels. Quite possible my joints prefer front/back motion, rather than angled inward pressure. My 18 has the big pedals and sometimes the balls of my feet hurt in compare to the tiny mten. Speeds and wind resistance are the culprit more than pedal size, in that scenario. Ive a few vids to confirm a little bit of this. Fwiw, my mten came with the acm pedals i think, so they were already bigger. I did notice that the big pedal upgrade on my 18L increased comfort. Perhaps we are both correct, bigger pedals and custom angle, BOTH, increase comfort.

Edited April 21, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[Glenn@mansfield]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Mine came direct with the super small factory standard pedals. I think many resellers swap them automatically to acm as  a min. Super tempted by the nik pedals now. As long as they arent constantly scraping they could be lovely. Thanks for the feedback. 

[DanCar]

Any retailers sell them with Nikola pedals?  Any suggestions where to buy Nikola pedals?  Anyone know if it scrapes a lot more with larger pedals?

[RetroThruster]

14 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

I used a flat file and reduced the angle of my pedals. I found it was the ANGLE and not the size, that made them hard on my ankles, knees and hips. Since leveling out the pedals a little bit, they are WAY more comfortable and I dont seem to be forced into the wheel with my leg as easily.

I'm going to file my ACM stock pedals this weekend, especially my left one, I finally measured my pedal height and found the left side a half inch higher than the right, when I ride mine, I'm all sorts of contorted and it starts hurting my hips and feet pretty quick, I'm gonna try to get mine just a hair above dead level.

[.....]

Be VERY careful! I know level seems like a good idea, but even my KS has a slight angle. Its better to take too little and try, then repeat. The mten is low to the ground. I do think that being LEVEL, may be a mistake, as a slight inward lean will help keep the feet on the boards during bumps.

[Darrell Wesh]

4 hours ago, DanCar said:

Any retailers sell them with Nikola pedals?  Any suggestions where to buy Nikola pedals?  Anyone know if it scrapes a lot more with larger pedals?

I’m sure it scrapes a lot more with larger wider pedals. It’s already very low to the ground I wouldn’t put Nikola pedals on the Mten3

The wheel doesn’t even have enough range for you to need that bigger pedal comfort for long distances. It certainly doesn’t need bigger pedals for easier torque either. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Darrell Wesh

[RagingGrandpa]

On 4/20/2020 at 7:16 AM, Glenn@mansfield said:

what the best possible pedal option really is

I like MSuper pedals on mine...

[.....]

58 minutes ago, RetroThruster said:

I'm going to file my ACM stock pedals this weekend, especially my left one, I finally measured my pedal height and found the left side a half inch higher than the right, when I ride mine, I'm all sorts of contorted and it starts hurting my hips and feet pretty quick, I'm gonna try to get mine just a hair above dead level.

Yes, larger pedals scrape more easily. My acm pedals with a flatter angle, are not too low, but low enough I can easily stall out and stand on the wheel with it leaned on a pedal. I have a couple vids of me playing around on the mten with big and lower pedals. I still think it was WAY worth it, as now I can run the battery flat without limping around for 2 days. The big pedals and lower angle also keep my legs from being crammed into the pads, so I get a looser stance.  Kinda fun to stall lazily in place too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WEZiOUZGk

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[BoseHeadphones]

6 hours ago, Darrell Wesh said:

I’m sure it scrapes a lot more with larger wider pedals. It’s already very low to the ground I wouldn’t put Nikola pedals on the Mten3

The wheel doesn’t even have enough range for you to need that bigger pedal comfort for long distances. It certainly doesn’t need bigger pedals for easier torque either. 

Scrape more? Marginally sure, but it's the Mten3--doing a 180 in the width of a sidewalk doesn't even scrape. Also compared to the ACM pedals they replaced, the Nikola pedals are longer but barely any wider--notice the ACM pedals weren't scraping on the side, but rather the beveled edge:

I love this wheel, anything that helps me ride it longer is a plus.

10 hours ago, DanCar said:

Any retailers sell them with Nikola pedals?  Any suggestions where to buy Nikola pedals?  Anyone know if it scrapes a lot more with larger pedals?

Only place I found the Nik+ pedals in the states was Aliexpress, but that was a few months ago.

[Glenn@mansfield]

Great advice guys. Now to try and find some pedals. Easier said than done it seems. Been looking all over the usual spots. Ali express and google translate seem to be in order. 

[RagingGrandpa]

If you're not hung up on blemishes, post in the classifieds and ask for used Gotway pedals... lots of people upgrade and likely have take-offs sitting in their basement.

Edited April 22, 2020 by RagingGrandpa

[Declan acoustic-unicyclist]

23 hours ago, RagingGrandpa said:

I like MSuper pedals on mine...

I like the MSX pedals too and find that they scrape only when I ask them too

higher tire pressure can add a lot of ground clearance

[RetroThruster]

On 4/21/2020 at 2:46 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

Be VERY careful! I know level seems like a good idea, but even my KS has a slight angle. Its better to take too little and try, then repeat. The mten is low to the ground. I do think that being LEVEL, may be a mistake, as a slight inward lean will help keep the feet on the boards during bumps.

Any straight ahead shots would be appreciated, just to see how much flatter modded/other pedals sit.  I'm just going to start off by grinding on the one that sits higher, that might solve my issue altogether, if not, I'll relieve the angle of both pedlas little by little to get the desired level of comfort and performance.

Edited April 22, 2020 by RetroThruster

[.....]

you can see the angle in my video link. I made a video of me changing the pedal, but deleted it, as it was VERY boring and VERY redundant. I pretty much matched the angle of my ks18L, as I know its comfortable. I ground one side down, then cut a cardboard template and filed until the other side matched. When you lower the angle of the pedal, be prepared for your legs to NOT be up against the mten by default. I was taken by surprise at first, as this detail escaped me, until i got back on it. If you are already used to riding the mten, this will be very noticeable and you WILL have to somewhat relearn how to ride it. I was worried at first, but within 3 minutes I was (and am) still convinced that its a great improvement in comfort. Now my mten rides a little loser between my legs and Im fine with it. Its still not so much that I cant grab the wheel to hop and it didnt make the starting and stopping much more odd than the mten already was. You have been warned! On a side note, obviously you grind the pedals and not the hangers. Pedals are easy to find and replace, hangers.... not so much.

Edited May 6, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[RetroThruster]

You bring up a very good point, I actually have never ridden my Mten with my legs touching either side, maybe that's why I had a steep learning curve when I first started riding it and almost sent it to another home, now I'm used to it but still struggle with the pedal angle, your pic tells me a lot, mine are higher, especially my left one, I don't have a photo share account or I'd send a pic but it's noticeably higher than yours.  Thanks for all your help!!

[.....]

Loving the comfortable flat angle, but still not enjoying how much looser the mten rides on my legs and how I have to increase leg angle for easy mounting. My solution was a simple one. Cut some old worn out foam (was carpeted flooring squares) by using the old pads as template. I under cut them and used 3m spray adhesive. I edged them with red cord since it looks cool, and hides the gap some, using tacky glue. End result is now it's back to similar width feeling as with angled pedals. No problem grabbing with ankles or being pushed out on the plates. Once the pads need replaced, its 20mins and some scraps to do it again. I wanted blue /left and red/right, but... only had red and black and I dgaf. Grabbing the mten with the legs makes it pretty easy to OVER-jump those curbs.. Poor ankle pads tell the tale..

* I havent a share acct either. This server handles photos uploaded directly, at least for now.

Edited May 6, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[CGPro856]

On 4/21/2020 at 1:09 AM, ShanesPlanet said:

Not in my case. I rode the mten quite a bit before the angle change and after. Just as my Ks18L, the flatter angle definitely relieves the pressure on my hips. Now I'm 6'3" tall with arthritis in hips and knees. Perhaps my height has something to do with it, as the angle from my ankles to my hips is lesser at a set distance at the feet, than a person shorter. I dunno, Ive always been tall and cant comment on how it would do for a short person. Ive never noticed any pain from having to lean forward and back from excell and decelleration on either of the wheels. Quite possible my joints prefer front/back motion, rather than angled inward pressure. My 18 has the big pedals and sometimes the balls of my feet hurt in compare to the tiny mten. Speeds and wind resistance are the culprit more than pedal size, in that scenario. Ive a few vids to confirm a little bit of this. Fwiw, my mten came with the acm pedals i think, so they were already bigger. I did notice that the big pedal upgrade on my 18L increased comfort. Perhaps we are both correct, bigger pedals and custom angle, BOTH, increase comfort.

I'm im the same boat as you. 6'4", ride an 18XL, and don't like the steep angle of the MTen3 pedal.  Mine sit at about 16.5-17 degrees.  Do you know what angle you ended up with? I'm planning to take a file to mine today.  

Chris P. 

[.....]

4 hours ago, CGPro856 said:

I'm im the same boat as you. 6'4", ride an 18XL, and don't like the steep angle of the MTen3 pedal.  Mine sit at about 16.5-17 degrees.  Do you know what angle you ended up with? I'm planning to take a file to mine today.  

Chris P. 

no i dont. No tools here for measuring angle. I would suggest that you trial and error on it, but in small amount at a time. I used the angle on my 18L and cut a cardboard template. I would suggest NOT quite as flat as your 18, as there isnt much mten to grab and lowering the pedals WILL bring your legs away from the mten body a bit. Good luck, just remember, tis easier to remove metal that add it.

[Tawpie]

If anyone replaced their ACM pedals with something else, I’m looking to go the other direction and get a set of the ACMs for my new mTen (eWheels is putting the Tesla/Nik+ pedals on new mTens now and I don’t need the bigger footplate). Please DM me if you need to clear a set out of the junk drawer!