This week Favero released version 4.04 and new pedal bodies. When I saw the pedal bodies I thought of an idea. Why not 3d print bodies which can fit on the pods of Favero Assioma’s with Shimano SPD double-sided clipless mechanism? Example:
I and other people want powermeter pedals for road as well as MTB riding. This would be a nice solution.
Are there people with expertise in 3d printing or pedals based powermeters who think this is possible? Or impossible (please give a reason why)
yes. just not practical / cost effective.
but even if it were i believe the main issue with an SPD power meter is that shimano holds the licence for the cleat design and will likely never release it.
Do you have any idea about costs?
The license is a issue for later. I just want to now if its all within reach
within reach for what? if you’re talking about making a one-off thing for yourself it’s probably affordable, but there’s no way a business is going to be able to do it.
with 3D printing, although you could end up with something that looks like a pedal, it’s (probably) not going to be anywhere near strong enough to actually use. you also have to think about the practicalities of putting a power meter for a mtb into a pedal body. pedals in mountain biking are subject to far more abuse than in road riding, i think that’s the reason why no one has come out with a pedal based solution. spending £1,000 on a pedal just to smash it into the first rock you come into would be pretty galling.
but hey, if you want to have a go at DIYing something then fill your boots.
Why not buy something that’s been out and proven for 15 years in the field like powertap quarq whatever
Because I want the possibility the easily swap bikes.
There’s no way you can get the accuracy and tolerance you’d need around the axle with a 3d printer. Circular holes are particularly challenging as the printer moves in a series of steps in x and y. I’d imagine you’d have significant issues with durability and strength too, I certainly wouldn’t ride them.
3d printed in titanium though could work though… if your wallet can stomach it (might be cheaper to buy two quarqs!)
I’m also waiting for an off-road version of the Assioma pedals so I can swap between CX and MTB.
SLA printing should be able to hold the tolerances. However, I don’t personally work with any material strong enough for this application. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is (expensive) material out there capable of this though.
Fair point! My only experience is with FDM so I hadn’t considered that.
I don’t have any experience. But from what I heard is that titanium as a material is not that expensive. It’s the labour (mostly welding) which is difficult and time consuming, which makes it expensive.
I have absolutely no clue about any expenses for titanium 3d printing though…
Titanium?
I’m not sure if Ti can be used with an SLA machine.
In a word… expensive.
Details differ with particular material, design and size, but it is something that is usually more expensive per unit when compared to other processes. Those processes only get “cheaper” via other investment in tooling or other avenues that have associated cost.
One big advantage in direct 3D printing is the lack of “traditional tooling”. But the cost of the actual machine and related materials is quite costly at this time.
Not to mention that with the precision needed for this application, post-3D printing would almost certainly require machining for things like bearing seats at a minimum. It’s great tech, but not a one-stop or “affordable” solution for something like the one suggested here.
What this all comes down to is that 3d printing, while amazing for prototyping, is unlikely ever to compete for mass production compared to something like injection moulding.
It would be great to be able to customise things like pedal bodies using 3d printing as the op suggested but the tech isn’t really there yet. Maybe one day! I can’t imagine anyone thought it would be practical to make your own go pro or light mounts a few years ago but now there are plenty of printers on the market capable of it
I’m going to make a suggestion that I may actually try out myself…
Assioma pedals use Xpedo Thrust NXL pedal bodies. I’m not sure if it is standard or slightly altered to accommodate the thin part of the pod that butts up to the body.
All Xpedo pedals use exactly the same bearings in a 1 outboard, 2 inboard arrangement with a nut screwed onto the end of the spindle to keep everything in place. Assioma’s bearing kit looks to be the same.
I can’t be sure that the spindles will be compatible but I may well splash out on a set of M-Force spindles (£20) to test out the theory. If it works the Xpedo SPD compatible pedal bodies should fit on the Assioma spindles and hey, presto, a pair of SPD power meter pedals.
It’s a shame that the pod sticks out beyond the end of the cranks which makes them vulnerable for proper mountain biking but they could be good for gravel use.
Not sure that the clearance to the pod will be like or whether they’d still be accurate. Who knows, but it may be worth a test.
Mike
Gravel and simple single-track here in the Netherlands is exactly my idea. And winter riding with spd pedals.
I’m really, really interested in the results. If you need any help one way or the other, tell me.
Keep us posted about the results!
That idea is a lot more practical than 3D-printing a pedal body - the OP seems to have forgotten all the clip-on mechanism parts. You’d need to get those from another pedal body, and do quite some machining on the printed parts both to make the bearings fit and to allow installation of the clip-on mechanism. It is possible however that inboard bearing placement has been altered from the original Xpedo to give more room to the strain gauges. You’d have to take an Assioma apart and compare it to an Xpedo. For someone who owns Assiomas, getting a used pair of Xpedos would make this a low-cost experiment. Maybe it fits, maybe it fits with some machining, or maybe you get a pair of pedals you did not need.