New Aerolites - CLA Lite

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desperado95219
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Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:49 pm

by desperado95219

I know you either love or hate aerolite pedals. This is for those that love them. I've ridden aerolites for about 25 years and swear by them. I ran into an ad for their new all black pedals on the DuLight (France) website. The new pedals are made of a new special grade aluminum, which they claim is twice as stiff and less friction plus about 40% cheaper. I called Aerolite Pedals (do a google) in Washington and they don't even show these on their website yet, but I now have a pair coming. The TT version they expect to weigh 25 grams each. I swear I am in no way connected to this company. If anyone is interested, I'll give a report when they arrive and I have had a chance to try them....I imagine that will be in about two weeks.

by Weenie


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WMW
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by WMW

I'm not understanding what part is aluminum... it has always been the outer cylinder... and stiffness and friction are not an issue with that part.
formerly rruff...

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bura
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by bura

Judging from the weight data given it can only be the spindle made from aluminum. As WMW says the cylinder beneath the composite or Delrin part always was made from alu. Beside this there are only the spindles and the outer bolts left .
So now we have somebody else going with alu spindles?
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latman
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by latman

all nice till one snaps and cuts your calf/shin to bits

hasbeen
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Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:17 pm

by hasbeen

Thanks for this. Ive used Aerolites for 10+ seasons without a problem (my shins are fine :roll: ).
I spoke with him about a year ago and he mentioned something in the works re: a new material. Im going to check the out!
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Tenlegs
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Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:37 am

by Tenlegs

These? "Exclusive 7075T6 Aluminum Matrix Carbon-Aluminum"
http://www.dulight.fr/product_info.php?products_id=2166

Image

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dgasmd
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Location: South Florida

by dgasmd

I rode aero life's for a number of years without issues (fitting issues that is). The pedal is more than fine. The cleat and how to fit it to the bottom of your shoe is the atrocity they simple don't seem to find a common sense/okay way of fixing!! I have 2 sets at home of the Ti ones and will go back to the in heartbeat if they can come up with an easy way to fit and attach the cleat to the shoe!!

desperado95219
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:49 pm

by desperado95219

As stated by other posters, the previous spindles were either Cro Moly or Ti. The manufactuer claims the the ti spindles would withstand 3000+ pounds before bending (not breaking) and the new alloy ones will handle double that. The alloy is coated with a material to reduce wear. I have more info on the cost, but I don't have time right now to look that back up. There are three models. The TT-CLA model will weigh 55 gms (for the pair) and will be available before the end of April. These are shorter and have the drilled turcite bearing. The other two models are available now. I believe the other full length CLA-Lite model weighs a max of 58.6gms and has the drilled bearing and the regular CLA model (without the drilled trucite) will be something like 60.5 gms. Aerolites aren't necessarily for everyone (if you swear you need swivel, these are not for you), but I feel much more stable and faster on Aerolites than the Speedplays that are on my tandem.

mike
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by mike

aerolites are a superb, noiseless pedal. look at all the copycats that are coming out and still do not have the weight or reliability of the aerolite pedal. however, the cleats and its lack of ability to give a good float was one of the main reasons why i went to speedplay.

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WMW
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by WMW

desperado95219 wrote:The manufactuer claims the the ti spindles would withstand 3000+ pounds before bending (not breaking) and the new alloy ones will handle double that.


Hmmm....

Twice the yield strength of Ti? Did the diameter of the spindle increase?
formerly rruff...

donald
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Location: san francisco ca. usa

by donald

The new spindle, made from a newer aerospace 7075 T6 aluminum is stronger than the Ti. they were using with no problems. They have been testing the new spindle for a while and under extreme load would bend before they would ever break.

maxxevv
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by maxxevv

You've got to be kidding.... What grade of Ti are comparing it to ??

Grade 1 titanium or the more commonly used 6/4 for Ti spindles ?? They are night and day in terms of UTS and just so happens that 7075 T6 falls somewhere between the 2 in terms of UTS too...

desperado95219
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by desperado95219

I got my new CLA pedals in. They are advertised at 61.4 grams/pair and $188 for the Road model (without the drilled turcite sleeve). The Road Lite Model (drilled), which I ordered, is supposed to be 57.4gms. Mine weighed 58.4 grams and they were $210 complete with the cleats and screws. The advertisement I saw stated that the old Ti model was Ti2 and the new aluminum model is 7075 t6 (?) . I am definitely not a metallurgist. They claim the Ti model bent (not broke at 3,060 pounds. I've never even felt them flex and I weight about 185 pounds. The claim is that the new aluminum model didn't bend in testing until 6,040 pounds of pressure was applied. If the rain stops this weekend, I'll report back on the feel and stiffness. (I weighed my old my 1-1/2 year old Ti TT pair and they were 68.8 grams). I don't know what the slightly shorter TT model will run but the two models I mentioned above are significantly cheaper than the old Ti models.

Illuminate
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Location: Australia

by Illuminate

From the reviews that I have read around the place, the general consensus is that they seem like a really good thing with the primary limitation being the cleat and lack of adjustability when placing it onto a regular 3 holes-mount shoe.

With this limitation in mind, I wonder whether anyone has considered designing and printing their own cleats with a 3D printer?

Options could include:
1. A whole new cleat with 3 hole mounts with adjustability (much the same as a regular look cleat or similar)
2. An adaptor that allows the original snap on cleat section to be used but it bolts on to the 3 hole mount and allows for 2d positional adjustment of the cleat on the shoe.

My brother in law has a 3D printer and it was pretty impressed with its capabilities!

Cheers,
I

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WMW
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by WMW

desperado95219 wrote:The advertisement I saw stated that the old Ti model was Ti2 and the new aluminum model is 7075 t6 (?) .


Grade 2 Ti is weak stuff. Nobody uses that for high stress applications. Yield is 340Mpa. 6-4 Ti is commonly used for things like spindles and it is 880Mpa... 2.5x as high!

7075-T6 has a yield of ~470 Mpa. It isn't nearly as strong as 6-4 Ti. What's worse is that it has no fatigue limit (unlike Ti), and will eventually break even if you never overload it.

I'd consider those spindles a consumable item... ie don't put a lot of miles on them before replacement. But that is probably true for the rest of the pedal also.
formerly rruff...

by Weenie


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