Author Topic: DIY longboard/direct drive double pedal + drive shaft mod  (Read 1731 times)

DIY longboard/direct drive double pedal + drive shaft mod
« on: November 22, 2017, 11:59:14 AM »
Hi there,

I also posted this elsewhere but thought I'd share it here too. It's a cheap double pedal I've modded and turned into a longboard, direct drive double pedal. I also made a new drive shaft as the old one had developed quite a lot of play in the u-joints.

The footboard is made out of carbon fibre and has a section of rectangular aluminium running the entire length to give it more rigidity and to attach the connection rods to the cam. The heel hinge is made with pillow block bearings. Here's a first, proof-of-concept version with aluminium rods, small 8mm bearings held in place with rivets and using the original cam for the chain drive, adapted with a piece of aluminium.

Continued in next post ->

Re: DIY longboard/direct drive double pedal + drive shaft mod
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2017, 12:13:45 PM »
The above version worked surprisingly well, but it was ugly, so I decided to remake the cams, rods, and what the hell, the drive shaft too. Cams and rods are made with carbon fibre (this stuff is amazing...), the rods with larger 10 mm flanged bearings, and the drive shaft uses some decent u-joints, 8mm alumium rods and 12 mm aluminium tubes. They're held together and are adjustable in length using aluminium shaft couplers with 8 mm openings at one end and 12 mm at the other. Works great.

All in all very happy with the mod. The pedals are really silent, smooth and look pretty good. The total cost of the materials for the mod came out at about €40.