SimWorks Taco Pedal Review

This is a review of the SimWorks Taco Pedal. It’s a large platform pedal with replaceable pins and the “Homage Green” color is downright glamorous. However, I’ve had to amend this review just a bit, which I go into at the end.

Shhh…don’t tell anyone. I’ve gone down the cycling rabbit hole and am building a bike, which stands, partially assembled, on a bike stand in the guest room.

Currently, I only have an e-bike; I wanted a “me-bike,” a practical, non-electric bike I could lift onto public transit, commute with, and use for fun rides. What I find myself creating, instead, is a pastel contraption onto which, of course, I had to put the green SimWorks Homage tires.

So I got excited when I found SimWorks had just released their Taco Pedal in “homage green.” I packed up the black ones I had just purchased and sent ’em on back, ending up with these lovelies:

Taco Pedal Dimensions

These are HUGE “Gordito style” pedals with a platform measuring 110mm x 105mm, though not much larger than the Look Trail Grip pedals I was already using on my e-bike, which measure 107mm x 103mm. They are so big, however, that they look sort of hilarious on the stubby 155mm Appleman cranks I’m planning on trying out when I finally finish building this bike.

Taco Pedal Weight

They’re heavy, but that can be expected with this type of pedal. They weigh in at 498g — less than the 530g of my clunky Trail Grips but significantly more than most nylon or clipless pedals. For use on an e-bike or a bike with a steel frame, that’s not truly a consideration to me, but the former weight weenie in me still obsessively checks bike part weight.

I couldn’t wait until this bike was built to try them, so I temporarily stuck them on my e-bike (they’re too pretty for my e-bike) and took them out for a short spin.

It’s the PNW, and I was actually HOPING to try them out in the rain but, unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate in the opposite direction from how it usually does not cooperate, and it was just a bit damp.

Here’s what I thought:

Grippiness

I’m not a mountain biker. I’m a former road cyclist who now likes a comfortable, all-terrain type bike where I can mix up some gravel and road. So I don’t need the sharp pins of some pedals I’ve encountered, like the Race Face Chesters that seem like they’d shred up your shins.

I use a grippy shoe like Five Ten Freerider Pros when I’m going to be cycling any distance on platform pedals and only occasionally ride my bike in sneakers. For me, these pedals gripped adequately. I didn’t slip and think I’d feel comfortable riding with them in sneakers for casual rides to the store. However, I think that if I were a mountain biker and needed to really be connected to my pedals, I’d go with something grippier or use clipless pedals.

Shin…Shreddiness ?

Before I purchased the Taco Pedals, I actually contacted SimWorks to ask about how sharp the pins on these pedals were.

A long time ago, when I started bike commuting, I quickly learned to use SPD pedals after tearing up my calf on a metal pedal.

But now, at an older age, I’m finding my knees don’t always agree with SPDs, no matter how many minute adjustments I make. I’ve encountered some pretty sharp pedals at bike fairs and can imagine what they would do to my leg if I had to walk my bike or my foot slipped.

The customer service person at SimWorks pointed out that these pedals had pins and steered me toward a more “urban” pedal like the Bubbly pedal.

But I LIKE grip and decided to try these out.

I found the pins to not be as sharp as pins on a standard MTB pedal and, during my brief test ride with them, did not manage to damage my shins.

My other concern about sharp pedals is taking them in commuter situations like on a light rail train. Overall, I think you’d be safe around me if I had this pedal on my bike. Still, if I were planning on taking it in a crowded situation, I might pick up some pedal wraps — or better yet, make my own cute ones.

And the big question…does the Homage Green Taco Pedal match the SimWorks Homage Tire?

The answer is…yes, mostly. I think the pedals may be a tad greener.

I like that the pedal comes in two-tone, unlike the previous versions, which were only all-black or all-silver. But Hope Cyclery took them apart and sold “Taco Pedal Mismatches” for those who wanted black AND silver. None were available when I ordered the initial pair of black Taco pedals — but that’s OK, because now I have these green ones.

One last thing: the bearings

I added this later after writing this review because the left cousin to the right pedal in this photo fell off while I was riding. The verdict by the bike shop was that the pedal wasn’t rotating freely enough and simply unscrewed itself while I was riding. ¹

SimWorks offered me a refund or replacement and hasn’t had any other reported problems with these pedals. However, I haven’t taken them up on this offer for one reason: I have to admit that I noticed that the pedals weren’t rotating freely when I went for that fateful ride that landed me on the pavement and off the bike for several weeks. But they were rotating — somewhat — and I thought that would be enough. Unfortunately, the lack of rotation caused the pedal to just unscrew itself from the crank as I was riding and I didn’t realize what was happening until I was on the ground.

These pedals have “easy to maintain cup and cone bearings. And they are adjustable. Chances are, I would have had no issue if I had just said “Hey, self, these pedals are kind of not spinning as much as they should. Perhaps we should go and figure out how to get them spinning better.” So, I’d still recommend them for non-technical off-road and urban riding and for looks — but I’d advise you to make sure you or your bike shop adjust them when you install them.

Footnotes

1. More about that in an upcoming post.[↩]