Sampson Stratics Family of Pedals

Sampson pedals are made in the Denver, Colorado area using a design concept that guarantees them to be one of the lightest clipless pedal sets yet made. The pedal body is cast of a strong plastic in two pieces. The lower section incorporates the housing for the spindle, bearings and cleat retention system, while the upper piece is merely a top cover that closes off the retention system and provides a platform surface for the cleat. The cover piece is permanently fastened to the lower section with four rivets. The cover is made in three colors to identify the model of the Stratics pedal. The 575 model has a Platinum Grey cover, the 675 pedals have Red and the 775 pedals have a dark Blue cover (a true improvement over the Lavender of 1993). With the pedal properly installed, the Sampson logo reads right side up from the front of the bike. The bodys of all Sampson pedals are made to provide a 39 degree lean before pedal to ground contact. The spindle used in the 575 and 675 series pedals is made of machined Cro-moly steel that is turned on a lathe to shape, given two cuts for the pedal wrench to grip, and threaded for installation in the crank arm. The 775 set uses a Titanium spindle that is nearly identical to the steel in machine work, though it is made from Titanium 6Al-4V rod. The Stratics pedal use a sealed thrust bearing cartridge, which is made in Japan by NSK. It is the NSK model 6901V. The cartridge bearing rests against a shoulder cut vertically on the spindle and is held in place with a cir-clip, though the clip really isn't necessary. The sealed cartridge has two thin Nylon discs shielding the bearing, both inside and outside from moisture contamination. The spindle is supported with full contact through the pedal within the greased housing. On the 675 and 775 the outer end of the spindle is reduced in diameter to fit in a tube of Delrin/Teflon material originally used for the Sampson disc bearing.



This bearing tube is housed in the outer end of the pedal body giving additional load support to the spindle. Once the cleat retention pieces are in place. The spindle, with the bearing cartridge, is greased and pushed into the pedal body, where it is held in place from the outside using an expanding lockring that snaps into a recess in the pedal body housing where the spindle exits. The Sampson cleat retention system relies on a strong coiled spring located in the heel end of the body. This spring pushes against a cast Black Teflon piece that the cleat snaps over to hold it in securely. The spring and Teflon retention piece are installed in the body before the spindle. The bottom of the Teflon retention piece is shaped out to fit the spindle passing under it. When the cleat is not on the pedal, the spring pushes the Teflon piece into contact with the spindle and holds the pedal so it won't spin freely. This is the Sampson patented No- Spinª system and helps the rider avoid having to find the "up" side of a pedal while trying to engage a freely spinning pedal. When the cleat is engaged it forces the Teflon retention piece into the body and all tension on the spindle is relieved so it can spin freely in use. The Stratics retention system releases with both inward and outward movements. The coiled, interior springs come in two strengths; one painted Blue is for sport riders and the other, called the "Comp" spring, is for heavy riders or riders with well developed leg muscles, is stronger and unpainted. The Comp spring requires a little more effort to clip into or release from. All Stratics pedals come with a pair of Stratics cleats. The Stratics cleats are made of Black plastic, to fit any cycling shoe with the standard three hole (LOOK or Time compatible) drilling. The cleat adjusts fore and aft so you can center the ball of the foot over the spindle. The cleat itself has rotational adjustment built into it, which allow the shoe to rotate while firmly clipped in from 0 to 15 degrees. This rotation can be fine tuned by the user, by adjusting two 3mm set screws, one for each side of the foot, independently of the other, in both the inward and outward direction. Instead of relying on a cam shaped cleat or pivoting body, the rounded ends on the Stratics pedal actually enhance this rotational ability . Virtually all effort expended using them transfers to the cranks with no energy absorption because the Sampson Stratics pedals and cleats have a full surface contact with each other, and are made of unyielding materials. The Stratics cleat doesn't recess into the rider's shoe. The cleat itself is made of a hard composite plastic and provides no real walking traction. All Stratics pedals come with a pair of cleat covers. For riders who commute or tour using Stratics pedals, these hard rubber covers snap over the cleat, giving excellent traction over the area of the cleat for walking. The pair of cleat covers weighs 57.5 grams.