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Onza -- we owe thee much

4K views 29 replies 22 participants last post by  TomP 
#1 ·
I found some Onza pedals at one of our stores today and put them in the case with the brakes and grips in our "shrine" to Onza. We have some sweet purple bar ends too that were not in the case today.

I have some good memories of the brand (now just trials bikes). One broken wrist in '92 from not being able to clip out of the pedals, and plenty of lust when their sweet brakes came out in '94. The pedals sucked compared to what we have now. but back then they were the only alternative to 525's and 737's from Shimano which were no better. But the bar ends, brakes and other products were the bomb for the times.

Who else has memories of this brand?
 

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#4 ·
Still have a pair of bar ends on my old '92 Bridgestone MB-2 sitting in the shed. A customer stripped the bolt and I drove a slightly longer one in and rode them for about 8 years.

Thanks for the flashback I'd forgotten about those elastomer pedal "springs."
 
#13 ·
Chromo Bar Ends

I had their Chromoly bar ends. Lost the plugs and ran them as core samplers for quite a while back in the day. I had a set of the aluminum ones too. When I was getting divorced I found the steel ones in a box of junk I was cleaning out. Cracked me up because I swear they weighed MORE than a modern handlebar. I gave them over to the Absolute Bikes museum.

I found a sticker that came with something of theirs I bought back in the 90's. Slapped it onto my beat-about pickup truck. I'll try to remember to get a photo of the sticker cluster...
 
#9 ·
Those were my first clipless pedals, and I took a long time to quit them as well. Still have at least 3 pairs and a bunch of spare parts in my garage. Think I still have a set of the brakes too, which I bought from the Cannondale guys at velo swap but were missing a spring, so were never installed...
 
#21 ·
One Ring to rule them all

...The only Onza product left in my possession:
Oh yeah, the inner rings. I loved those things. Wore out two or three of them before they became extinct. I was stuck on the old standard 110 74 bcd cranks and rings for a really long time, like until '99 or so. Had to have an onza ring in the inside.
 
#23 ·
Onza bar ends "back in the day". I was on the cutting edge back then, though, as I usually cut them down in length to save a few precious grams.

I eventually boxed them and a ton of other swag and sent it all to a soldier in Iraq who was the base bike mechanic. I bet my bar ends can be seen in Kirkuk at this very moment.
 
#27 ·
those elastomers, those bearings

My bro-in-law ran those pedals way back in 93-95 until the 747 SPDs came out. I remember him needing to have a steady source for the elastomers. Another friend bought all the NOS elastomers he could find when Onza discontinued them. I also remember hearing that the pedal bearings were something called oilite, which was some kind of grease-impregnated metal? Not sure it was true or that I understood, but I know my bro-in-law Jim went through at least two sets because the bearings got sloppy. My SPD 737s held up for years, big old heavy hockey pucks.

We both got bloody as hell riding those old pedals! I remember a trip to Moab when my 737s were brand new--I hit the dirt over and over. I don't think I had any skin left on my knees and elbows at all by the time I got home.

Good times.
 
#26 ·
Oh Yeah Those HO Pedals Were Great

Other Onza products ( tires, bar ends, chainrings) seemed to work well but the pedals were hit or miss. Can not tell you how many customers we used to have come in with problems from those pedals back in the day.

Inconsistent release to the point of shoes still being attached and the rider having to take their shoes off to get off the bike. Forget getting out if the elastomers got cold.

Very difficult set up with certain shoes where you had to grind the sole away around the cleat to get them to engage at all. Granted some of the problem was no standard for cleat openings on shoes but the Onzas were the worst by far.

There were a lot of busted spindles (especially the Ti version).

Then you had questionable CS from Onza.

They were light in comparison to Shimano SPD however.

The MTBR review is interesting especially if you go to some of the earliest reviews. People either loved em or hated em. I believe Onza HO pedals came out in 1994 and MTBR started up in 1996 so that's where the reviews start.

Onza H.O. Ti Older Pedals Reviews

Anyway thanks for the nostalgic trip.
 
#28 ·
I believe Onza HO pedals came out in 1994 and MTBR started up in 1996 so that's where the reviews start.
Awesome stories everyone!

I'm pretty sure my first hospital trip for a broken bone caused by cycling was in '91, riding at Bull Creek in Austin -- I was riding up and over a rock ledge and couldn't clip out of my Onza's. I know my first trip to Durango/Moab was in '92 and I definitely had them by then. I was pretty happy to switch to Time pedals in '96 or so.

But that was a while ago so I could be off by a year or 2.

Keep the memories coming!
 
#29 ·
Definitely my first clipless mtb pedals. They were great when new. The problem was they were increasingly harder to get out of as the elastomer wore. After a couple seasons and multiple pedal-induced crashes, I switched over to the Ritcheys.

My favorite Onza product was the grips - when I heard they were going out of biz, I stocked up and used them for years.
 
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