Favero Assioma Pedals: A deep dive into Dysfunction

So, I recently had the pleasure of dissecting the engineering marvel that is the Favero Assioma power meter pedal. And by “pleasure,” I mean I aged about five years in disbelief. Despite the proudly flaunted “Made in Italy” label, these pedals are basically a how-to guide for what not to do when designing cycling equipment. Bravo, ragazzi.

Favero: Now Offering Remote Pedal Self-Destruct as a Feature

You really have to admire the confidence it takes to remotely disable your own product. Yes, Favero actually bricked their own pedals. Because, clearly, the real enemy here isn’t the user experience or mechanical failure. It’s criticism. And when I politely pointed out that the pedals are about as robust as wet pasta, Favero’s response was to threaten me with legal action. Bold move. Because when someone highlights your design failures, naturally the best course of action is to pretend you’re Apple and shut it all down.

Engineering Excellence, If You Enjoy Failure

Let’s dive into the greasy core of this mess. The axle is supposedly hardened, which I guess means they waved it near a heat source once. But the threads? Let’s just say they were cut with all the precision of a toddler using a spoon. The pièce de résistance, though, is the comical 0.4 mm of play between the inner sleeve and axle. That’s not tolerance. That’s an open marriage. And instead of using something sensible like a bearing that might last, Favero went with a tiny bearing and a bronze bushing, because apparently, metal-on-metal wear is the hot new feature. It’s like they built it to fail just to keep you coming back for replacements. Genius, really.

Meanwhile, in the Land of People Who Know What They’re Doing

To highlight how bad the Assioma is, I put it next to a Look Blade KEO pedal, and the contrast was so stark it should’ve come with sunglasses. Look actually went for the revolutionary idea of using a proper needle roller bearing. Not a bushing. Not a joke. An actual bearing. The result? A pedal that spins without sounding like a dying rodent and doesn’t develop play faster than you can say “warranty claim.”

Final Thoughts: For Masochists Only

So, what’s the takeaway? If you’re a cyclist who values things like, oh I don’t know, durability, functionality, or not being sued for having an opinion, you might want to steer clear of the Favero Assioma. But if your idea of fun is product recalls, technical support nightmares, and potentially being sued by a company whose product you bought, then by all means, slap these bad boys on your bike and enjoy the chaos.