# Campagnolo "Cement Steel" pedal axle



## Jesper (Nov 24, 2022)

I recently picked up a very nice set (appear to barely have been used, cages tips unscratched, straps unsoiled) Campy Triomphe pedals. I am finishing up a Guerciotti Sprint which specified Triomph and Victory components. I like these better than the Victory style due to the shaped pedal to left and right shoe. They look great from all angles!
I looked up the velobase entry and it mentions that the axle material is "cement steel" as descibed in the Campy catalog. I looked up the catalog where they appear (only found in 1986 bis. Catalog that I saw) and there is no mention of the axle material. The part numbers for the axles were the the same for Triomphe, Victory, and Gran Sport pedals (1986 catalog; not shown in 1986 bis.).

Upon researching "cement or blister steel" (are they the same?) it refers to rather old methods of introducing carbon into the steel.

Was this practice still being used in the 1980s for production of axles and the like? Has anyone seen the Campy catalog that mentions this detail or technique? Just my curiousity

I have seen some things in velobase that are incorrect or assumptions based on best knowledge at hand so I take things with a grain of salt; but the specific reference to a material type sourced from a manufacturer's catalog should be accurate regardless of what Campy actually means by "cement steel" (unless it was a "lost in translation" error).

I appreciate any light that can be shed on this subject. Any ideas @bulldog1935 ?


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## bulldog1935 (Nov 25, 2022)

Easy question for a metallurgist..
If you look at increasing carbon in a steel (Fe-C) phase diagram. .
Cementite is *a metastable phase of this alloy with a fixed composition of Fe3C*.


 

Cementite is the hardening phase in steel, and cement steel means the composition is high-carbon (at or above the eutectoid composition of 0.7%C).
Cooling the eutectoid composition from white hot transforms the metal grains to parallel plates of ferrite and cementite for maximum toughness.
The eutectoid steel microstructure does not contain soft grains of free ferrite (alpha iron), and especially for wear resistance, higher-than-eutectoid carbon steel contains grains of hard cementite.


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## Jesper (Nov 25, 2022)

Everything you said makes sense and is understandable.
So this method is still a common practice used in modern applications?

 I would assume Campy uses that method for all their axles. I would like to find out where it was mentioned in catalog or brochure since the only mention of "cement steel" is on velobase and only for these particular pedals even though the axle shares the same part number with 2 other models of pedals.


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## Jesper (Nov 25, 2022)

I guess the down side of this pedal design is the fact that if the "ridge" for the cleat is worn out there is no replacing it due it being molded into the entire platform.


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## bulldog1935 (Nov 25, 2022)

Those were aero pedals of the period, built for exclusive use with toe clips.  They shouldn't be a surprise.
Toe clips have been out of vogue since the '90s, and clip-in so-called "clipless" pedals - the ones where the guys fall over when they stop. 

Quenched and tempered alloy steels get their properties at somewhat lower carbon, and a different type of cooling transformation, tool steels use higher carbon, but wear resistance is always about high uniform surface hardness without soft spots.  Carburizing is one way to have a tough core and a high-cementite with zero ferrite content in the surface wear layer.


Modern type III anodizing gives lightweight alloy shafts (and gears) usable wear hardness.
Many modern pedals with cartridge bearings simply offer replacement shafts/kits and rebuild services when your pedals begin to click.


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