If a pedal sits in the box for a really long time.......

so I won't bore anyone with the details as to why I'm asking this question (trust me, it's a long complicated story), but if you bought a brand new double pedal that sat in the box unopened (other than initially to make sure that all parts were intact in the box/carrying case) for say a year or possibly even 18 months, do you think that other than oiling the chains (chain drive pedal/s) that there would be any issues that needed addressing once you opened it and started using it? My first thought was that it should be perfectly fine, like a piece of unopened gear in its original box that's been sitting on the shelve at a GC or a similar retailer etc.

By the way, the room it's been in is climate controlled (AC/HEAT).

Thanks in advance for your opinions, knowledge, and potential suggestions.

it should be perfectly fine
as you said, I would probably want to oil the chains and check the springs to make sure the tension is still good.
basically just check the moving parts of the pedal to make sure they're fine

As long as there's no corrosion from storage, your 18 month old pedal will be good to go. I have a spare pedal that's brand new and never been used. It's probably about 15 years old and is stored in an unheated barn. It's in perfect shape.

Most of the gear you buy in stores has likely been sitting in a warehouse for several years anyway. I have never oiled my pedals, only thing I’ve done is spray wd-40 on driveshafts that were rusted stuck and that worked.

I was thinking about this recently because I tend to stockpile consumable stuff and just keep extra gear around - if you buy it to open later and there’s a fault with it you risk it being out of warranty, to me that’s the only downside I can see.

I have pedals from 30 years ago (DW) that I use every now and then and they have no issues whatsoever.
I don't even know about oiling anything. I've never oiled a pedal.

+1 on shouldn't be an issue.

Companies mass produce things like this with the understanding that they could sit in a box unopened potentially for years at a time. I would have no concerns. Absolute worst case scenario, if the spring is attached and set to a high tension you may lose some of the tension but you can replace a spring for a couple bucks. Even that is an extremely unlikely "what if".

I bought a spare DW 5000 pedal when the AD3 models were being phased out for the new AD4s. It sat in a closet unopened for 5+ years (maybe more). I finally decided to sell it as NOS and found no issues when I opened it up to take photos for the ad. Everything was pristine and it sold quickly.

I am now smarter than yesterday. Thank you everyone for your knowledge

I had a Ludwig Speed King that gummed up after sitting for about 30 years, but that had internal grease.
Everything else probably uses light oil, so not much chance of anything ever changing from storage.