Pedal disassembly!
 

OK - here goes - daring to tread where I usually wouldn't :p

The pedals on my hybrid are worn out, more to the point the grease has been washed out with all the rain we've had this past Summer. Usually I'd just bin the pedals and buy a new set, but just out of curiosity I'm wondering if anyone has disassembled a pair of standard, yum-cha pedals and managed to put them back together again. I don't mind destroying the pedals in the process, but would prefer not to. Just want to see if anyone here has any pointers (and I have a lot of time on my hands right now - off work with a nasty case of food poisoning) :cry:

They sure are not rocket science. Most are just regular cup and cone style bearings like a wheel but with one end fixed and only one nut under the outer cap. Some are pretty tight and you'll need a really thin wall socket to get in there. It's even more interesting when trying to tighten up the bearings since there's typicaly the outer cone, then a washer with an internal tooth that fits into a slot in the axle and then the locking nut. So to adjust the bearing preload you need to tighten it up and test it. If it's too tight or loose you remove the locking nut and washer, tweak the cone, and then drop in the washer and do up the nut and try it again. Fussy work but it isn't hard.

The factory folks must get pretty good and knowing what it should feel like before the washer and locking nut go in.

Other than that just have your dish ready to catch all the little balls that'll come out. And they are little and there are a lot... :D

So in other words pop the dust cap off, grab hold of the little spindle with something small like pliers, and twist the crank end with a wrench?

Here's a pic of what I'm dealing with... what's within seems stubbornly attached to the spindle, much like it's a one-way process. No signs of budging.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...ures/Pedal.jpg

These may be unservicable. I don't see any wrench flats on the outer nut and, unless that is an Allen key recess at the end, there seems to be no way to unthread it. You could hold the spindle in place with a 15 mm pedal wrench at the other end but I don't see how the bearing nut comes off either.

Clean off the grease and dirt and see if something is more apparent.

Those look like $5 platforms... if so it won't be worth the labour to take them off to start the procedure.

From the looks of the pedal that appears to be plastic I'd say it's very possible that they are one shot deals that are press fitted or swaged over. The cost savings in machine operations would be significant enough to do them this way for really cheap pedals.

Like the others I don't see any sort of way to grab the end either but with all the grease and grunge and shadow there may be something there. If so there will be either an allen hex hole in the center (doesn't look like it though and I've never seen an allen key cap for a pedal) or a set of hex flats which I don't see either. I'd say it's trash bin time for these.

Labour costs aren't an issue (off work ATM), but I would have liked to know... oh well :)

Yeah, I gave up. Bought another set of pedals which actually has screws to disassemble them! Now my hybrid is back together after its annual overhaul, just got to fiddle with the brake and gear adjustments and I'm all set :D