I have just finished overhauling the bearings on my old lyotard pedals, but for some reason, the cone on the non-drive-side keeps tightening up when I ride. As a result, I can't flip the pedal up very easily.

Anyone tell me why and what I can do to fix it? Should I just loosen it up a lot?

If memory serves, you should have a cone, followed by a keyed washer, and then the locknut. I would adjust the cone tightly, back off, then while holding the cone tighten the locknut down. If the cone is tightened against the locknut, the pedal should keep at its correct play around the shaft.

yeah, I think that you're right (I don't have the pedal in front of me right now) about the washer/cone assembly. I tried doing as you say before, but maybe I didn't tighten the locknut against the cone tightly enough...I'll try again, though this will be the third time, so I'm not that optimistic. I guess my cone/washer/nut-tightening technique is suspect.

the keyed washer is important - you can get it to work without, but it'll be a lot easier with the washer in place...

I know that I am going to catch heck for saying this, but working on French parts is such a pain in the butt ! However, on second thought, working on some of the wonderful inventions that Shimano has come out with through the years has never been a picnic either. (eg. early Shimano 105 triangular shaped pedals with built in plastic toe clips come to mind)

Yeah, I have some Shimano triangular pedals with plastic clips. One of the screws just fell off of that, rendering the clip loose and untrustworthy. Anyone have an extra lying about, or know where I might find one?


PS Update on the lyotards: I carefully loosened the nut, keyed washer and cone, then re-adjusted several time. I think the problem was that I hadn't tightened the nut down really tightly--I guess that this allowed the cone to tighten down when I was riding and putting pressure on the pedal (?). That adjustment was not unlike the fine adjustment required on hub bearings; took me far more time than I expected, grrrr. Thanks for the help, everyone.

i recently rebuild 600 pedals and found it hard to get them adjusted properly as you had to keep switching sockets... I tightened down the lock nut then backed the cone off and they were pretty easy to adjust. but then I rebuilt some nouvo record pedals (with the original bearings) and the craftsmanship was delightful, I could use my 13mm cone wrench on the cone while tightening the the locknut with another wrench. and of course the bearings are a lot smoother in the nouvo records. gotta love campy.

With the flats of the pedal in a bench vice, I use needle-nosed pliers to adjust the cone and a ring spanner/wrench to tighten the locknut onto the keyed washer. It takes a few goes to get the cone exactly lose enough to work. Using a ring wrench you can really tighten that locknut hard.

The above post sounds like an excellent and patient manner in which to adjust the pedal cones. I have not worked on anything Campy manufactured in the last 10 years, but the older Nuovo Record and Super Record parts were so easy to work on and adjust properly. Again, the difference when you buy top shelf parts: made to last and be serviced versus the majority to stuff that is basically throw-away today. I would much prefer to repair than to add to our landfill problems.

Man after my own heart. Solid waste sucks.

Pedals! I love the idea of rebuidable parts, and have done a load of pedals, but some of the later model Japanese/Taiwanese jobs are designed to frustrate even the most patient of us. I find the old French stuff to be a lot more forgiving (if crude) than these devious things with tiny little loose bearings delicately balanced on tiny cones buried deep in the body that you can't get any wrench on...rebuildable my A*S! I have spent hours trying to save some of those from the landfill, a thankless and unrewarding task. But now I have a new technique: I came across an old school kit from Morningstar (make the Freewheel Buddy) that gives you a couple of of small self-tapping SS screws and directions to drill a small hole in the pedal body, give it a little countersink, and drill another small hole in the dustcap. Dah ya go: a grease-injection port like the Grease Guard and WTB of old. You pump a wad of grease through a (adjusted and locked) pedal, and the old grease and dirt is pushed out, then you plug the hole with the screw and maybe a little o-ring if you're fussy. Get it adjusted once, or leave it adjusted if it's good, and you never have to open it up again. I think the kit can be recreated from any good hardware store's stock. You might not want to do this to a Campy pedal, but for anything in the "rider" category, it could cut down on solid waste and a lot of swearing.