So now I'm degreasing/regreasing/polishing chrome on all components, little by little. The Campagnolo NR pedals are off the bike, but need to be cleaned and repacked. It *looks* like I need to remove the dust cap, but I am afraid of taking pliers to it for fear of stripping it, and I don't have another way to take it off. Are pliers in fact the way to go? Should I pay someone to do this for me? I'm trying to keep costs down here, but also don't want to lose functionality as a result. Please advise...

sincerely, your humble noob, winegeek.

In the ideal situation you'd use a special wrench designed for taking off those dust caps. The caps are either metal or plastic. Before I'd use Channel Locks on plastic caps I'd check to see if my local store has one of the tools and let them do it. If they're metal you can try a pair of pliers but be very, very carefull. if it seems like its taking too much effort to loosen them stop. Campy pedal caps are expensive to replace.

Once the cap is off its easy. Hold the axle in place with a wrench on the pedal wrench flats and loosen the locking nut with a different wrench. DO NOT remove the chrome dust caps on the crank arm end of the pedal.

If your local store doesnt have the tool I'll let you borrow mine.

yeah, they're metal-- chromed, even. very pretty, which is why i was/am loath to take a set of channel locks to them. i'll check at my LBS. thanks for the advice!

If they're metal go for it.....if they dont loosen with light to moderate effort stop. Becasue they're metal and screw into aluminum you can try running super hot tap water on them for a minute or two. The different expansion rates of aluminum and steel may work in your favor.

FWIW, The cheaper MKS pedal tool works just as well as the Campagnolo tool.

If you were here in NH, I'd be glad to loan you my special wrench.

I have used a bit of old innertube with channel lock in the past and be very careful, I haven't effed up a cap yet, but next time I do an order from VO (and I want some of those new bottle cages so maybe soon) I'll probably order the MKS tool.

The tool can be had for $6 from various on line retailers.

Give it a good spray of lube and let it soak for a day first. I'd loan you my Campy pedal-cap wrench, too - if you were around Vermont. Once that is done, the sheer simplicity of Campy pedals becomes apparent. Remove locknut while holding cone. Remove cone. Pull out axle. Clean. Fresh bearings. Grease. Adjust. Re-cap. Ta Da!

Only $6? Buy the tool.

yea buy the tool so I can borrow it when I need it some day!

I used needle nose pliers for years on the metal caps before I had the tool...

Unless your Campy pedals are older than any I've had (early 80s), the dust caps may be plastic. Chromed, yes, but plastic.

This has been my experience as well. Don't use anything but the proper tool on them, take it from a fool who knows*



*John Hiatt reference.

I believe the SL's, with black cages, have the plastic caps while the non-SL's with chrome cages have metal caps.

Runs to garage to check...Nope, not the case here, plastic on the chrome cages on mine.

The earlier ones were metal... they switched to plastic at some point.

1982 Campy Record's here. Two pairs - both plastic caps. If you don't use that Campy tool (only Campy tool I own/paid for), I'd easily see them crack in half.

All the Superleggera (black cage) pedals use the chromed plastic caps, and starting in the late 70's the steel cage Record pedals and Gran Sport pedals began to use them as well.

That just answered a question that was posed to me by the older guy at the bike shop. I was telling him about the restore I was doing on my Italian steel bike, all Campy SR, and he asked whether I had the super leggera pedals or the steel record. I didn't know, but now I do, black cage = SL, and mine are black. And to think these pedals were lost in a box in my basement for 16 years. I've been told to repack them as they are probably stiff from years of storage, and now I also know not to use pliers to get those caps off.

All in a morning's surf of the ultimate truth, the Internet!

They were manufactured by space-aliens from Rigel-9. They transmit microwaves that bore holes in your brain and grow grubs.

i discovered just in time that they are in fact plastic. (some chrome worn away on closer examination). had a friend with a campy tool who hooked it up... pedals are all buttery!

and mine are SL too, by black cage evidence...

Really??!!! Geez, the things you learn on the Internet. It must be true.

I also learned, this time not on the Internet, that some Campy things can break. While riding my Davidson today in Prospect Park, I was with a friend that was riding my Zilioli with the Campy SL pedals. He wasn't in shape, so he was behind me. When I got to the small hill I figured I would go into a big gear and stand and mash. Some guy goes past me so I decide to turn it up a bit. About 10 strokes in I hear a crack and it was the front derailleur, a Campy NR from the early 80s, and the clamp just cracked. The chain wasn't even rubbing. I've been riding this bike for 28 years with that derailleur. I guess some things just give up after a while.

Such we know! LOL: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/518420-campy-front-derailleur-clamp-cracked-now-what.html

See what happens when you don't obey the Alien Grubs?

I, too, have an '82 FD Campy Record. Got to go! The Grubs call....Bzzzzrpuuuuuuuuussss.....