poprad

OK gearheads...so I stripped down my lovely ti spindled SR pedals, which by appearances had the original grease. I count 16 bbs per side on the way out, but when I put in 16 per side it definitely doesn't go back together and feel right. In fact, unless I am extremely careful putting in the adj cone, the bearings start to "double stack" as I turn the cone and the grease drags them around. I repeated several times, took out 1 bb on the outboard race, and oh-so-carefully ensured each bb was in the race as it should be and used less grease. The final time it seemed to go together fine, bearings feel smooth, no play, appears correct...with the -1 bb on the outboard race. Which seems more like a full race minus 2 or 3, than what I would normally use (full race minus 1).

So...is that normal? Did someone perhaps use a smaller bb than normal in the race? I've not done an overhaul of an SR pedal set, but in general when rebuilding cup and cone bearings I've never had a problem getting the bearings to seat properly...but then the SR pedals do have the wierd tapered axle (which allows enough room for bearings to slip past the race on insertion and end up trapped in the axle shaft tunnel).

I'm all ears.

miamijim

Load them with as many bearings as they hold.

Tips:

Load the bearings and hold the pedal with the cap side down, drop the spindle into the pedal and slightly install the cone by hand. The tricky part, pull down on the cone and turn the spindle by hand to draw the cone up into the pedal. There must always be downward pressure on the crankside bearings as you turn the spindle. It can get a tricky as the cone goes up inot the pedal, sometimes I'll use a screwdrive to keep the cone from spinning.

poprad

Good advice, hadn't tried it "upside down". I'll give that a try on pedal #2 (stopped last night after 1 success; didn't have enough beer for attempt 2.)

Michael Angelo 

When you're ready to tighten the outer nut, make sure the bearing cone under it has zero play. Then back off the cone 1/4 turn, put the washer on, then tighten the outer nut tight. Check for end play or drag and adjust backing off the cone nut accordingly.

poprad

Thanks MA, good advice.

Drillium Dude 

I had this same problem the other day, only with a normal, steel-axle set. And I'd never had the stacking issue until that time. I put the pedals on the back burner just waiting for a thread like this

Helpful note: The ti pedals use smaller bearings, hence there are four more than the normal twelve.

I might go out and put these things back together today!

DD

Citoyen du Monde

There are indeed 16 balls required. If you do it upside down from what you did it works quite easily.

Captain Blight

I find it really helps to have the pedal in a vise for the final adjustment. Remember that there is one, and only one, spot where everything is adjusted properly, so take your time and do it right. Pedals outboard bearings are maybe the most highly stressed part on the bike.

poprad

Thanks for all the helpful comments. Got the second one spinning, after a helluva time. Even with the upside down technique, at least one would always slip out of the race. The bbs are so damn small on the SR pedal, you have to have them all in the race and sitting absolutely square in the race and ever-so-carefully spin the spindle to draw the cone in. I used just enough grease to coat the race with a thin film to hold the bearings, then used a pressure tip to inject more in after it was together correctly. Hopefully I'll get 10k miles out of these before I have to go back in there again. Which on a vintage sunny-day only bike should be pretty much forever.