Availabilty of replacement sealed bearings for 1980s Suntour XC Pro pedals?
 

Now, pedals I've run in the past have either been purchased new (never any issues, so no need for my attention) or have used traditional ball-bearing type systems, which are easily enough rebuilt with standard sized fresh bearings as appropriate. I have never had to replace cartridge bearings in the past, and know essentially nothing about such systems (beyond a rough idea about how the things work and what they look like).

I was thinking about the possibilty acquiring a set of Suntour XC Pro pedals that I'm told spin with some roughness. So, I'd likely be needing to replace bearings at some point for optimum performance.

They really are nice pedals (bodies similar to Cyclone/Sprint/Superbe, but with an MTB-style cage), but...

Does anyone know if replacement bearings for these pedals are available? If so, where? And (I cringe to ask), how much?

Is there some standard, widely-available bearing type that can be used?

Please excuse my ignorance...

The bearing cartridges are almost assuredly standard industrial cartridge bearings. Remove the dust cap to expose the bearing seal. There should be a part number on the seal. Use this to source replacement cartridges at a bearing supply house.

Thanks, John. I dug up some old threads (including one detailing a 5 year old attempt at a group buy for Suntour Superbe Pro cartridge bearing replacements), but this is precisely what was not terribly clear to me. Assuming the likelihood that the bearings can be replaced with standard industrial cartridge bearings, I've no worries. So, good to hear.

I have a pair and if time permits I'll take a look and see what bearing number(s) they use. But I have to mention that whatever they are if you want to retain the "grease guard" function you will want to source bearings with just one seal and install them so that seal is facing out from the center of the axle.
You pump grease into the hollow axle at the exposed (inner) end and it pushes through the open side of the bearings (both inboard and outboard) and flushes the old contaminated grease out through the sealed side.
At least that's how I remember it was supposed to work.

I suspect you could simply remove the inner seal on each cartridge to make a one-sided seal.

That would be much appreciated.

Good point - and that description does accord with old catalog descriptions of the 'Grease Guard' system I've seen, IIRC. I hadn't thought about that.

I tried to do the group buy because you can get them cheaper if you ordered 10. The inner and outer cartridges are different sizes. I think I still have one pair of these pedals, they are beautiful pedals. I also have all 3 cage configurations, mountain, road and track, they all bolt to the same body, they were just phenomenally brilliant and beautiful piece of componentry (hmm not a word.. oh well). I ordered Enduro Bearings, but yes they are standard sizes you should be able to buy anywhere.

You can just remove the inner seal from the new bearing if you have the grease guard version. I think most of the ones I have had were non-grease guard versions.

http://endurobearings.com/where-to-buy/north-america/

You can go to your LBS and have them ordered once you have the numbers. Or you can just google "buy enduro bicycle bearings online" or just good buy bearing number.... there will be lots of options.

Back in the 90's I replaced the worn-out sealed bearings in a pair of Suntour hubs by taking the old ones into a local machine-tool supply shop and showing them to the clerk.

Thanks for the info, all! Sounds like a simple matter, which is certainly what I was hoping for...

I love my Suntour Sprint track-style pedals (I have the older version with ball bearings and just rebuilt them with the appropriate loose bearings recently), but I dislike the 'spike' on the end of the Superbe road-style cages (though I have seen at least one nice clean mod that eliminates this and looks great), so the XC Pro really appeals to me...

They are, I would agree with cyclotoine, a "phenomenally brilliant and beautiful piece of componentry."

'Componentry,' BTW, no matter what the spell-check tries to tell you, is indeed a word:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/componentry

Looked for my XC Pros and could not find them, must have sold them off in a moment of weakness and poorness.
Too bad, I sure hope I got a lot for them, they were nearly new and had those 'champagne' colored cages! ;)
But, I still have a couple pair of regular Sun Tour Superbes, so if it's true that the same bearings are used in the (same-looking) bodies of either model, then...
Inboard bearing is
63800 Z (Z means a shielded rather than rubber-sealed unit) and dimms are 19 (OD) x 10(ID) x 7 (thick)
Outboard bearing is
698 Z (also shielded) and dimms are 19 x 8 x 6

as noted before, you can substitute rubber-sealed bearings and lose the grease-guard feature or just remove the seal on one side of each unit.

Cool, thanks for the info, unworthy1!

I really miss Suntour. So well thought out, such elegant solutions. I keep hoping Chris K at VO will remanufacture their best stuff but so far no dice.

Digging up another zombie thread... I wonder if the outboard bearing noted above should be 17 x 8 x 6?
Seems like it needs to be smaller OD to pass through the inner seat area.

Anyone have spare sets? :oD

Mike,
Those bearing sets are available on E-Bay. Item listing 332799992849 The lister calls them Brarings, So it can be a slightly misleading add. Cost is $19.99 plus $9.99 shipping. Smiles, MH