alicestrong

I was riding along the other day and heard a "pling"..went back and found one of my pedal dust caps on the road! Thank goodness I heard it come off. I was on old (1984) Japanese bike.

Just bought a pair of used MTB pedals on eBay and darn if one of the caps isn't missing!

How important are these caps? Does it mean life is over for the pedal? Can they be replaced?

Sci-Fi

The caps keep dust and debris from getting into your pedal bearings. Your local LBS should/might have a few sizes of dust caps in their inventory or you can either put a piece of duct tape over the hole, see if the old caps will fit, or if you are good with woodworking...buy some wood plugs...the mushroom or button ones work, they may require some shaping to get a tight fit or need some material removed from the center to clear the axle/nut

alicestrong

Thanks.

Duct tape is so versatile...

Velo Dog

I don't think they actually do much, at least on a road bike. They would keep dust out, but there's not much room for stuff to drift into the pedal bearings, and dirt will stop when it hits the grease anyway. I lost the ones on my Atlantis two or three years ago and haven't bothered to replace them, though the looks bother me occasionally when I notice it. Trim up a champagne cork to fit in the hole and tap it in there, maybe with a dab of beeswax or glue to hold it.
When I used to mountain bike a lot in an area with water crossings, most people ran without the caps on the theory that they wouldn't quite keep water out, but they were tight enough to hold it in once it got there. I tried it both ways and couldn't tell any difference.

alicestrong

OK...great. I don't feel so worried now. Doesn't sound like it shortens the petal life...thanks.