I love those pedals, bought an extra pair actually, and I use shimano spd cleats from an earlier set of shimano pedals.

If I could search the forums, I'd find the thread that describes which cleats work with other brands of pedals.

I think it said something about grinding off part of the cleat if you were going to use non-Nashbar cleats with Nashbar pedals.

I can't condone this since I haven't tried it. The best advice is not to mix-n-match. Use the cleats that came with the pedals.

I used to have those pedals, I had no problems with them the only time I fell was my own fault I forgot to unclip.

Actually I don't think this is entirely true. SPD is a trademark of Shimano. Crankbrothers does not advertise eggbeaters as being "spd (SPD) compatible", they say they use a "2-hole cleat". Others use similar terminology so that we all know what they're talking about, e.g. "ATB", "Mountain", etc. but I believe the only ones that can use "SPD" are Shimano (and any licensees of that trademark). Again, the Nashbar pedals in question do not say SPD anywhere, they just say "clipless".

I have these pedels, and I use genaric "Shimano compatible" SPD cleats with them, and I have never had a problem with them.

Jeff, i understand, as I had as I had a similar problem, but with two sets of Shimano pedals. Had 2-year old pedals on one commuter, and brand new pedals on another commuter. But I couldn't clip out of the 'newer' pedals, without major fussing and (on occasion) swearing. Found out that Shimano has 2 cleat styles, a SH 51 and SH 55. The 55 is the older style, and they are pretty cranky when used with the newer SPD pedals.

Got the same pedals, was using cleats from ritchey SPD pedals. Couldn't unclip the left foot, caused some minor bone damage after 13 0mph falls while mountain biking.

Switched out the cleats for the ones that came with the pedals, and bam. all better.

I had a similar Nashbar pedal and similar problems to what you are describing. I had installed the cleats backwards. Boy did I feel stupid! I've had the pedals for about 4 years now and other than the clip falling off 1 side (my fault) they've been flawless.

On that note, Campagnolo, SPD-SL, Keywin, and Time (post 2005) are Look-compatiable.

Yeah, the Nashbar Special ATB pedals don't quite work with SPDs.

However, the Nashbar Rodeo pedals *do* work with regular SPD cleats (they are the pedals that are platform on one side and clipless on the other). I like them a lot. The Rodeo cleats also work fine in regular SPD pedals (tested w/ Shimano A520), which is great because it means you can replace SPD cleats for only $7-8. :)

(I think that Nashbar gets their pedals from various other companies... Wellgo and some Taiwanese companies. Different models use slightly different cleats.)

I got these and had the opposite problem, it was a tad strange. I traded my cleats with my roommate who has Shimano pedals, and they now work fine as do his. Not sure what happened there.

+2

Why not just use the cleats that came with the pedals???

I bought a pair of these for my wife (first time using clipless), she seems to have zero problems getting out of them using the supplied cleats. The only time she had a keel over was when she clipped out then clipped back in without realizing it.

Hate to be bandwagon jumper, but I have them also. Never had any problem. I use the cleats that came with them.

Those of you that have these pedals: do you find the bearings are stiff or rough?

I bought them because of the price and a wife induced budget. I've been happy with how the clipping part works, I stomp on the pedal and get a solid clunk, a slight twist of the heel and it comes undone.

But holy cow the only bearings I've seen on a bicycle worse than the ones on these pedals were on an old rusty schwin's wheels.

bike2math, the bearings on the Nashbar pedals ARE quite rough as shipped, basically they just need to be loosened... whoever's assembling them is incompetent (probably a machine :(). I've been told elsewhere on the forums that Nashbar may do this because the races aren't of a very good quality, but after they've been used for a while they're supposed to "wear in" and be smoother.

The bearings definitely are the MAJOR disappointment of the Nashbar pedals, which are otherwise of a good quality and design.

Yeah, they are pretty stiff. I probably would buy something nicer next time, but these were my first clipless. They were on sale and I had a coupon code so the cost me right around $14. Can't really complain about that. They seem pretty heavy, also.

I agree about the bearings, but the Nashbar clipless pedals don't seem any heavier than corresponding models of Shimano pedals. The heaviest part of a pedal is the steel axle. Smaller pedals don't have axles that are much smaller, so a small double-sided SPD pedal might seem disproportionately heavy compared to a large cage pedal (where the cage is likely to be aluminum or plastic, and thus quite light).

I agree. Love the pedals. But I find the high friction shocking. The left one I have is not too bad (so the bearings are probably okay in these pedals). The right one is downright ridiculous in terms of friction. I bet you are correct that they are just overtightened.

OKAY, how do I loosen that bad pedal? Who's got that thread handy?

A pedal bearing is a cup-and-cone bearing just like other bearings on a bike. The problem is that you NEED a socket wrench to be able to turn the lockring precisely, because there's no way to get a normal flat wrench around the spindle. You'll need metric sockets too. Lucky for me, I work in a physics lab where we are well-stocked with nearly any kind of tool (including machine tools :D).

For the Nashbar pedals, remove the dustcap (and the cage if it's the platform/clipless combo pedal). Then look at the spindle: you'll see a lockring that takes a 14 mm socket wrench I believe (be sure to check that). Hold the axle of the pedal with a pedal wrench or adjustable wrench, and loosen the lockring with your socket wrench. Once you've got the lockring loose, there will be a washer, and then finally the adjustable race and the bearings. If you know how a cup-and-cone bearing works, this should be all you need to know in order to adjust the pedal bearings.

Thanks! I had assumed that these would be permanently sealed assemblies due to the cheapness. Oh, and I should hope that anyone who owns a car has a socket set for basic maintenance. Not something so exotic that I'd need to visit the laboratory to borrow! By the way, my good friend is one of those Applied Physics types. They've got crazy money for parallel computing and expensive tools. As an ecologist, I buy most of my "scientific equipment" at the local hardware store...

I'll check out the many instructions for repacking hubs and bottom brackets in terms of the cup-and-cone thing. I've been meaning to do that maintenance on my road bike for some time. Would give me an excuse to do that and the pedals on a rainy day when I can't ride...

Yep, most car owners probably have a socket set, if only a crummy one that their parents gave them with their first car. The problem is that many American cars use English rather than metric fasteners.

It's even more entrenched with scientific and industrial equipment: because it's high quality stuff, much of it is manufactured in North America... and even some of the European and Japanese stuff uses English dimensioning and fasteners because of the power of the US economy. All the machinists in our Physics department "think" in English units and they have charts of NATO-standard drill and tap sizes memorized, all the mill collets fit tools with English-sized shanks (e.g. 1/2", 1/4", 5/8"), the manual lathes are designed to precisely cut threads in terms of "threads per inch" rather than "mm pitch", the charts of cutting speed are all in inches and feet per minute, torque is always in ft-lbs, etc. etc.

Yep! Knowing how to repack a hub, headset, or pedal is very important since most are of the cup-and-cone bearing type. New bottom brackets these days are of the maintenance-free cartridge-bearing type (except for high-end track stuff and ultra-light American classic BBs).

Interesting thread about Nashbar pedal adjustment (slightly different style): http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...5214fdd555e436

With Photo: http://static.flickr.com/16/20330265_156bdc3113_o.jpg


Yep, my old touring bike is WAY overdue for some new grease in those hubs and bottom bracket. It's probably all original grease in there (aka 25 years old!). Shockingly, it all rolls/turns/spins smooth as butter. Hopefully all those Nashbar pedal owners will loosen up those races and fully enjoy their otherwise solid pedals. I plan to. And I agree that metric makes everyone's life easier. Having two standards is a pain, especially with 12 inches to a foot, 16 oz in a pound, etc. Decimal system makes more sense.

Very nice link! My current Nashbar pedals are the platform/clipless ones with cup-and-cone bearings, but it's good to know that there are others out there which have sealed cartridge bearings (a little harder to service, but usually longer lasting).

Just repacked my Shimano 105 hubs today. Nice and smooth now :) Though I'm sure I'll pick XT hubs for my next touring bike wheelset, whenever I have some money, since they're SOOOOO much better sealed than the 105s.

I got a new pair of MKS touring pedals the other day. Almost tore em apart they rolled so poorly, felt like they had been way over tightened.

I decided to run them anyways as I wanted to see the difference in just using clips and Adidas (having a hot spot problem with one foot at about 50 miles).

After about 20 miles those things swung smooth as silk.

So you are going to start a post on how no one should buy these pedals because YOU thought they LOOK like they should be Shimano SPD interchangeable?

I was an idiot and biking nube when I bought those exact same pedals and they COME with the cleats. They even state that they are not compatible with Shimano SPD cleats. There is nothing wrong with those pedals IF you use the right cleats, which is the same case with every set of pedals.

My pedals work flawlessly over 70-100+ miles a week. I only fell over twice and that was my fault due to inexperience with clipless pedals. I have them on both my roadie and MTB.

I suppose you could just flush your money down the toilet, but why not just install the right cleats that CAME with your pedals?