Get your Shimano mountain bike pedals spinning sweetly again.
Service your Shimano pedals in just 10 minutes flat with mbr’s latest how to video, and get smooth running bearings for maximum pedal power.
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How to lubricate your Shimano pedal bearings
Keep your Shimano pedals spinning for miles and miles with our quick and easy lubrication guide. The procedure is the same for SPD and flat pedals.
Step 1: Remove your pedals. Don’t forget that your non-driveside (left) pedal has a left hand thread! Undo the bearing collar with a spanner or a spanner and a TL-PD40 tool if you have older pedals with a castellated collar. The collar on the right pedal has a left hand thread.
Step 2: Remove the axle/bearing cartridge. Clean the exterior of the cartridge and thoroughly clean inside the pedal body.
Step 3: Fill a quarter to a third of the pedal body with good quality grease.
Step 4: Screw the cartridge back into place. Plastic collars are easily broken so screw them into place until fully installed then stop. The metal collars on these Saint pedals tighten to 10nm. The old grease will be purged from the bearings and replaced with fresh stuff. Wipe clean.
More about servicing Shimano pedals
Shimano pedal bearings are the most durable in the business. The cartridge design has remained virtually unchanged since the first XT pedals hit the market about 20 years ago, and its smoothness, durability and ease of service has helped the big S to stay at the top of the pedal game ever since.
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All this means that Shimano pedals might continue to spin for years without any attention at all, but a little love will help to guarantee their function and durability. Let’s face it, you owe it to them — you spend every ride stamping on them, you don’t give them a second thought when you smash them into every trail obstacle going, yet you expect them to function flawlessly.
Older SPD pedals require a TL-PD40 tool to loosen the castellated collar that secures the cartridge, which costs just a couple of quid, but for newer pedals you’ll need nothing more complicated than an adjustable spanner.