Wellgo LU987 pedals (vs DMR V8, V12, V6 etc)

[Brucey]

Just occasionally one finds a simple and inexpensive piece of cycling equipment that works pretty well. I believe the Wellgo LU987 pedal is one such; just the job for those who like to ride flat pedals with training shoes etc.



On the plus side:
- lots of pins (usually 12 each side; of which 3 are aluminium dimples, five are fixed steel, and four are replaceable steel)
- simple adjustable ball bearings (with 5/32" balls)
- robust cast aluminium body, based on Shimano DX design.
- easy bearing adjustment (only need 12mm socket and small screwdriver)
- easy to relube with spray grease
- strong CrMo pedal spindles
- nice curved platform shape
- available in various colours
- come with reflectors
- will accept toe clips
- will accept powerstraps
- bargain price

On the minus side;
- no lube port
- iffy seals
- coloured versions soon look scruffy; paint chips off
- pedal spindles lack full shoulder (not kind to cranks, plus more likely to seize if threads are not well-greased)
- slightly heavier than many alternatives

Some folk will note the resemblance to the DMR V8; this is no coincidence, they are very similar in many respects and may even come out of the same factory (Wellgo make pedals for lots of other people as well as various other things such as some quite expensive disc brake calipers). The V8 has a lube port and comes with a better inboard seal and a small syringe of grease; it is a better pedal but then it should be at twice (or more) the price.

My advice for an easy life with the LU987 is (if you can't be bothered to add a lube port yourself, or strip the pedals regularly) to use the kind of spray grease that normally goes on motorcycle chains, and to spray a little into the inboard bearing whenever you lube the chain. Once every six months pry the dustcap out (using a small screwdriver; less easy now there is no slot next to it) and spray some in there too.

Try not to let the bearings run loose; this will ruin them, and is anyway quite likely a sign that all is not well within. Bearing adjustment is easy (there is a tab washer between the cone and locknut) and is marred only by the backlash in the tab washer.

Other pedals that look similar include

DMR V12 -lightweight with Mg body and (optional) Ti spindle, but let down by DU bushing bearings (high friction under load....)
DMR V6 - lightweight with plastic body and twin DU bushing bearings (again high friction under load....)
DMR V8 - similar to LU987 but with better seals and lube port
DMR V8 v2 - a revised version of the V8 but with crappy bushings inside like the V6
DMR V8 (Mg) - as basic V8 model but with lightweight Mg pedal body.

Pedals are easily wrecked in a prang, so I have always thought it unwise to spend more than the bare minimum required to get something that spins easily and is basically reliable.

Wellgo LU987 pedals are usually £8 to £12 in price. Right now they are on clearance with some retailers and are priced as little as £5 a pair. With a little TLC these pedals will give good service and are unbeatable value at the price.

[mjr]

I suspect these are similar to the rubber block LU868s because the pros and cons are mostly the same (except for the pins bit) and the spray greasing sounds similar. I expect the servicing process is similar as described at viewtopic.php?t=106280

[Brucey]

I think the spindle, bearing cups, cone, tab washer and locknut are very similar to others such as the rubber block Wellgo pedal, although the spindle may be shorter in that case.

I forgot to mention; in many pedals of this sort the bearing cups will knock out and can be replaced if necessary. It turns out that there are only a few common sizes of bearing cup. Very often plastic bodied pedals break well before the bearings wear, so scrap pedals of that sort can be used as donors for various bearing parts if necessary.

It hardly seems worth the effort to salvage such pedals when they are so inexpensive, but it just rankles with me to throw stuff away!

cheers

[mjr]

It hardly seems worth the effort to salvage such pedals when they are so inexpensive, but it just rankles with me to throw stuff away!

Also, it's nice to know you could replace cups or cones if you needed to, as lots of good bike parts seem to go through spells of being unavailable for various reasons.

[fast but dim]

Superb! £5 a pair at chain reaction cycles.

Ordered a couple pairs.

[fast but dim]

Out of interest brucey how do you add a grease port?

[Brucey]

Out of interest brucey how do you add a grease port?

-just drill a small hole in the pedal body (e.g. near the inboard bearing as per DMR V8) and add grease using a grease gun with a pointy nozzle. Then arrange to have the hole blocked in use, e.g. with tape, a plastic plug, a screw or w.h.y. so that dirt doesn't get in.

BTW it is best if the pedal is stripped when you drill the hole, so that any swarf can be removed. However some folk will add a blob of grease to the drill just before it breaks through and (with a following wind) little if any swarf will be left inside the pedal body. Not ideal, but if this works well enough for you then you can drill the pedal without stripping it.

cheers

[fast but dim]

Out of interest brucey how do you add a grease port?

-just drill a small hole in the pedal body (e.g. near the inboard bearing as per DMR V8) and add grease using a grease gun with a pointy nozzle. Then arrange to have the hole blocked in use, e.g. with tape, a plastic plug, a screw or w.h.y. so that dirt doesn't get in.

BTW it is best if the pedal is stripped when you drill the hole, so that any swarf can be removed. However some folk will add a blob of grease to the drill just before it breaks through and (with a following wind) little if any swarf will be left inside the pedal body. Not ideal, but if this works well enough for you then you can drill the pedal without stripping it.

cheers

As always a concise answer. I've googled it, and it suggests tapping the hole. Gaffa tape sound more my style.

Any reason not to do it to my SPD'S next time I strip them?

[Brucey]

Any reason not to do it to my SPD'S next time I strip them?

well, yes; whilst those that use TL-PD33 are a different matter, for the majority, i.e. those SPD models with the cartridge spindle/bearing design, ( that use TL-PD40 or a 17mm hex to remove) it would only make sense to drill the lube port in the outboard end of the pedal, and not every SPD has a convenient spot for it, or enough wall thickness. If the screw poked into the (small) end space, it might clash with the cone and locknut.

Also;
1) when fresh grease is needed, the bearings may need adjustment anyway (which requires spindle assy removal) and
2) the pedals are very easily purged and lubricated by putting grease in the pedal body before refitting the spindle assy.
3) occasionally the cones and locknuts will move or work loose; I think it makes sense to check them if there is the slightest change in the feel of the bearings.

SPD pedal bearings are very small and run with very tiny clearances indeed. Because of this, and the fact that the bearing outer is a push fit in the pedal body, any swarf inside the pedal could be disastrous.

I recently overhauled a friend's XT SPDs (PD-M780 I think) that hadn't been touched for some time, and the 'rather loose bearings' needed just a tiny fraction of a turn adjustment. I calculated about 40 microns or so. I now realise that I will tend to adjust mine when they need about 20 microns adjustment; for me this is (with an average set of SPDs) about once a year or so, even with lots of miles.

By contrast a conventional pedal with 20 microns of slack in the (widely spaced) bearings would feel OK, and I'd probably leave it.

cheers

[cycle tramp]

I've been using mine for years. One of the great things about their pedal bodies is there is enough metal to drill and screw in a grease nipple (other wise known as a grease port). I've fitted both pairs with grease nipples, close to the crank side bearings.. I've had my yellow pair since 2001 and they've been on 3 different bikes ~ about twice a year they get a good squirt of fresh grease to keep them spinning and I've only had to adjust them twice!.. At 5 pounds a go, I'm tempted to get two pairs of differing colours and use two different coloured pedals on one bike as an anti-theft measure....

[alexnharvey]

I have been wondering if there is a specific tool for adjusting the cup and cone bearings on these pedals, presumably a pair of thin walled sockets which fit inside each other like the shimano tool tl-pd-63.

It may well be that it is either difficult to obtain or prohibitively expensive but I am only interested in knowing if it exists at this point. Presumably wellgo don't jam a screwdriver in at the factory?

[mjr]

You don't need a special tool. Just remove the locknut and use a thin socket to adjust the cone, then tighten the locknut again. The tabbed washer means the locknut doesn't spin the cone. The screwdriver is only to catch hold of the tabbed washer when you need to remove it - it probably doesn't get removed during assembly. There might be a tool to lift the washer but I doubt it. Probably just some pliers of exactly the right core size would do it.

[Brucey]

you could use a pair of sockets but as per the above post there is no need; I have never known anyone do so when the tab washer is still intact.

One thing to note is that the tab washer normally has a little backlash on the spindle. This means that you need to allow for this when making the bearing adjustment. Normally the tab washer swings fully CW when the locknut is tightened, but may (or may not) swing ACW when the locknut is loosened. You need to keep track of how the cone moves vs the tab washer, else the fine adjustments you make will be a bit hit and miss. It helps if you use a thin-walled socket on the locknut; this way you can see if the cone and tab washer are moving together or not.

It can help to see what you are doing if you

a) hold the pedal spindle in a bench vice and
b) make a paint mark (or correction fluid mark) on the edge of cone, so you can see its 'timing' accurately.

It may sound crude, but I often stick a screwdriver between the flats on the cone and the bearing cup, then turn the pedal body so as to make the cone move to the required position (the screwdriver is removed before the locknut is tightened). This is an accurate way of moving the cone, which allows you to see the movement, plus if the tab washer is binding against the cone (as sometime happens) there is usually enough torque to overcome this.

When adjusting, I think it is best if you find a setting that leaves a little free play (when the locknut is tight) then adjust the cone a few degrees tighter. You should feel there is some free play when the locknut is half-tight, which disappears when the locknut is fully tight. Ironically the better the bearings are, the more difficult it is to adjust them properly; good bearings don't feel rough if they are set slightly too tight.

cheers

[alexnharvey]

Thank you both. I know I don't really need it having adjusted two pairs after adding more grease. Wellgo tell me they don't sell the tool anyway.

I was struggling a little with getting a really satisfactory adjustment, probably due to the backlash. I'll have another go and probably try some of your tips to aid me.

[Pneumant]

I have a pair on my work bike. As Brucey writes these are perfect pedals (robust/ any shoe will do comfortable/easily maintained) for everyday riding. Servicing is straightforward and much easier if a bench vice is utilised to clamp the axle flats; use a thin wall 12mm 1/4 drive socket to loosen the nut and carefully adjust as Brucey has described. One disassembly tip - the small tab washer can easily be removed using a mechanics magnetic pick up tool.