Service SPD Pedals

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landsurfer
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Joined: 27 Oct 2012, 9:13pm

Service SPD Pedals

Post by landsurfer »

Are the Shimano M520 SPD pedals suitable for bearing changes / service ?
If so ...
Is there a service tool that allows the shaft to be withdrawn ?
“Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot.”
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Threevok
Posts: 195
Joined: 30 Sep 2016, 3:11pm

Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Threevok »

Not to my knowledge.

To be honest, they are cheap enough anyway and any part you could replace - would probably cost nearly as much as a new set.
Brucey
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Brucey »

yup, a fairly straightforward job; you need TL-PD40 (cost about £2.50)

Image

and some means to hold it.

NB the retaining sleeves have handed threads; the loosening direction is indicated on the tool for both L and R pedals, and the tightening direction is indicated on each pedal.

All genuine shimano SPD pedals have adjustable bearings which, if serviced regularly, will outlast the rest of the pedal.

cheers
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Brucey
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Brucey »

below is some info I posted previously in this thread;

http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=66078

BTW there is usually no need to actually strip or degrease the bearings; having removed the axle assembly and adjusted the bearings, put about 1/2" of grease into the pedal body and refit the axle assembly; the old grease will purge out as the axle assembly is wound home.

With practice you service both pedals in about ten minutes. I advise that you do them one at a time, which prevents accidentally trying to fit the left axle assembly in the right pedal (which is a very bad thing... :shock: ).


Notes on bearing adjustment, for TL-PD40/17mm hex pedals:

Tools required; 7mm ring spanner, 17mm open ended spanner (or TL-PD40 plus holder, e.g. BB fixed cup spanner), thin 10mm full hexagon spanner, miniature mole wrench (optional), pedal vice (optional). See also the park tools link below.

Remove the bearing cartridge using the 17mm spanner (or TL-PD40). Note that the retaining sleeves are threaded LH and RH on opposite pedals. I recommend a full hexagon spanner for the cone because it has somewhat rounded corners and is not held well by an open-ended spanner.

Image

The idea is to adjust the bearing progressively tighter until the free play just disappears for the first time when the locknut is tightened. The minature mole wrench is clamped lightly onto the bearing sleeve and allows any free play to be detected easily. Each time the free play is assessed, the locknut should be tightened, else a false reading will result. Note that the locknuts on both pedals are RH threaded. [edit; as of ~1/2015, this is no longer the case; some RH spindles are now supplied with LH threaded cones and locknuts. Fortunately there is usually enough thread poking out of the locknut that you can visually identify if the spindle is LH or RH threaded.] Most pedals come from the factory with a little soft threadlocking compound on the locknut threads.

This procedure is best carried out with the pedal spindle clamped in a pedal vice. You can improvise a pedal vice using a simple loop of wire (as per the picture) or temporarily reinstall the spindle into the crank arm if you don't have a vice available. Once the correct setting is obtained, it isn't a bad idea to check that the bearing isn't too tight, by removing the mole wrench and turning the bearing sleeve by hand. Worn bearings may be best set to be slightly loose for some of each rotation, else they may bind excessively wherever they are tighter; experiment to find the best compromise.

Note that the locknut/cone thread pitch is very fine; a ~3 degree angular adjustment adjusts the bearing clearance by just 5 microns, i.e. 1/5000". This is the kind of accuracy that you are aiming for; even with a well fitting 10mm spanner, you need to allow for any slack in the fit of the spanner on the cone (resulting in backlash) when making adjustments.

Shimano have not published a torque specification for the locknut but I believe 5-7 Nm should do it. If the locknuts are not tight enough, typically the bearing adjustment on one pedal loosens, and it similarly tightens on the other pedal. The latter pedal can suffer greatly accelerated bearing wear.

Each bearing has 12off 3/32" balls in it, making a total of 48 for two pedals. The Shimano part number is Y-41N 98030 for a packet of 62 balls. It is generally a bad idea to mix balls up, even from the same pedal, let alone from different packets or pedals.


cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brucey
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Brucey »

BTW you will see a note concerning cone/locknut threading. To date I have not seen a pair of PD-M520 with anything other than RH threaded locknuts on the spindles.

However PD-M530 has a left-hand thread on the RH pedal spindle locknut, and (IIRC) a different part number for the RH spindle assy. By contrast both pedals share the same part number for the left spindle.

Threevok is correct about the price of spare parts, but that shouldn't stop you from stripping old pedals for parts if necessary. In the main, preventative maintenance/adjustment is the thing here.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Threevok
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Threevok »

Well what do you know :shock:

Videos on U-tube too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLU4kAHk_Q
landsurfer
Posts: 5327
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by landsurfer »

Thank you all for that ,,, the price of the PD-M520 has jumped recently and i am, or seem , to be heavy on them.
Im 6ft 3in and 110kg and always climb out of the saddle ....
I use the PD-M520 pedals on all my road bikes as i like to be able to walk with a little comfort when off the bike .. :)
“Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot.”
Be more Mike.
The road goes on forever.
landsurfer
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by landsurfer »

Bearing tool on its way from TWEEKS ... £1.69 ........ :)
“Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot.”
Be more Mike.
The road goes on forever.
reohn2
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by reohn2 »

landsurfer wrote:Thank you all for that ,,, the price of the PD-M520 has jumped recently and i am, or seem , to be heavy on them.
Im 6ft 3in and 110kg and always climb out of the saddle ....
I use the PD-M520 pedals on all my road bikes as i like to be able to walk with a little comfort when off the bike .. :)


https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-m5 ... 48024.html
Complete with cleats and free postage :)
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deliquium
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by deliquium »

Save yerself another quid :wink:

HERE

Probably the best SPD pedals ever :lol:
Current pedalable joys

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RickH
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by RickH »

I have 3 pairs of M520s.

The oldest date back to sometime in the mid 90s, the newest are 6 & a bit years old.

I think I dismantled the oldest pair once - just because I could, as they came with the tool shown above. Apart from that, they have never been touched.

The only TLC they get is a little oil on the SPD pivots & springs every few months. :shock:

All 3 pairs are still running smoothly! :D
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
reohn2
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by reohn2 »

deliquium wrote:Save yerself another quid :wink:

HERE

Probably the best SPD pedals ever :lol:


Probably,though cleatless :shock: :?
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Brucey
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Brucey »

reohn2 wrote:
deliquium wrote:Save yerself another quid :wink:

HERE

Probably the best SPD pedals ever :lol:


Probably,though cleatless :shock: :?


There are six pages of questions on the wiggle page for these pedals. Every page has at least one 'do these pedals come with cleats?' question, with multiple answers for each. Of about 50-60 answers in total, nearly all of them say 'yes they come with cleats'. This is how they are shipped from shimano. One would have thought that wiggle might update their description, unless it is a work creation scheme of some kind..... :roll:

Needless to say CRC have them at the same price. Almost; silver ones are 1p cheaper from wiggle.... :shock:

cheers
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RickH
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by RickH »

Brucey wrote:
reohn2 wrote:
deliquium wrote:Save yerself another quid :wink:

HERE

Probably the best SPD pedals ever :lol:


Probably,though cleatless :shock: :?


There are six pages of questions on the wiggle page for these pedals. Every page has at least one 'do these pedals come with cleats?' question, with multiple answers for each. Of about 50-60 answers in total, nearly all of them say 'yes they come with cleats'. This is how they are shipped from shimano. One would have thought that wiggle might update their description, unless it is a work creation scheme of some kind..... :roll:

Needless to say CRC have them at the same price. Almost; silver ones are 1p cheaper from wiggle.... :shock:

cheers

Wiggle's "Product Data" info seems unambiguous (or has it been changed since the above comments?)
SPD product data.JPG
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Redvee
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Re: Service SPD Pedals

Post by Redvee »

My servicing of M520s and similar level SPD pedals amounts to removing the axle and soaking it in degreaser overnight and cleaning the pedal body out and then letting the axle dry and putting clean grease in the pedal body and reassembling and adding some chain lube to the springs and moving parts when they start making noises asking for some lube every couple of months depending on the weather I've been riding in.
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