Cycling UK Forum

Brucey wrote:If you like PD-A530 except for the (lack of) grip on the flat side, especially in the wet, there is a revised model PD-EH500



this has (removable) pins so you can get any amount of grip you like on the flat side.

The bearings are the familiar Shimano cartridge system , using adjustable cup and cone bearings.

cheers

Thanks for this brucey - I think I have the "slippy when wet" A530s (damn shimano type on product too tiddly for me to read as usual) and these may be useful.

Have serviced what I take to be my A530s and it was a doddle

How long have they been around?

Wasn't aware of them.

Would be interested in feedback from anyone who has used them.

Have always been a bit wary of pins, concerned that they might eat my shoes, and one of my pair of flat cycling shoes is a bit posh, but am maybe worrying unnecessarily.

I think the revised model has been out for about a year?

Pins work best with trainers or other softish-soled shoes. They can and do damage shoe soles, usually not badly, but with your typical user of 'flatties' I suspect the shoes go out of fashion before the soles wear out.....

cheers

With my 520's I simply use and add a pair of lightweight sm -pd22 flat cleats for normal shoes and leaves the other side for my spd shoes to clip in.

I used those just to make the bike legal at night. One was ripped off in a head-on collision with a dopey oncoming cyclist (I hate cyclepaths) and I never replaced them after that.

After a grotty couple of days at work, my wife banished me to the shed, so I thought I’d get some therapy by taking apart my oldest (5 years) M324s. I followed Mr “I’m gonna go ahead and...” bike guy video - do watch it all the way through before you start.
Unscrew the 4 x3mm cage bolts
Pry out the grey dust cap
10 mm socket removes the first locknut
1/2” socket removes the cone, thereby freeing the spindle.
The special Shimano tool, (or a Brucey style home-build) is what you need when it comes to “lock” the cone

I was pleasantly surprised that both bearings were still well greased and in were in decent shape. I left the outboard bearing as it was - it’s keyhole surgery as it’s well recessed inside. The 3/32” bearings are tiny little critters.
I regreased the inboard and put it all back together as best I could with the locknut. I feels a tad smoother for having done it. I’ve ordered the special tool from Chain Reaction - I run several pairs of M324s.

My riding mate has two pairs, only about a year old. They had enormous slop in the bearings after that time. I rebuilt them for him (the races were fine, and no water penetration) but I was surprised how quickly they wore. I've found M520s wear quickly too, whereas M540s can go years without developing play, so possibly the races are harder in the better pedals.

David9694 wrote:..... I followed Mr “I’m gonna go ahead and...” bike guy video - do watch it all the way through before you start.
........ I’ve ordered the special tool from Chain Reaction - I run several pairs of M324s.

RJ The Bike Guy rocks.....its a great video. I did think he glossed over the issue of the special tool not quite fitting snugly on the hex nut. You can see in his video its not snug. I rounded off the corners of my hex nut with a file to fix this.

Regarding the bearing placement RJ puts the deeply recessed inner bearings (the ones nearest the crank) in from the same side he is viewing from (the crank side). I find it easier to VIEW from the inner (crank) side but bring each bearing in from the outside (non-crank side) on a long thin paintbrush handle held on by a dob of grease. This way I have an uninterrupted view and can accurately place each ball. I am not sure I have the fine motor skills or the patience to do it the RJ way..but see what you think when you get there....

Regarding ponying up for the special tool its much easier to do this when you have multiple M324s like you have David. I ended up with five pairs (tandem,n+1 etc.) before I finally bit the bullet and bought the tool. Now I can service them I seem to have a never ending supply of M324s!!!!

Best of luck for the full pedal service when you get there...

zenitb wrote:

David9694 wrote:..... I followed Mr “I’m gonna go ahead and...” bike guy video - do watch it all the way through before you start.
........ I’ve ordered the special tool from Chain Reaction - I run several pairs of M324s.

RJ The Bike Guy rocks.....its a great video. I did think he glossed over the issue of the special tool not quite fitting snugly on the hex nut. You can see in his video its not snug. I rounded off the corners of my hex nut with a file to fix this.
.

Regarding ponying up for the special tool its much easier to do this when you have multiple M324s like you have David. I ended up with five pairs (tandem,n+1 etc.) before I finally bit the bullet and bought the tool. Now I can service them I seem to have a never ending supply of M324s!!!!

Best of luck for the full pedal service when you get there...

Seriously? All that £££ and it’s not even right??

David9694 wrote:

zenitb wrote:

David9694 wrote:..... I followed Mr “I’m gonna go ahead and...” bike guy video - do watch it all the way through before you start.
........ I’ve ordered the special tool from Chain Reaction - I run several pairs of M324s.

RJ The Bike Guy rocks.....its a great video. I did think he glossed over the issue of the special tool not quite fitting snugly on the hex nut. You can see in his video its not snug. I rounded off the corners of my hex nut with a file to fix this....

Seriously? All that £££ and it’s not even right??

Yes absolutely. You have got to really love this pedal to go through the trauma of servicing it. Here is a pic I took. If you look closely I have filed off half of the sharp edge of the outer nut so the tool will fit on half way. If you look at RJ's video he seems to fumble on this step and I am unconvinced he got the nut to fit snugly.. as I have below. Its actually not a big deal to do but I agree, after spending all that dollar on the tool you would expect it to fit first time!!!

zenitb wrote:

David9694 wrote:

zenitb wrote:RJ The Bike Guy rocks.....its a great video. I did think he glossed over the issue of the special tool not quite fitting snugly on the hex nut. You can see in his video its not snug. I rounded off the corners of my hex nut with a file to fix this....

Seriously? All that £££ and it’s not even right??

Yes absolutely. You have got to really love this pedal to go through the trauma of servicing it. Here is a pic I took. If you look closely I have filed off half of the sharp edge of the outer nut so the tool will fit on half way. If you look at RJ's video he seems to fumble on this step and I am unconvinced he got the nut to fit snugly.. as I have below. Its actually not a big deal to do but I agree, after spending all that dollar on the tool you would expect it to fit first time!!!

Something’s up here - the outer part of the tool fits the locknut (fits ok) but not sure what the inner is intended door? TBH, I assumed the outer would fit the 1/2” cone, and you’d be able to hold that, while tightening up the 10mm locknut?

yes that rare thing, shimano making a bit of a cock-up; mind you they have been making both tools (several models) and pedals (ditto) for several decades and probably have used several different subcontractors in that time. The result is that some combinations of tool and (10mm) locknut don't actually fit that well.

In practice it isn't actually a show-stopper provided you have a few other tools. The 10mm locknut will come undone using a standard (ish) socket (which BTW explains the most common complaint about these pedals; you can take them apart but you can't reset the locknut with the same tools, you need something special to hold the cone and locknut at the same time). Once the locknut is off, it can soon be fettled using a small file or emery paper so that it fits the inner part of the shimano tool properly.

cheers

So my problem is that the PD 63 ISN’T for M324s - I assume the PD 33 is - and moreover the PD 33 appears to to offer more size combinations, including from my measurements of it, what the PD 63 does, i.e. 10mm and 1/2”.

Not sure what PD 63 is “for”.

Neither shop’s description of such a pricey item is perfect:

Bike 24
Shimano TL-PD33 Pedal Cone Adjusting Tool
Special tool to adjust pedal bearings (7mm x 10mm / 10mm x 13mm).

Chain Reaction
Shimano SPD Pedal Cone Adjuster Tool PD63
Two-part tool set for correctly adjusting SPD pedal cone lock nuts.
Features:
One socket holds the adjusting cone, and the other tightens or loosens the locknut

as per the EV techdoc TL-PD33 is the correct tool for PD-M324

https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/ev/PD-M324/EV-PD-M324-1972A.pdf

TL-PD63 fits 7,8mm locknuts and 10, 11mm cones
TL-PD33 fits 7,10mm locknuts and 10, 13mm cones



The most common SPD pedal bearing design uses a 7mm locknut and a 10mm cone. Either tool can be used on these pedal bearings. However most SPD pedals which use these sizes can be serviced without using a special tool; standard spanners will work just fine.

PD-M324 uses a 10mm locknut and a 13mm cone.
Other shimano pedals use an 8mm locknut and an 11mm cone, I believe. Not sure which models though.

cheers

Bloody hell, I think it would be cheaper to trade my M324s in for an Audi Quattro

I made my own tools to do this job. It wasn't that difficult.

Others have occasionally found the TL-PD33 tool for cheap (around £15).

cheers