How to Service Pedal Bearings: Clean, Regrease and Rebuild

When to service pedal bearings

Service pedal bearings when they feel rough, make noise or develop play. Two quick checks tell you, with the pedals still on the bike.

1. Spin test: hold the crank still and turn the pedal body slowly with your fingers. It should feel smooth and even. Grinding, notchiness or a gritty feel means dirty or damaged bearings.
2. Play test: grip the crank arm with one hand and the pedal body with the other, then rock the body up and down and in and out along the spindle. Any knock or clunk is play. Holding the crank arm rules out a loose pedal thread or bottom-bracket play.

Other signs: a creak or click under load that remains after you have greased the pedal threads and checked the cleats, or water squeezing out of the pedal after a wet ride.

Don’t worry if a healthy pedal stops after a turn or two. Many pedals use contact seals that drag on purpose. A pedal that spins for ages may simply have worn seals.

Know your pedal’s bearing type

The way the spindle runs inside the body decides how you service it. Look up your model, or check the outer end of the pedal: an end cap usually means an axle nut underneath; no cap and a plastic or splined collar on the crank side usually means a Shimano-style axle unit.

Bearing type	How it works	Typical pedals	Service
Cup-and-cone (loose balls)	Loose balls run between a cup and an adjustable cone, locked by a nut	Most Shimano SPD and SPD-SL pedals, MKS pedals	Clean, regrease and adjust preload; Shimano also sells complete axle units
Cartridge bearing plus bushing	A sealed bearing at the outer end and a bushing near the crank	Crankbrothers pedals, many flat pedals	Replace bushing, bearing and seals from the maker’s kit
Plain DU bushings	Steel-backed sleeves with a low-friction lining, no balls	DMR V8 Classic DU (two DU bushings)	Clean, regrease, replace bushings from the service kit
Multiple sealed cartridge bearings	Two or more sealed bearings, sometimes with a needle bearing	Many premium flat pedals	Repack or replace bearings with a puller and press
Molded plastic bushings	Spindle runs straight in the body or a plastic sleeve	Many budget and stock pedals	Rarely worth rebuilding

For a full parts breakdown, see parts of a bike pedal and pedal spindles.

Tools and supplies

• A 15 mm pedal wrench or 6/8 mm hex key to remove the pedal; see how to remove bike pedals.
• A bench vise with soft jaws, or a workstand clamp, to hold the spindle flats or pedal body.
• The right end-cap tool: a hex key, a flat blade or a maker-specific tool, depending on the cap.
• A thin-walled socket for the axle nut, or the maker’s axle-unit tool.
• For cup-and-cone units, two thin wrenches for the cone and lock nut.
• A pick, rags, a small brush and degreaser.
• Fresh bearing grease, and the maker’s rebuild kit if bushings, seals or bearings are worn.

Check pedal tools for wrenches and the grease guide for greases.

How to rebuild a pedal through the spindle end

This covers most flat pedals and Crankbrothers-style clipless pedals, where an axle nut at the outer end holds the body on the spindle. Check your pedal’s service instructions for the axle nut’s thread direction, because it isn’t the same on every pedal.

1. Remove the pedal from the crank.
2. Clamp the spindle flats in a soft-jawed vise, pedal body up. Clamping the flats, not the threads, protects the crank thread.
3. Remove the end cap at the outer end of the body. Plastic caps strip easily, so seat the tool fully.
4. Undo the axle nut with a thin-walled socket.
5. Slide the body off the spindle. Lay the washers, seals, bushings and bearings out in order, or photograph them before they come apart.
6. Clean every part with degreaser and a rag, then dry them.
7. Inspect: the spindle should be straight and smooth where the bushing runs; the bushing shouldn’t be scored or oval; seals shouldn’t be torn; a cartridge bearing should turn smoothly with no play.
8. Replace worn parts from the kit. Press cartridge bearings in on the outer race with a press or a socket of the right size, never by hammering on the inner race.
9. Grease generously: coat the bushing and spindle, and pack the body cavity. Spare grease acts as an extra seal against water.
10. Reassemble in order, fit the nut and tighten it to the maker’s figure. If no figure is given, stop at snug.
11. Refit the end cap with a smear of grease on its seal, then check spin and play before fitting the pedal.

How to service a Shimano-style axle unit

Most Shimano SPD and SPD-SL pedals use an axle unit that unthreads from the crank side of the body as one piece. Park Tool notes that the axle unit’s thread runs opposite to the pedal’s crank thread and that the direction is marked on the unit, so read the arrow before you turn anything.

1. Hold the pedal body gently in a soft-jawed vise or a workstand clamp.
2. Unthread the axle unit with Shimano’s splined tool (TL-PD40 fits many models) or the wrench flats on the lock bush, turning the direction marked on the unit.
3. Pull the axle unit out and wipe the old grease out of the body cavity.
4. Quick service: if the unit spins smoothly with no play, pack the body cavity with fresh grease, push the unit back in and thread it home. Grease is pushed back through the bearings as the unit goes in.
5. Full service: for a rough or loose unit, hold the cone with a thin wrench, undo the lock nut and remove the cone. Catch every ball and count them. Clean the balls, cone and cup, look for pitting, regrease, refit the balls and set the preload (below).
6. Thread the unit back in by hand, then tighten until snug, following your pedal’s dealer manual if it gives a figure.

If the cones or cups are pitted, or the spindle is bent, order the complete axle unit for your exact model number rather than rebuilding it.

Setting bearing preload

Preload is how tightly the bearing is adjusted. Too loose and the pedal knocks and wears the races; too tight and it binds and wears just as fast.

• Cup-and-cone: turn the cone in until the play just disappears, hold it with the cone wrench and tighten the lock nut against it. Locking usually adds a little preload, so start a touch loose. Then check: rock the spindle for play and turn it slowly for roughness. Repeat until it has neither.
• Cartridge bearing plus bushing: the axle nut clamps the bearing’s inner race, so there’s no adjustment as such. If the pedal binds once the nut is tight, check that every washer and spacer went back in the original order.
• Sealed multi-bearing pedals: same as above. Persistent notchiness after reassembly means a damaged bearing, not a preload problem.

Choosing grease for pedal bearings

Use a bicycle bearing grease of medium consistency. NLGI Grade 2 is the common choice: thick enough to stay in the bearing, soft enough not to drag.

• All-round: Park Tool PolyLube 1000 suits cup-and-cone, cartridge and bushing pedals, and the pedal threads too.
• Wet riding: pick a grease sold as highly water resistant; the grease and lube guide compares them.
• Not in bearings: chain lube, spray lubricants, water-displacing sprays and anti-seize. Anti-seize belongs on titanium spindle threads only.

Rebuild kit or new pedals?

Rebuild when the spindle is straight, the body is sound and the maker sells parts for your model. Replace when any of those is missing.

Situation	Better choice
Rough or gritty, spindle straight, parts available	Clean and regrease, or fit a rebuild kit
Play from a worn bushing or bearing	Rebuild kit
Shimano cup-and-cone with pitted cones or cups	Complete axle unit for that model
Bent spindle with no spare spindle offered	New pedals
Cracked body, or stripped pin holes as well	New pedals
Budget pedal with molded bushings and no parts	New pedals

Kits are model- and generation-specific, so match the kit to the name on the pedal. If you’re replacing worn pins at the same time, see how to replace pedal pins. If you decide on new pedals instead, our flat pedals and clipless pedals guides list current models with service parts.