Thanks to the well-thought-out design, maintenance of Shimano pedals is a pleasure. Moreover, this prolongs their life and reduces the rolling resistance in the bearings, which ultimately affects the efficiency of pedaling.

The following instructions apply to all SPD pedals, road and mountain, as well as Saint, XT and DX models.

What you need to know

Bearings: All Shimano SPD pedals still use loose bearings, so if you have some difficulty with assembling loose bearings, it's best to never completely disassemble the pedals.

Housing material: SPD pedal bodies are made of aluminum alloy or special carbon composite (in premium country versions), so don't worry about any cosmetic damage. It is very difficult to break the insides of the pedals.

Springs: Spiral wound steel springs are probably the main feature of all Shimano SPD clipless pedals. It is impossible to confuse the fastening in them with any other pedals.

axes A: Shimano prefers the stiffness and durability of steel axles. All Shimano SPD pedals use 6mm or 8mm hex or 15mm open end wrenches for installation.

Adjustment screws: All Shimano SPD Clipless Pedals have a 3mm Allen key to adjust release force from the pedals. Everyone will be able to choose the effort to their liking.

To begin with, we will tell you how to conduct an ultra-fast service, and after that we will describe the full service algorithm, do not switch!

Tool:

• 7, 10 and 17 mm wrenches
• Hexagons
• Grease
• Degreaser
• Chain lubricant
• Spline puller (if needed)

Clean the pedals

To avoid the possibility of dirt getting inside the pedal, and to make your work more pleasant, clean the pedals of dirt. You can use a degreaser or hot water with liquid detergent from your kitchen (just don't take too much so that it doesn't fly in from your wife / mom). Ideally, let the pedals dry out or dry them with compressed air from a compressor.

Pull axle

Unscrewing the axle from the pedal body is not difficult at all, use a 17mm wrench or a spline puller if you have splined pedals. Be careful! The right pedal has a reverse thread and must be unscrewed clockwise!(Don't use a wrench, I'm just a lazy ass and couldn't find a 17mm wrench).

Clean the axle and its seat

After unscrewing the pedal housing, simply remove it from the axle. If the grease is black, then it's time to change it. Remove old grease and dirt from the axle, and if you are not lazy and have a degreaser or kerosene, then wash the axle in it. After the procedure, thoroughly wipe the pedal with a rag.

Pedal Assembly

Use grease, fill the inner cavity of the pedal body with it, and return the axle to its place. Tighten the axle, taking into account the direction of the thread. The case has a mark with the direction and the inscription TIGHTEN, but if you have it erased, then know that the axis is twisted clockwise for the left and counterclockwise for the right.

Grease will come out of the slots between the body and the axle, don't worry, this is normal. If dirty grease comes out, then clean grease squeezes it out, and that's good! Repeat the procedure with filling the cavity of the pedal body with grease until clean grease comes out. This will mean that you have almost completely replaced the old grease.

Don't forget to tighten the axle to the required torque (10Nm). If you don't have a torque wrench, then know that you don't have to go too far. Just screw the axle into the pedal body with the required force.

Lubricate the spring

It's good to lubricate the spring that holds the spike from your boot to the pedal. Great for chain lube. Don't overdo it and don't use a lot of lube, you don't want that extra dirt sticking to the pedal, right?

clean threads

Clean the threads in the crank and on the pedal axle with a degreaser. And do not forget to lubricate it, you do not want the pedal to boil?

Complete disassembly of the pedal

Now let's talk about the complete analysis of the axis itself. If you have a backlash, or you suspect that the bearings are already quite worn out and want to check it, then you should completely disassemble the axle.

Loosen the locknut

Using a 7mm wrench, unscrew the lock nut, and then with a 10mm wrench, unscrew the cone that holds the bulk bearings on the axle and regulates their preload.

Visually assess the condition of the bearings. Be careful! If you take hold of the sleeve in which the bearings are installed, then most likely they will fly loose from it. Nothing holds them inside the bushing, and the bearing balls themselves are located both at the adjusting cone and on the opposite side, where this bushing meets the axle itself. If the bearings still run away, then use the method described in paragraph 8 of the article “How to eliminate pedal play” Alternately assemble the “inner” part of the bearing first, and then the outer one.

Eliminate backlash

Lubricate the bearing and tighten the adjusting cone so that the bearing rotates freely around the axis, but does not play. Secure the result with a locknut.

Assemble the pedal

Go back to " Pedal Assembly and complete the repair.

Additional life hacks

The axle nut on older and budget models of Shimano SPD pedals can be made of nylon and can be disassembled using the special tool TL-PD40 instead of the usual 17mm wrench. Use it if you want to disassemble the pedal.

If your shoes do not pedal well, then find the place on the sole where exactly the “conflict” occurs. More often than not, it's some sort of rubber spike that's preventing you from buckling up properly. Using a sharp blade, remove part of the thorn until you are satisfied with the result.

To prevent the mechanism that holds the spike from the boot into the pedal from creaking, regularly lubricate it with a lubricant containing paraffin. You can use the same lubricant for your chain. We already wrote about its advantages in the research article "".

The question about pedals, and specifically about contact pedals for a bicycle, very often pops up in the cycling environment among beginners and more or less experienced cyclists, but often it is not possible to quickly find an unambiguous and short answer to it. Not so long ago, one of the neophytes of the 1st cycling movement on one popular regional resource asked a completely logical, for a beginner, question about contact pedals: “why do these pedals at all, if the legs normally hold on to ordinary ones?” anger” from the participants of the communication, but did not receive an answer to his question. I will try to give a detailed answer to this question. To begin with, we will describe what it is in general, and then we will systematize all the types of pedals known to us.

Contact pedals- this is a mechanism that allows you to mechanically fix the cyclist's foot on the pedal, thereby connecting the cyclist's shoes and the bicycle pedal into a single whole structure, i.e. ensuring full contact of the cyclist with the bicycle drive.

I. Historical development of pedal design.

Historically, bicycle pedals were a simple platform - a platform that had an axis running through the center and could rotate around this axis. Rotation is necessary so that the platform always remains in the same plane with the shoe, and does not rotate along with the connecting rod of the system. Such pedals are still common in all touring, children's and all types of budget bikes where vigorous pedaling is not required. Pedals similar in design are also used in most extreme and stunt cycling disciplines, where pedaling power is not needed, but complete freedom of leg position and the ability to quickly take your foot off the pedal and quickly return back are important.

Pedaling efficiency, i.e. what power you can develop by pedaling is not very high on simple platforms, it would be more accurate to say that it is the lowest of all types of pedals, since you can only pedal by pressing your foot on it when it is in the forward position. When the pedal, moving in a circle, is in the lower, rear or upper position, you cannot do anything with it, at this time you press on the second pedal and so on in turn, stomping one or the other naked on the pedals. For this characteristic pedaling feature, simple platform pedals got their nickname. "stompers".

[image: toptalok coverage area]

The solution that can increase the efficiency of pedaling steel pedals "touklips", from English toe - toe and clip - clamp. Toe clips are the same platform, but with an additional stirrup under the toe and a strap that tightens the foot in the middle of the foot, thus clamping the toe of the shoe in the stirrup.

Since the foot is fixed in touklips and has a mechanical stop when moving up and forward, this allows not only to stomp on the pedal from top to bottom when it is in the forward position, but also to pull the pedal up from the bottom when it is in the rear position, and also to stretch the pedal towards the front when it is in the up position. It is impossible to pull the pedal back when it is in the lower zone in the toe clips, since the heel is not fixed and you can simply pull your foot out of the stirrup.

As a result, instead of one working zone, when we can only stomp the pedal, we have two more, in which we can also influence it, and we already get something similar to a full-fledged pedal rotation, with only one dead zone - in the down position. As a result, all this significantly increases the efficiency of pedaling due to the fact that now not only a large quadriceps, but also other muscles of the legs, and therefore we can apply a greater total effort per revolution of the pedal.

[image: touklips coverage area]

Despite their simplicity, toe clips still cannot be called comfortable pedals, since you cannot quickly insert your foot into the stirrup on them, it treacherously constantly turns down the frame and it is inconvenient to tighten the straps on the go. Also, if the strap is tightened too much, then in the event of a fall, the leg cannot easily be released from the stirrup and this is fraught with very serious injuries to the knee and hip joint. If you do not tighten the strap of touklips, then their effectiveness as pedals drops dramatically, leaving you only the ability to stretch your foot forward in the upper position. Thus, toe clips can be called the most unsafe pedals. At the moment, this is a completely extinct type of pedal, which can only be found on vintage rare bicycles or sometimes on the cheapest road bikes due to its unprecedented cheapness, and even more as a demonstration of “how our grandfathers rode”.

The next evolutionary stage in the development of pedals was contact pedals or in English clipless pedals , i.e. "Clampless Pedals" Well, or just contacts, a well-established term in the cycling environment. These pedals have not one, but two main components: the pedal itself and a special spike that is attached to the sole of the shoe. The foot is fixed due to the fact that the spike, fixed on the sole of the shoe, is inserted into a special groove on the pedal itself and snaps into place.

The groove on the pedal itself is usually a spring-loaded frame, which allows the stud to easily snap into place, and when the stud is turned to the side, it can freely pop out of the frame and thus unfasten itself. Those. on contact pedals, it is enough to simply turn the foot on the pedal with the heel to the side in order to release from the pedal. Usually this is a reflex or natural movement of the leg when falling, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of the knee joint during various excesses. The foot from the contact pedal can also be released with a very large effort not to the side, but up from the pedal. This force is usually adjusted, i.e. The stiffness of the frame springs in the pedal is adjustable.

In order to pull the foot up from the contact pedal, a greater force is needed than the cyclist himself can develop by pulling his foot on the pedals during torsion, but quite sufficient, which develops in a head-on collision with some kind of obstacle or very sharp braking. All this allows, by analogy with ski boots ensure the safety of the joints of the legs in case of falls. Still such contact pedals, which are quilted independently, are called automatic pedals or simply "automatic".

From the point of view of safety, automatons are the safest pedals, after toptalok platforms, of course, because in the latter nothing holds the foot at all.

However, the pedals did not immediately become automatic, one of the first models of contact pedals could only be quilted manually, i.e. the cyclist, when moving, had to lean towards the pedal in advance and buckle his leg with his hands. These pedals are called by cyclists."death-cleats"or in Russian "dead clamp", and not so much for their stranglehold, but for the severity of the consequences that they caused in accidents and falls. Fortunately, no company now produces anything like this for cycling, and you will not find such pedals now.

General purpose of contacts, i.e. why are they needed at all?.

1. Pedaling efficiency and developed power

Contact pedals allow you to develop maximum power due to the fact that in them you can individually rotate the pedal completely in a circle with each foot and act on it in all its positions. Such pedaling is called circular. The spike fixed in the pedal allows the foot not only to push the pedal from above, but to stretch the pedal in the lower position and effectively pull the foot towards you when the pedal is in the rear position and just as successfully push the pedal forward when it is in the upper position. When pulling the leg up, muscles are involved that, when simply trampling the pedal down, do not participate in pedaling at all, all this makes it possible, under equal conditions, to obtain up to 30-40% advantages compared to pedaling on simple tramples.

Why is only 40% and not 200% acceptable? Because the large quadriceps muscle of the leg, which is involved in regular trampling, is one of the strongest in the human body, and the rest of the muscles involved in circular pedaling still need to be trained in order to get a real effect from the contacts. But in any case, even 30% is very, very much, only due to just one thing in the bike.

[image: contact areas]

2. Extra bike control

The contacts also allow you to better control the bike in difficult situations, without fear of losing the pedal with your foot. For example, in order to jump over a small obstacle, it is enough to simply bend your legs sharply while moving forward, pulling the bike under you by the pedals. In cross-country cycling, contacts allow you to more clearly control the entire bike on difficult descents and when passing technical sections when shaking can simply throw the cyclist off the bike.

Also, the contacts give complete freedom of action during powerful aggressive attacks and sharp power jerks in cycling, allowing you not to worry that you can fly off the pedal with your foot, the pedal will not go anywhere. Sharp and very powerful jerks are typical for road and track cycling, where rapidly developing sprint attacks sometimes require athletes to literally “shoot right off the bat” making titanic efforts and wriggling three deaths over the frame from effort. Riding on ordinary tramps in such conditions is, in fact, an act of suicide.

3. Reduction of dangerous loads on the knee joint

You don't have to develop full power every time you pedal, but if you're stompling, you're forced to concentrate all your effort on just one movement - pedaling down. This is equivalent to squatting on one leg - the entire load falls on one single joint - the knee. It would be more accurate to say that the entire load always passes through this joint. If you pedal in contacts, then you can more evenly distribute the load on the joint, while not only pressing down so much, but also gaining additional power by pulling your leg up, thereby reducing the pressure load on the joint, which has a positive effect on its health and for the duration of its normal operation.

II. Classification of pedals, what they are.

We will assume that in general we figured out what exactly contact pedals are. Now let's talk about what modern pedals are generally. You can systematize them according to many features, we will focus on the most important and common.

1) By main purpose

Walking / children's pedals. Pedals in which there are no requirements for either a high efficiency of pedaling or a reliable fixation of the foot. Designed for leisurely easy riding on a good road in the park, on an inexpensive bike, without any pretensions to sports. Most often, by design, these are the simplest “stompers” with which 99% of inexpensive bicycles come with.

Pedals for extreme disciplines. In disciplines such as downhill and freeride and BMX , most often (but not always), but in the stunt disciplines Dirt / Street Jump, Fun Jump, etc. pedals are always used in their design, which are simple platforms, but have a wide foot area, on which there are usually a number of small irregularities (spikes) to prevent slipping of the sole of the shoe. Contact pedals are not used in such sports, most often for obvious reasons. You cannot unfasten and re-fasten while performing a trick on the fly while jumping with a bicycle.

Mountain bike pedals. Clipless pedals, automata, used in mountain biking sports such as cross-country or most all-purpose mountain bikes ( all-terrain bike), including walking. Most often of a compact design, in which you can quickly clip in and out quickly, and the compact design allows them to work reliably in any dirt without clogging and without compromising reliability.

The cleat of mountain bike pedals is metal, small and flat, and the design of shoes for such cleats allows you to fix the cleat so that it does not interfere with normal walking. Mountain bike contact shoes have a tread that protrudes above the spike in order to be able to walk or run on the ground or mud in such shoes and at the same time not slip.

The sole of such shoes can be either elastic and comfortable for walking, or purely athletic and completely rigid. The design of clipless mountain bike pedals is always a compromise between the quality of fixation of the foot and the reliability of the pedal in a variety of adverse conditions. For speed and convenience of clipping in, the pedals themselves are usually double-sided, i.e. you can buckle up without wasting time turning the pedal pad to the right side, but almost by touch in one movement.

Road pedals. Contact pedals, machines used in road cycling. Due to the nature of operation, they rarely get into the mud, and therefore they do not experience a compromise in the design and are made in such a way that would fix the foot in the pedal as rigidly and clearly as possible, have a large area of ​​​​contact between the shoe and the pedal, and provide maximum stability. The frame itself, fixing the spike, can be up to a third of the length of the shoe. Due to their size, the pedals are usually single-sided, so as not to unduly increase the weight of the entire structure.

Contact pedals are a very peculiar thing that you need to “grow up to”. Another question is what shoes to choose for this type of pedals. Both the first and second questions require a little bit of knowledge. It is about them that the article talks about.

Pedals consist of 2 parts: a pedal and a stud screwed to the sole of the shoe with bolts. Spikes are usually included with pedals. In case of loss or damage at any time, you can easily find a replacement for the spikes, but it will cost a pretty penny.

Types of contact pedals
The standards for attaching a cleat to a pedal are divided into road and MTB. It depends on what shoes you subsequently need to purchase. It is also worth remembering that not a single contact pedals are equipped with protection against dirt or snow (in the case of skiing in winter). And if the spikes are clogged, you need to clean them.

Shimano SPD
The most famous type of pedals, which is designed for mountain bikes. Despite the high availability, the quality remains at its best, sometimes even after tens of thousands of kilometers. Depending on the conditions of use, they are likely to last 2 or more years.

The appearance of signs of wear on the pedals in the form of axle play requires a special key. Similar sores are cured in more expensive models. You can disassemble them with ordinary tools. Fans of constructors in childhood will have to sweat a lot here. Moreover, the ratio of price and estimated mileage is more than acceptable.

Some complain about the lack of freedom for the legs in the horizontal plane. In the case of a non-standard setting of the foot, the cyclist will have to come up with something, due to the inconvenience that has arisen. As practice shows, people find different ways to solve the problem.

Shimano SPD-SL
This standard is used for road pedals. The design of road pedals is such that the foot is fixed as rigidly as possible. Unlike the standard SPD, the SPD-SL does not have any backlash whatsoever.

It must be taken into account that the studs on road shoes almost do not allow you to walk freely due to the fact that they protrude strongly from under the feet. A set of road pedals and shoes is recommended for those who plan to spend a significant amount of time in the saddle, winding kilometer after kilometer on asphalt.

Crank Brothers
First of all, their simplified design is attractive when compared with the Shimano mentioned above. The Crank Brothers Egg Beater snaps in very nicely. Here's a comparison: Shimano pedals are clipped in as if something had been dropped from a high-rise building, and Crank Brothers - almost without sound. The cyclist will also be pleased with the greater freedom of the legs in the horizontal plane. The pedals work great in mud conditions: one way or another, the owner will buckle up.

However, you can’t do without minuses: the durability of these pedals, judging by the numerous reviews, is somewhat less than that of eminent Japanese. And this at a higher price. From the aesthetic side, they look great, but require frequent replacement of bearings and studs. The choice is up to the future owner.

Time attack
Consider also the Time Atac model. Feelings when riding them are more than pleasant. Simple clip-on, complemented by a reliable fixation of the leg. The disadvantage is fast-grinding spikes on the pedals and, albeit slight, but backlash.

The forums are loudly claiming that the budget models of Time are not worth attention. But more expensive models live quite a long time, you know, change the spikes and that's it.

Look Quartz
There are a lot of good reviews about these pedals, they also say that they are comfortable in muddy weather and that the spikes do not wear out for a long time. But the general impressions of practicality and reliability are incomprehensible.

What kind of pedals to choose?
In general, the most optimal and practically does not require time, effort and money - Shimano. Especially for ordinary fans. If we take a specific model as an example, then Shimano M520. And you don't have to worry about contacts within 5000-7000 km.

For frequent driving in forests or swamps, as well as in places with clay soil, it is better to choose any Crank Brothers or Look Quartz model. For those who often change contacts to treadmills and vice versa, Shimano 324 is suitable. They have a plain surface on one side, and a contact spike on the other.

What cycling shoes to choose?
It's easier with shoes. Here you need to choose between tourist or sports shoes. Do you often have to walk? It is better to choose contact shoes specially designed for this. In the case of Shimano, these are shoes with the letters MT. In the case of a lot of time on the bike, sports models are much better. Rigid sole, adjustable buckle and overall better foot fixation. You can walk in such boots, but it will be extremely uncomfortable.

It is often mentioned that Shimano shoes run small and it is worth taking 1 size more. If it is additionally indicated that the shoe last is wide, then you can get boots that fit your foot in a warm sock, and therefore skiing in winter will be more comfortable. The size of your bike shoes is very important. The leg in it should be well fixed, but nothing should reap. Otherwise, pain will be felt at long distances.