1987> Time Pedal Servicing

Does anyone know if it was ever possible to remove and replace the
needle bearings that were fitted inside the body of the original Time TBT Racing pedals c1987-1990? The large bearing is easy enough to replace but I have never heard of anyone replacing the smaller inner bearing. I imagine it was drifted into place when the pedals were assembled.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Craig

I've been thinking about this for a while too after I got a pair of Titan Mags for 99p and clicky bearings a couple of years ago.

I'm not entirely sure there is actually a bearing buried in the pedals (there don't seem to be any exploded schematics on the Internet I can find) but I suspect if there is then it's never coming out I've looked at all kinds of bearing pullers on the Internet but none are small enough to be able to pull the pedal bearings out. I ended up just filling it with grease which worked for a few rids before it started clicking again. The axles looked mint when I had them out though. I couldn't actually see anything in the pedal body so I did consider maybe there's no bearing and it was the larger one that was clicking.

In the end I gave up and bought "new"

Re:

There definitely is an inner bearing inside each pedal. I remember pulling out the old axles in an ancient pair of Titan Mag pedals and the thin end of the axle was worn away on one side on both axles. This is presumably where the load is exerted with each pedal stroke and as it wears, so play develops in the pedal and so on. If you flush out the pedal body you'll see the thin needle rollers way inside there.

There's a Time service kit on ebay just now (for an American ranson in US dollars, funnily enough) that shows the servicing sheet, but unless there's more information printed on the other side of the sheet, then you're right - servicing isn't possible of the smaller bearing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272372842667? ... EBIDX%3AIT

:shock:

I had a pair serviced. Apparently it's some sort of special long bearing puller. No idea what it looks like, but my clicking TBTs stopped clicking.
Unfortunately the place that serviced the pedals has been shut since the mid 90s and the guy that owned it moved to Australia. Or New Zealand. I forget which.

The bits in that servicing kit don't look like a puller. Mattr - maybe your place made their own?

No idea. It was a machine shop owned by an ex cyclist, so it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Maybe the bearing is *meant* to come out with the axle, but can jam in the pedal body?
Might explain the exploded diagram on that kit, and why rusty can see the needle bearing in the body of the pedal, and why there was a need for a bearing puller?

Re:

I would imagine that the needle bearing was drifted/ pressed into place
when new. I stripped a pair of NOS Titan Mag pedals last year and the
needle bearing remains with the pedal body when the axle is withdrawn. Your suggestion of a bearing puller is a good one and the most likely answer. Too bad I don't know of such a tool for the job!

:|

You need a blind bearing puller, sometimes also called a pilot or needle bearing puller. I would just find a bike shop that has a set of blind bearing pullers as a set usually pulls bearings from 8-32mm I.D

I just remembered another method without tools. You'll need some thick grease and a bolt, rod or even wood dowel who's OD is the same as the ID of the needle bearing/axle end OD. Fill the pedal with grease and push it into needle bearing with bolt, whack bolt with hammer, pull bolt out and repeat until the bearing is forced out under hydraulic pressure. Don't be tempted to use oil as it will explode everywhere. You can use warmed up plastercine sausage instead of grease too which might be easier to get down inside the needle bearing.

Yeah, i know what a blind bearing puller is. Problem is that the small diameter and the long drop to get to it means that anything off the shelf doesn't fit. Hence a "special long bearing puller"