New pedals!

[Fastpedaller]

I'm building a 'low-cost bike' using whatever I can find, so I can leave it at my daughter's house for the odd occasion, so keeping expense to a minimum. I've had a bit of a hunt, trying to find a cheap pair of pedals with reasonable (ie serviceable) bearings. My BBB bpd-15 pedals arrived today. They do indeed have loose ball bearings...... to be more precise I should say 'much too tight loose ball bearings'
Crikey the bearings could do with being finely adjusted. They were pretty much what I expected, far too tight and not much lubrication. The dustcaps came off easily (If fact I may well put a little contact adhesive on them to prevent loss). On trying to undo the locknuts.... crikey they were tight! I added plenty of grease and then set about adjusting them..... what should have been a 5 minute job ended up as much longer. Despite several attempts to get the cone into a good position and rely on tightening the locknut, they just wouldn't have it - either too loose or too tight. The issue was the cone and locknut being in a recess that only a socket (and nothing else) would fit into! The 1/4 inch drive socket had a wall thickness that was 'normal' but still too much. I found an old box spanner with a thin wall and set about cutting it down so it would fit without hitting the pedal cage, and also drilled it so a 5mm 'tommy bar' (the drill chuck key!) could be used to turn it. With a section removed (I may file some more away in due course) I could gain access to wedge the cone using a scriber and at the same time torque the locknut. maybe it would have been easier to drip a lot of oil in and hope? ETA weirdly they came in a plastic bag stating ' this pedal is not suitable for use on any indoor bike or exercise equipment' I'd suggest they are best suited to indoors, as they could benefit from an inner seal to stop water getting in!

 

[Punkawallah]

I take it you have not read ‘Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance’ :x)
It sounds about par for the course regards servicing pedals - the really cheap plastic ones can be tightened with a socket and a brisk tap with a hammer, more expensive ones need three hands and two tools that exist only in the mind of Escher. I cope with a pointy thing such as you use, some long nosed pliers and a fortuitously designed socket.
Dripping oil might have done the trick, eventually :-)

 

[Jameshow]

Don't you just ride them till they bust! 🤣

 

[Gunk]

I bought some VP Components pedals recently with exactly the same problem, I removed the outer black cage, put it in the vice and used a socket just to release the lock nut slightly.

 

[Fastpedaller]

I bought some VP Components pedals recently with exactly the same problem, I removed the outer black cage, put it in the vice and used a socket just to release the lock nut slightly.

That may well have worked with mine, but being pig-headed I had to go the whole hog!