Rebuild HT pedals?

[p3eps]

I’ve got a pair of HT Components ME03T pedals, that I’ve been using since the end of July.
They’ve got a great low profile, are very grippy, and are super light - so I’m really happy with them.

At the weekend, I noticed both were making a cracking noise when I put any real pressure on them.

I contacted Ison Distribution, who repaired my other HT pedals (UK warranty centre I believe?), who said I should contact the shop I bought them from.
This was bike-discount in Germany. They’ve asked me to send them back (at my own cost) for warranty inspection.

Thinking this might take a long time just now (Christmas / Brexit / Covid), and potentially cost me £15-20, I started looking at rebuild kits. I assume it’s just a broken bearing or something?

The rebuild kit is only £12... but looking at the instructions, it looks like I might need a special set of tools? These are over £100.
I have some of the tools, and have access to a 1/2” tap... but I don’t know what Tool #10, #11 and #12 are?! They seem to be custom to the Evo+ kit, with no info on what they are. I assume some sort of press tools for seating and removing?

The pedals cost over £200, and I figure they’re going to need serviced quite frequently. Sending them back to bike-components may solve the issue this time (slowly!), but I imagine it’ll be a reoccurring theme.

The question is, has anyone fitted a rebuild kit to these, and can this be done with anything other than the specific kit?

 

[p3eps]

I’ve been pondering over buying the rebuild kit and tool kit for the last few days.
I thought I’d have a look at the axels before making any decisions.

Now that they’re cleaned up, there’s 2 obvious wear parts - which are silver.
The one nearest the crank thread, has an obvious ‘dip’ on the wear part, that I’m hoping is visible in the zoomed photo.

Question this time - is this wrecked? I assume this started off gold and flush?!
I guess if that’s worn, the pedals will have play in them?

The titanium axels are about £90 to replace, and the Cro-Mo ones are only £10. Either way, I’d probably be cheaper buying a new set of pedals than axels / rebuild kit / tools.

 

[steve_sordy]

I very much doubt that the spindles are wrecked, or even any more than very slightly worn. That gold surface finish looks cosmetic only to me.

I have two sets of DMR Vaults and they dispense with the smaller bushing (your No6). I have replaced the bushings and bearings multiple times. In my opinion h key component is the seal (No4). HT call it a dust seal, hmmmm. If that was all it had to keep out! If you can ensure that the seal is properly in place, well greased and supported so that the lip makes contact rather than backing off, then you will stop muddy water getting in there. I placed an "O" ring on my spindle on the outside of the seal to help press the seal up against the pedal body. Your detail design might require a different solution, but I'm sure you get the idea. I also fill the cavity between the spindle and the pedal body to try to reduce any grease dilution when it happens.

Ref the special tools. DMR also have special tools that are quite expensive, but I was fortunate enough to be given a set by DMR. I have used them and they do make the job easy, but they are definitely not essential.

I buy my pedal bearing kits from these people:

Pedal Bearing Kits Archives • Rulla Bike Bearings

www.rullabearings.com

Their kit comes with a short bolt that is an extremely cheap version of the best part of the DMR service tool kit. See if they can do anything for you.

 

[p3eps]

I very much doubt that the spindles are wrecked, or even any more than very slightly worn. That gold surface finish looks cosmetic only to me.

I have two sets of DMR Vaults and they dispense with the smaller bushing (your No6). I have replaced the bushings and bearings multiple times. In my opinion h key component is the seal (No4). HT call it a dust seal, hmmmm. If that was all it had to keep out! If you can ensure that the seal is properly in place, well greased and supported so that the lip makes contact rather than backing off, then you will stop muddy water getting in there. I placed an "O" ring on my spindle on the outside of the seal to help press the seal up against the pedal body. Your detail design might require a different solution, but I'm sure you get the idea. I also fill the cavity between the spindle and the pedal body to try to reduce any grease dilution when it happens.

Ref the special tools. DMR also have special tools that are quite expensive, but I was fortunate enough to be given a set by DMR. I have used them and they do make the job easy, but they are definitely not essential.

I buy my pedal bearing kits from these people:

Pedal Bearing Kits Archives • Rulla Bike Bearings

www.rullabearings.com

Their kit comes with a short bolt that is an extremely cheap version of the best part of the DMR service tool kit. See if they can do anything for you.

Thanks for replying...

I’m a novice when it comes to pedals I’m ashamed to admit. I ran bikes for years with the stock plastic things, and then whatever I could get at a decent price. If they started playing up, I’d buy a new pair.

My previous bike had Funn Mamba pedals, which had a port on them for re-greasing. That was the first maintenance I’ve ever done to pedals - occasionally squirting some grease into that port and spinning them a lot whilst the used grease squelched out the other side!

I’m no expert in pedals, but I’ve spent many years cleaning, changing seals and regreasing pressure calibrators as an Instrument Tech!

There is a distinct ‘ridge’ in that axel that can be felt when rubbing your finger over it. As I’m no expert, I don’t know if it’s meant to be there. To me, it feels like it’s worn there (assuming that’s where the axel spins on the bushing), and this ‘ridge’ has been caused by wear. The ridge lines up perfectly with the silver colour.

The grease that came out of the pedal was absolutely disgusting - probably a mixture of grease, water and slops from the trail - as like you said the ‘dust’ seal is seeing a lot more than just dust!

Ideally, I’d like to get some sort of toolkit for servicing, as now I know how easy taking the pedal apart is, I’d probably do a strip / clean / seals / regrease 3 or 4 times a year to keep them maintained.
I really like the pedals, and am happy to invest to keep them running smoothly.
What I don’t want to do is buy some sort of tool kit and rebuild kit and find that the axel is knackered because of this worn channel in it!

I’ll send Rulla a message and see if they have anything for HT pedals - thanks!

 

[p3eps]

An update on this...

I spoke to Ison Distribution asking for advice. Although they’re not allowed to repair them (as they weren’t bought in the UK) they were able to look at my photos and advise the following:

I certainly think that it is worth pursuing as these are a good pedal, the Axle should not have worn like this in such a short time.
If you are concerned about reaching out to Germany etc you could contact the maker direct.

Since then, I packed them up and sent them to Germany on the 5th Jan by DPD. On the 5th Feb, they were returned undelivered! A full month they sat in a DPD warehouse as they couldn’t get them out of the UK. My £14.99 was refunded... and I’ve sent them away again!

They were due to be delivered today, but German customs have them at the moment. Hopefully they get delivered soon and are repaired under warranty. If it’s found to be a warranty issue, bike-components will refund my postage.

Mental note... buy everything from the UK now we’re no longer in the EU!!

 

[p3eps]

Another update for anyone that’s interested...

The pedals were delivered a few days after my last post. I got a confirmation email, and then another telling me they had a huge backlog. They were forwarded by bike-discount to Shocker, who are the European HT repair centre.
About 4 weeks later I received an email / invoice for €120 for the repair as they claimed this wasn’t covered by warranty. After a couple of emails back and forth, and me contacting HT direct on Facebook, they then agreed to do the work under warranty.

The pedals were returned 2 weeks ago... over 3 months since i originally sent them away!!

I went to fit them yesterday, and thought something was a bit odd. When I looked in the manual, I could see they’ve fitted the left axel to the right hand pedal, and vice versa.
I contacted bike-discount again to advise this - and they asked me to return them.

I said I wasn’t really prepared to send them away for another £17.50 postage (which they are refunding me) trip for 3 months... and that I’d swap them myself. They said I can take them somewhere local, and they’ll pay up to €40 for someone to swap them.

I assume it’s just a case of removing the bolt at the end of the axel, remove the washers / seals etc - then pull the axel out... swap over and reassemble in the same order?
Should take me 10min if that’s the case.

 

[steve_sordy]

Watch out for the "hand" of the threads! I really don't know how they managed to fit the axles the wrong way around.

 

[p3eps]

The manual says the left pedal should have the double lines on the axel - but they’ve used this one on my right pedal... and vice versa.
Seems like a rookie error for the European distributors!