Hi there,
following years of persuasion, I've bitten the bullet, and bought some m520s and a pair of spesh tahoes, to try out this new fangled SPD lark...
Only done about 10miles on them so far, getting to work this morning, but I've noticed an annoying "click" on the left hand side. It sounds like old pedals do when there's a bearing missing or something. The movement is smooth, and they seem to spin freely enough.
I was wondering if the click could just be play inthe mechanism, as I have them fully wound out to make it easier to get out of? Do they "grab" better if you tighten them up a bit, or does the tension only affect the unclipping force? (There's quite a bit of play when I am clipped in, is this normal?)
Hope somebody can a) make sense of this, b) offer some advice...
Thanks,
J
Make sure the cleats are mounted on the shoes really tight. Plus, use a bit more tension than the slackest - there is a big range and even half way is very easy to get out.
Check the tension on the spring, turn to the +ve and see if the spring tensions.
If it does dramatically then they were probably set to maximum -ve
They do that when they're loose.
The looser they are the more play you get.
I have mine somewhere in the middle.
From my experience, my M520's also have a lot of float which I think is a good thing, means you can move about on the pedal a bit.
Have you set your cleats at the correct angle? If they are off on the angle when you're normally pedelling (and are close to unclipping in one direction) then this can cause a click as the cleat is close to unclipping on each revolution and starts to move the mechanism.
Have you tried (for a few pedal strokes) altering the angle of your foot to see if that makes the clicking go away? (Don't do this for long as you'll knacker you knees!)
Play is deliberate - it's called float and allows your foot to change position an bit without unclipping. This is to avoid knackered knees.
As for click sounds, they generally do that if you pull on the 'up stroke' as there is a small amount of up/down movement available.
Wow, you guys are fast, thanks for the tips, will tighten then up a bit and see what gives.
I think the cleat angle is correct, but being a n00b spudder, i'm not certain, will have play with this evening! hadn't thought of that as a potential cause.
Thanks again,
ElG
Hi all,
I've tried all the above tips, and nothing cured the clunk...so I swapped the pedals onto another bike, and all was well.
Upon investigation, my bottom bracket is pretty ropey, so I now have to wrestle with that!!! >10yr old GT, 3 hours with the impact driver didn't budge it, so blowtorch is the order of the evening this evening!!!
I'll keep you posted!!!
Have you not fallen over yet? Best done in a crowded trail centre car park
ime, if you take your siezed BB to a shop they all do the same thing.
bike in a very sturdy stand (not vital)
put the BB tool on the BB, BOLT it on using a bolt that will reach the spindle so its got a firm "grip"
and use a MASSIVE lever
(summit in aber have a piece of box section about 1.5-2m long especially for the job)
if you do that, you will find it comes apart very easily, the thread is normally fine, its just a chemical weld.
i wouldnt advise "heating and hitting" myself.
heh heh, nope, not fallen over yet... haven't ventured off tarmac yet though!!! will probs stick to flatties for a little while longer if getting muddy!
And Olly, half of me is very tempted to take it to LBS, (trailjunkies, very good shop, nice people, good range of stuff, btw!) but part of me, the part that enjoys hitting things, eating steaks, and so on just wants to do it myself...this part of me isn't particularly well skilled at such things as this though, so the other part of me knows things will end up in a big mess of irreparably mangled steel tubing!!!!
On balance, I think LBS might be the way forward!!!
put the BB tool on the BB, BOLT it on using a bolt that will reach the spindle so its got a firm "grip"
and use a MASSIVE lever
The park tools instructions say to bolt the BB tool on using your rear skewer, which seems to do the job.
As for the lever, I've used a piece of pipe from the end of a fold out washing line, stuck the spanner in that and turned (my bb tool has a bit you grab with a spanner).
Joe
BOLT it on using a bolt that will reach the spindle so its got a firm "grip"
Assuming your BB has a hollow axle, you can stick your rear QR through and tighten it to hold the BB tool in place on the splines. You then have the confidence to use big leverage on the spanner - I tend to tap the spanner end with a heavy hammer to break the chemical weld and get it moving. Get your wife to hold the spanner 🙂 Take care.
BB's too old to have one of those new fangled holes running right through it...
The threading on my chainbreaker is the same as the crank, but isn't quite long enough to hold the tool on...
found a bolt on my bike carrier that fits, but still couldn't budge it...
methinks some things are best left to the pros!
Will tackle my other bikes at some point though, grease in, murky water out seems to be a good thing to do occasionally!!!
you are turning it the correct way aren't you?
if your short on leverage then try putting the bb tool in a vice (depending on what bb you have obviously a holo tech bb won't work with this method) attach it to the bb with the frame resting on the bb tool in the vice and use the frame as the leverage.