Creaky Brompton pedal

[The Eco Worrier]

The folding pedal on my (1 year old) Brompton has started making some horrible creaking noises, has anyone else experienced this?

Is it a sign of something about to break? I imagine if that does happen it could be a bit nasty!!

 

[mattobrien]

You too, mine has recently developed a bit of a creak and is of a very similar age. I was planning a little GT85 next time I have the bike outside

 

[Night Train]

I have been told that it is the bearing starting to give up.

Two solutions are available. The easy one is to buy a new pedal. The harder one is to replace the bearing, a non replaceable part. For instructions see this thread on YACF.

Both my pedals are creaking now. I might do the repair but I am also looking out for a pair of pedals on Ebay, they appear once in a while. I want to have the pedals sorted, new chain and rear sprocket, before I do my imperial century.

 

[StuartG]

I retired my Brompton pedals a couple of years ago when I switched to one sided SPDs. Never had a problem with the originals bar the reflectors falling off. Maybe Brompton have recently struck a quality issue. If you can collect from SE London the originals may cost you a beer ...

 

[srw]

A year sounds early to be failing - back when I was riding every day I used to expect several years of life out of mine. One of them eventually seized up; another one simply fell apart when the aluminium failed. Neither was a problem - I just coasted to a halt, folded up and got a train.

 

[Night Train]

I have just replaced the bearing in my folding pedal in a similar way to the YACF thread above.
The only change being that instead of filing away the aluminum flange holding the bearing in place I made a small drift and slowly folded the flange back out before knocking the bearing out. After the new bearing was 'glued' in I used a drift to fold the flange back over the bearing and carefully hammered it smooth.

No photos as my hands were really mucky from the grime but if it fails there will be photos!

The old bearing was very worn. The rubber seal was mostly missing on one side and worn away on the other side and the balls were completely dry.