nitty gritty Speedplay Frog rebuilding - o rings

[eddief]

love the Frogs. new bearing kits from Speedplay are $37. those kits include bearings, o rings, and sealer for the pedals bodies. Enduro has the bearing kits for under $20, but those kits don't include o rings or sealer.

does anyone know if the o rings are anything special or should i be able to get those at any hardware store? and if yes, is there a way to know i am getting a good fitting replacement. just bring in the old one and try to match or is there a way to say "i need o rings in this specific size"?

[AngryScientist]

for an additional $17, why not just buy the kit directly from speedplay and save yourself the hassle??

its my experience that matching o-rings at the local hardare store is hit or miss at best, and frustrating generally. get the speedplay kit and know that you've got all the right stuff no?

[eddief]

you might feel good about $17 paid for two 20 cent o rings, but i can find something better to do with $16.60. now if i was risking my life or the hardware store was 20 miles away, i might agree with your approach.

that is why i am trying to find out the right ring size, so i don't make even a minor mistake. i have the frogs on 4 bikes and lube and rebuild as nec.

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

for an additional $17, why not just buy the kit directly from speedplay and save yourself the hassle??

its my experience that matching o-rings at the local hardare store is hit or miss at best, and frustrating generally. get the speedplay kit and know that you've got all the right stuff no?

[Squint]

A place like McMaster sells bearings and O-rings. Their prices aren't the lowest but you only have to place one order so it might be cheaper overall. There's nothing special about the Speedplay O-rings. You could order much better ones from McMaster.

[muz]

When I did the bearings on my Frog's, I googled around for the o-ring spec. Everyone seemed to suggest reusing the old rings, which is what ended up doing. I am guessing that the o-rings outlast a couple bearings.

[andywills]

Last time I bought o-rings at McMaster Carr, they were $2 for 100-pack. Might as well replace them every time. It's not like Frogs are using fluoroelastomer o-rings or anything crazy.

[khjr]

Given that the old O rings may have deteriorated from either grit abrasion or swelling, I'd recommend measuring the diameter of the shaft where the O ring rides (ID), and the diameter of the groove which holds the O ring into the pedal (OD). Then check McMaster and/or your local hardware store(s) to find a reasonable match. If you don't own a vernier caliper, this might be a good excuse to buy one. They're infinitely handy to have around.

That said, I wouldn't stress overmuch about the quality of fitment, as long as the O ring can be glued into place on the pedal body and squeezes the spindle reasonably tight. Jobst Brandt has convinced me that no rotating bicycle seal is watertight - the O Ring serves only to keep the grit out of the bearings until you can pump more grease in to expel the water.

One thing I can offer from my experience in overhauling the Frogs - give the RTV as much time as possible to cure before injecting new grease. Otherwise you may find that the grease migrates into the rest of the pedal body.

[eddief]

is that the tiny package of silicone sealer Speedplay includes with bearings? What is a good substitute for that stuff?

Originally Posted by khjr

Given that the old O rings may have deteriorated from either grit abrasion or swelling, I'd recommend measuring the diameter of the shaft where the O ring rides (ID), and the diameter of the groove which holds the O ring into the pedal (OD). Then check McMaster and/or your local hardware store(s) to find a reasonable match. If you don't own a vernier caliper, this might be a good excuse to buy one. They're infinitely handy to have around.

That said, I wouldn't stress overmuch about the quality of fitment, as long as the O ring can be glued into place on the pedal body and squeezes the spindle reasonably tight. Jobst Brandt has convinced me that no rotating bicycle seal is watertight - the O Ring serves only to keep the grit out of the bearings until you can pump more grease in to expel the water.

One thing I can offer from my experience in overhauling the Frogs - give the RTV as much time as possible to cure before injecting new grease. Otherwise you may find that the grease migrates into the rest of the pedal body.

[DKM]

i rebuilt my speedplays (road and mtn) and i used a set of calipers to measure the o-rings and c clips....i bought them from GRAINGER for like .10 each. They work perfectly. no big deal. I also bought the bearings through GRAINGER for 1.00 or 2.00 each.

hate to say it...SP is a ripoff. 37.00 for their kit that costs 5.00-10.00 per pedal to the average joe. It took me all of 25 minutes per set to rebuild them. I rebuilt all my pedals, (3 X-2 roads and 3 frogs) in like 3hrs. The more i did, the easier it got.

if you want help...PM me.

[wallymann]

just a quick update to this thread with the actual specs of the o-rings.

i found this on another forum:

I noticed that the o-rings on my 4 year old speedplay X5's were cracking and looked like they were ready to fall off. I took the pedals apart and cleaned and regreased everything, and after getting no reply from emailing Speedplay, I matched them up at my local Lowes in the faucet repair section. I used #6 - 7/16 OD x 5/16 ID x 1/16, and they fit perfectly!

Originally Posted by DKM

i rebuilt my speedplays (road and mtn) and i used a set of calipers to measure the o-rings and c clips....i bought them from GRAINGER for like .10 each. They work perfectly. no big deal. I also bought the bearings through GRAINGER for 1.00 or 2.00 each.

hate to say it...SP is a ripoff. 37.00 for their kit that costs 5.00-10.00 per pedal to the average joe. It took me all of 25 minutes per set to rebuild them. I rebuilt all my pedals, (3 X-2 roads and 3 frogs) in like 3hrs. The more i did, the easier it got.

if you want help...PM me.

[DKM]

Hi Walter,

Got your message. I actually bought the o-rings at grainger, although i bought them and used them all in my pedals. I also bought some bearings from grainger but later swapped them out for some ceramic hybrid bearings from VXB.com, i searched by size (towards the bottom, left side). I actually have some of those left. I bought them in bulk because i have 11 bikes and they all have speedplay pedals (i dont like to remove pedals).

If you want me to take apart a pedal to get the o-ring size, i can.

i hope i could be a help...

dave

Originally Posted by wallymann

just a quick update to this thread with the actual specs of the o-rings.

i found this on another forum:

I noticed that the o-rings on my 4 year old speedplay X5's were cracking and looked like they were ready to fall off. I took the pedals apart and cleaned and regreased everything, and after getting no reply from emailing Speedplay, I matched them up at my local Lowes in the faucet repair section. I used #6 - 7/16 OD x 5/16 ID x 1/16, and they fit perfectly!

[khjr]

Originally Posted by eddief

is that the tiny package of silicone sealer Speedplay includes with bearings? What is a good substitute for that stuff?

Yes it is. You can find the sealer most reliably at auto parts stores in their glues and sealers section.