Bike Pedal Overhaul

My pedals wouldn't turn easily, so I thought I'd clean the bearings and give them some fresh grease. Most inexpensive pedals are similar to these, and can be taken apart with a screwdriver and a socket wrench. These particular pedals have an aluminum cage that's screwed onto a plastic body, so I had to remove the cage to access the bearings. First I removed the reflectors, these were held on by 8mm nuts:

Now I could remove the cage screws. It's important to use a tight fitting screwdriver bit for these because they strip easily (a #2 philips bit fit these well):

 

Now you can pull off the cage and pry out the center cap to access the bearings:

On some pedals the center cap screws onto the pedal body, so if it has flat sides to put a wrench on then keep this in mind. Anyway inside there will be a nut, a keyed washer, and a bearing cone. You need to remove the outer nut first with a socket wrench (this one is a 12mm nut):

Next you can pull out the washer and unscrew the bearing cone:

 

 Now the pedal body will slide off the axle:

Clean all the bearing surfaces (including the axle) and repack them with fresh grease:

Carefully slide the pedal back on and screw in the bearing cone. I just turn it in until the bearing play disappears, then replace the washer and tighten down the locknut. If the pedal feels gritty as you turn it, then you should loosen the locknut, unscrew the cone, and retighten the locknut. Once you're happy with the way it spins you can reinstall the cage and anything else you might have removed (like reflectors or toe clips):

As long as you have the right size socket to fit the locknut this is a fairly easy procedure. You should really only re-grease your pedals if they were submerged, since most will have long happy lives without any attention whatsoever. Oiling the bearings once a year or two should be just fine from a maintenance perspective.