How to Lubricate Bicycle Pedals

Lubricating your bicycle pedals is part of a monthly or bimonthly maintenance routine that you should adopt to keep your bicycle in good condition. You might want to lubricate your pedals more frequently if you do a lot of trail riding or are a generally heavy rider. Trail riding puts you in contact with a lot of water, which will mix with the grease in your pedals and create nasty slurry, and heavy riding in general uses up grease that will need to be replaced.

Things You'll Need

  • 15 mm wrench
  • Teflon-based lubricant
  • Clean cloth or shop rag
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Instructions

  1. How to Lubricate Bicycle Pedals

    • 1

      Remove the pedals using a 15 mm wrench on the bolts that attach the pedal to the spindle. Remember that the left side is a reverse thread.

    • 2

      Locate bearings, which are usually on the inboard and outboard side of the pedal.

    • 3

      Pop off bearing dust cover located on the outboard side of the pedal.

    • 4

      Before lubricating, clean off excess grease and grime and make sure the pedals are clean.

    • 5

      Spin the pedal on the spindle and apply a small amount of Teflon-based lubricant, which will work its way into the bearings. If you were overhauling the pedals, you would need to take the bearings apart, but that is unnecessary if this is only a routine lubrication.

    • 6

      Before rethreading the pedals back onto the crank arm, clean the threads with a cloth or shop rag, then apply a dab of grease onto the first few threads of the spindle. Make sure the spindle is perpendicular to the crank arm so the pedals don't cross thread.

    • 7

      When rethreading the pedals, remember that they are side specific, and the left side is a reverse thread.