Recently my bearings locked up and were destroyed on my Wellgo B27 Pedals and was forced to look either into replacing the pedals or replacing the bearings! I have planned on replacing the pedals for a while now, but as funds would have it the bearings were a much cheaper way to go. I was recommend by a friend to order the bearings from Boca Bearing but decided to do some of my own research.
To my surprise, these bearings in this pedal are the same as those used for many remote controlled vehicles and can be picked up at many local hobby store. Unfortunately my store in town did not have any in this size so I checked online. On ebay they had a listing from this company that sells them by the package (10 bearings per tube) for only $5.95. They are now on their way!
Bearings sixe - 10x13x6
I will post if the bearings turn out to be worng for some odd reason, but 10 should last a while!
Let me know how they turn out, as I trashed the bearings in one of mine the last time I was in Ames. The pedal body eventually fell off the spindle. Maybe I can save it, as they are the best feeling pedals I’ve used.
The bearings in the Wellgo B27 pedals (and many other platform pedals) are size 686ZZ. The “ZZ” means there are two metal shields, one on each side.
13mm OD
6mm ID
5mm wide
Boca Bearings has them. But I’m not sure of the quality of the 686ZZ bearings that they have. I tried a pair of bearings from Boca in my Atomlab pedals and they didn’t last me very long before they “crunched”. The inside spacer piece in the bearing that spaces out all of the ball bearings got crunched. It does not appear to be as solid of a bearing as what came stock on my pedals. I’m likely going to order replacement bearings direct from Atomlab. They’re more expensive that way (I think about $4 each), but they should last me longer, I hope. I hate having a pedal bearing fail during a ride. The original bearings in my Atomlab pedal lasted me over a year. The bearings from Boca lasted only a few months.
Why would you want a metal shield? A rubber contact seal will be a lot better for water and grit - and for a pedal bearing the little bit of extra friction wouldn’t be a problem at all.
lilschu, Please keep me informed on how your new bearings work. Like Mojoe, I think about the wonderful “feel” of the B-27 pedals often. Mine only lasted a few days, so I would love to salvage them out the the junk pile and ride with them once again.
Plus, 10 bearings for under $6 is my kind of deal. --chirokid–
lilschu: Thanks for the great information. I want to order the tube of 10 bearings also, however, I can not seem to find them on the e-bay site you highlighted above.
So I have replaced them once when I received the replacements and have not yet needed to replace them again. The same pedal as last time had begun to become loose, but I think that is just the cover again. I have several bearings left as I gave some to a friend to use on his pedals, but the replacements have lasted longer the the originals.
I’ve replaced the bearings on my B-27s 3 or 4 times. But this last time may be the last. I can’t get that outer race out at all. Usually they crack a couple times, so I am able to “finagle” it using a tool I made from a fork. But this time it cracked in two cracks that were 1/8 inch apart, so even after removing the small chunk, the remaining 9/10ths of the outer race is still stuck inside. I can rotate it with a screwdriver, but it aint coming out for nothing.
I have 5 or 6 replacment bearings that I can’t use unless someone has an idea. Maybe my dremmel? Actually, the dremmel will probably mess up the aluminum if I slip up.
I’ve decided the best thing to do is replace it before it disinigrates into metallic dust mixed with goopy grease. You will know it’s dust when the pedal falls off onto the ground. But I’m usually miles from the car or tools when it starts to go. I guess replacement every few months or so would be the best thing to do… whether or not it needs it yet. At a buck or two a bearing, why not for a little peace of mind.
Anyway, anyone have that killer idea for gutting out that outer race?
I had a similar situation one time that I replaced one of the bearings. What worked for me was to find a sturdy scew-driver (one with a fairly small and straight tip) and place it on the stuck piece of the bearing and tap it with a hammer to manually break the bearing piece. I did this in like 2 or 3 locations and it finally came out in pieces and didn’t hurt the pedal, or at least I didn’t notice anything.
I hope this helps if you are still having troubles. Other than that idea I would at least try the dremmel idea, just be careful. If you damage the pedal a little it shouldn’t hurt it, just don’t make a large mistake.
One quick question for you, where did you get your bearings? I am almost out and cannot get them through my last contact.
