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Body of this XTR pedal came completely off the axle while I was riding, strange experience having the pedal still attached to my shoe but not attached to the bike!
The cause is that the end part of the axle has sheared off with the bearing cone locking nut.
Rather than throw away some otherwise nice and newish pedals I'm wondering if there is some other way of getting this pedal serviceable again, any ideas?
If I had a lathe I guess I could drill and tap the end of the axle to fit a small screw to use rather than a locking nut? Perhaps some strong threadlock would be enough to hold the cone in place but that seems a bit risky?
Has anybody else had this problem, or did previous owner just overtorque the nut during a service (was on a 2nd hand bike)?
Nope. Happened to me once whilst JRA when they were new-ish and I got a new pair under warranty. Happened again when whilst dragging my bike through undergrowth many years later and I lost the body - but by then they were too old to have any recourse.
Blimey, not encountered that. They have sometimes gone a bit clunky but grease application and sorted. Now have mix of M959s and XTR pedals on most bikes. The M959s just refuse to even wilt, despite being c. 20 years old.
Ive had the same failure on two sets of xtr pedals, replaced one axle at £35ish and a few months later on another bike the axle broke in a similar fashion so bought some xt pedals to replace them.
Happened to me, well known issue. Best cure is replace with XT and suck up the few grams difference.
Very annoying, but didn’t seem worth the cost to fix.
Yep, had two sets do exactly that. Believe there was an extensive MTBR thread about it. Mine were M970 trail I think. Is it still happening, or are those old pedals? By the time you've replaced both axle assemblies, you might as well buy the more reliable XT.
After my two sets did the same I went to XT.
That happened on M980/985 pedals (3 generations ago) but has long been fixed.
Spare axles are available but not cheap. Either XT to newer XTR should last years just like every other Shimano pedal has.
Same as me but on some 540's and managed to get a new axle assembly , although they seem to always be for the left pedal, for some odd reason for about £12 . Seemed borderline on fixing. Then bust another one on another set and just binned them ...........
Yup, I've had similar on an old XTR SPD. I just replaced the axle unit complete for one out of a M540 pedal having tried fitting it it in the LBS's workshop, cost about £15-20.
One pedal is now probably about 3g heavier, I can't say I've noticed.
There seem to be a good selection from SJS if you don't have a handy bike shop.
Same as all the others. Well known problem. Never used XTR after second set snapped. XT never missed a beat.
I serviced mine. One side was fine, the other side went pop. Replaced under warranty. I've had 520s, 540s xts last forever. I also think they have more platform and feel better to ride than xtrs. I wouldn't buy them again.
J&L used to do ti axles on ebay but they weren't cheap.
I'd probably replace with 540s or xt rather than rebuild
Thanks for the great info STWverse.
From what I've been able to ascertain from here and poking around in specifications
Evidence:
Axle shearing between bearing cone and locknut is a common issue on XTR pedals M970 & M980, particularly for left pedal.
Also a problem for M990, M9000 or M9100 pedals?
Hypothesis
The XTR pedals have 11 bearings per race, rather than 12 bearings in other pedals, smaller shaft diameter may therefore be weaker.
Left pedal locknut is standard threaded, bearing thrust forces in use are turning the bearing cone away from the locknut, potential for movement and/or binding?
Solutions
For M970 pedal can replace with compatible M540 or M770 axle assembly.
For M980 pedal can replace with M9000 axle assembly but not verified if this has the same problem.
M9100 axle assembly does not appear to be compatible with other pedals.
With this broken pedal being M980, it seems the sensible solution is to throw away and replace with XT, but I tend not to go for sensible solutions 🙂
Is that an XTR M970 pedal though? As I suspect the M540 or M770 axle assembly does not fit into an XTR M980 or M9000 pedal.
M959 - must have been longer ago than I remember! I suspect you could be right, the ones on SJS do look different. Later XTR seem to have an extra spacer tube with little of the actual axle visible - is the bearing tube still stuck inside your pedal then?
Thanks Toby, I later guessed that was the case and edited my post.
As it happens I extracted the bearing tube this morning, I did it instead of going for a 5km run as it was raining although it ended up taking longer than the run would've been.
In line with my proclamation not going for sensible solutions I've just got my hands on some replacement Titanium axles for the pedals.
Now I've found I can't rebuild the pedals as I don't have a full compliment of balls, somehow dropped a pair somewhere.
As I'm going for a crazy rebuild it'd clearly be inadequate to purchase standard G100 steel balls, suggestions for where to source some special 3/32" balls welcome, I'd need 44 for a full build?
Hi
I'e had 3 sets fail first two with in 24 month each, replaced under warranty 3 rd pair left side failed after 3 years. Gone down to xt now. Almost same weight half price. Will make a nice bottle opener out of last pair lol.
XTR use to be a 10 year pedal but they must have reduced qc for a period. I'm sure its sorted now.
J
Just to say I finally got round to rebuilding the pedals. I put a hole in the bearing collar so it will be easy to flush through grease in future serving.
Fingers crossed the Ti axle isn't even more feeble than the original one 🤞
I had two fail this way years ago, but none since - I assume they've fixed whatever the problem is.