repairing a clipless pedal

autopi said:

i have a pair of nashbar mtb spd clone pedals. they are about 2 years
old/2000 miles/road biking. on my ride today, i noticed that i couldn't
clip in on one side on one of the pedals. after getting home and
looking at it, i think that the adjusting screw for that side had come
loose, and that the small metal plate which sits between the screw and
the spindle, and which is held in place by pressure from the adjusting
screw, had fallen out at some point. this makes the retaining mechanism
on that side useless, since the adjusting screw no longer engages
anything.

the pedals are cheap. my first thought was just to get another pair
from nashbar. but now i'm wondering if this is a common part a LBS is
likely to have. if so, i might be able to put the thing back together
and make it usable again, which i prefer to throwing it out. of course,
if that's not realistic, i'll just get another pair.

by the way, this is the 2nd pair of nashbar spd clones i've trashed
(the first by cornering too sharply and banging them up.) these have
about 2000 miles on them. anybody else w/experience w/these pedals care
to chime in with observations about longevity/durability? i'm trying to
decide whether it makes more sense (as a cheapskate) to spring for more
expensive pedals that will last longer. so i'm trying to figure out
what sort of lifespan the cheapies generally have.

thanks!

Dear Aut,

If these are the Nashbar MTB pedals that you have in mind, remember
that red is faster and costs the same:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile_moreimages.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&sku=2428&brand=

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=2428&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

And these coupons are probably worth a 10% discount:

http://www.edealinfo.com/Coupons/nashbar.shtml

Few riders lose plates, so you're probably out of luck replacing the
plate. But you can buy a new pair, keep the old pair, and have spares
for next time.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Few riders lose plates, so you're probably out of luck replacing the
plate. But you can buy a new pair, keep the old pair, and have spares
for next time.

Since the OP said this was his second set of these pedals, he'll likely
*already* have a spare plate. The destruction of the first set by
cornering too sharply probably ruined at most one pedal. Except for the
pedal bodies and spindles, the individual parts on SPD-style pedals are
usually not peculiar to the left or right side.

Stephen Greenwood

i realized that i should have kept the previous set of pedals today
when i was disassembling my current pedals. alas, i got rid of them,
figuring i would never need them again. oh well.

and carl, yeah, those are the one's i've got. i also thought that
getting 'em in red would make me go faster, like getting a carbon fiber
seatpost or something. but i like black (not in stock!) to match my
bike.

Stephen Greenwood said:

Quoted message said:

Few riders lose plates, so you're probably out of luck replacing the
plate. But you can buy a new pair, keep the old pair, and have spares
for next time.

Since the OP said this was his second set of these pedals, he'll likely
*already* have a spare plate. The destruction of the first set by
cornering too sharply probably ruined at most one pedal. Except for the
pedal bodies and spindles, the individual parts on SPD-style pedals are
usually not peculiar to the left or right side.

Stephen Greenwood