Clicking MKS bear trap pedal

[Eric Marth]

I just installed a pair of MKS bear trap pedals and have put about 150 miles on them. The right pedal just started clicking. I can feel a dull click when the pedal gets to the three o'clock position. 

Any ideas for remedies? 

Thanks! 

[Paul Brodek]

TL; DR: First swap the pedal to make sure the issue is the pedal. If the clicking goes away, then you know it's the pedal. If not, you need a deep dive into other possibilities.

If it is the pedal, make sure the pedal threads are greased or have anti-seize, install a pedal washer if you don't have one installed currently, and check again. 

Next check the spindle/bearing adjustment for any play. If there's play, adjust it out. If the spindle isn't adjustable, you're SOL on that count.

If the pedal cages are bolted on, drip some Tri-Flow/similar at the bolt/cage interface and cage/body interface and carefully make sure the bolts are tight. You want to use a good wrench and care since the bolt head is probably small and shallow.

If the cages aren't bolted on, drip some Tri-Flow/similar into the space between cages and pedal body.

I don't know if you can just pound on the peened cage/body interface---I mean nothing's stopping you from doing that,  just not sure if it'd be effective, and it could cause damage and ugliness.

That's about all that comes to my scattered mind at the moment.

And just so it's said....

Clicking Pedal Syndrome can bring you down some dark and scary places.

Joking aside, what seems like a pedal click can come from many other places on the bike, and may have zero relation to what you're hearing/feeling from your recent pedal installation. Plenty of stories here if you do a search. Folks have found "pedal clicks" to be seatposts, saddles, stems and/or handlebars. You swear you can feel it in the pedals, but the offending tick is somewhere else entirely. And much time and agony can be experienced running it down.

Good luck!

Paul Brodek

Hillsdale, NJ USA

[Eric Marth]

Thanks Paul, can you recommend a good quality can-o-worms opener? Preferably made in USA? 

[David Person]

I think the endcap is removable and the bearings are simple cup & cone with loose ball bearings that should be servicable.  Either 1/8" or 5/32" balls.

[E. Ricky Creek]

This is bad/lazy advice, but when my MKS touring pedals start clicking (these are the only pedals I use), I take the dust cap off and and just jam a bunch of grease in there. It always makes the click go away. I eventually overhaul them correctly, but who wants to do that instead of riding. 

Also, in my experience it is pretty easy to tell if it is the pedals just from riding. 

  Again, this is only my experience with these specific MKS pedals. 

[Eric Marth]

Well, people. I swapped the pedals for a spare set of Lambda Grip Kings and I had the same click. Right pedal, dull click at three o'clock. More noticeable at lower speeds, seems to disappear if I'm pedaling real hard. 

[Joe Bernard]

Put a tug on the crank and chainring bolts. 

[Paul Brodek]

...could also be the crank, and/or crank/bb interface.

Told ya it could be spooky/fun!

Paul Brodek

Hillsdale, NJ USA

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[Eric Marth]

Tightened the cranks, click

Swapped the pedals, click

Tightened the chainring bolts, click

Tightened the stem wedge bolt and clamp, click

Went to bed thinking of other things, click

Before lunch I rode on down to the local bicycle wisdom dispensary to purchase a tool and my favorite mechanic on this here planet, Andre, gave the crank a tug and declared "Your bottom bracket is loose!" 

Went home, pulled the cranks, completely removed and reinstalled, regreased the bb and shell and spindles. No more click. For now. 

Thanks to everyone for joining me on this journey. 

[Jayachandra Kura]

I have a pair of MKS Bear Trap Pedals - they're the best! I've run into the same issue before and it was just caused by the right pedal developing some play.

Its just a cup and cone style hub, so it should be fairly straightforward to remove the play/click as long as you have allen keys/metric socket wrenches. It'd probably be good idea to repack both pedals with grease as mine (and others) have come pretty meagerly greased straight from the factory. I would advise against dripping tri-flo into the cup and cone/spindle area as that would thin any existing grease and might aggravate the clicking sound.

If that doesn't resolve the issue, then I wouldn't invest in the Park Tool CWO-1, I've heard its what the professionals use to open their can-o-worms.

Hope that helps

Jay

[Greg Murphy]

MKS pedals are notorious for needing to being greased up...even in newish condition.

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