London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

Has anyone here ever disassembled a Crank Bros Quattro pedal to regrease its spindle? I have a pair of Quattros I bought secondhand (no instructions). I took the end plates off, looking for the retaining nut for the spindle you find at the end of a standard Eggbeater but there doesn't appear to be one - just what seem to be a set of seals. Before I resort to prising them out to see what's behind them, I wanted to ask the question here.

I've done a fair bit of searching on Google but haven't found anything specifically on the Quattro (loads of stuff on Beaters, though).

look for screws, bolts and unscrew them. see what happens.
maybe there's a cap covering the bearings.

I've unscrewed all there is to unscrew - so as you say, that leaves the possibility of a cap. There has to be a retaining nut somewhere because otherwise the pedal would fly off the spindle. I'll post some photos when I get home before I get stuck in.

So, here's my problem in pictures. The Quattro with end cover on, and what it looks like with the cover off:



Close-up of the end, showing what looks like the bearing. On regular beaters the bearing is held in by a retaining nut - and falls out easily when the nut is removed. Barring brute force and pointy bits of steel, not sure how I am supposed to get this out. Also, how is the spindle held in place without some kind of nut? There is no hex traction if you put a small enough hex in the central hole here.



Finally, this is the other end of the pedal: standard 8mm hex fitting to the pedal as per Eggbeater SLs.



If anyone has a set of instructions for their Quattros and can give it a glance to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated...

they are sealed bearing by the looks of things. If they work, leave em i'd say.
the bearings probably were fitted with a "made for the job" punch.
Just put some grease in there.
Sealed bearing are in any case made to last far far longer than any other type.

I suspect that the whole end needs to be removed and the bering then pushed out from the "inside".
http://www.crankbrothers.com/tech_quattro.php

Can I replacing the internal bearings, bushings and seals?
Yes, the pedals are very easy and fast to rebuild. the only tools necessary are a flat head screwdriver and a 3mm allen wrench to replace the sealed ball bearing and bushing. We offer $15 rebuild kits for each pedal that include bearings, bushings, seals and endcaps.

@Dylan - all Crank Bros pedals are supposedly 'rebuildable'. I wish I didn't know this, it would save me trying to figure this out.

@Freezing - I think you're probably right, but I can't figure out how to get the end off without using brute force.

Crank Bros should put PDFs of their instruction manuals on their web site. I'm going to order a rebuild kit if they don't answer my email early next week. Once I've got the answer I'll post the rebuild procedure here for the record.

ok, myself, if i see it a bit complicated to disassemble and re assemble i leave it.
Simplicity really floats my boat.
if the bearings are ok. Why bother ?

It's almost an obsession with me, been like it since I was a kid. I have to take things apart to, you know - make sure. I hope I don't wreck them.

I did it. Having forked out 11 quid for a rebuild kit that the guy from Crank Bros I emailed said came with a 'special tool' for removing the spindle - there was no such tool in the kit. The instructions kept referring to it, however, and it was apparent that the tool must be some kind of 15mm hex or flat spanner affair to get off the 'thread ring' at the crank end of the pedal body. It actually looks like it's all one piece of tough plastic, but it's not. Anyway, once I had that off using an adjustable spanner the spindle comes out easily, and the rest of the disassembly is managed with the help of a pair of external circlip pliers to remove a bearing retaining ring (Maplins, £6).

Now I've cleaned and regreased them (not used the rebuild kit components yet) one pedal feels grittier than it did before. Typical.