Thursday, 29 March 2018

Raleigh/Carlton Grand Prix: Maillard CXC vintage alloy pedals [early '80s]


I really like these vintage alloy pedals from Maillard in France. I believe they were fitted to some Peugeot and other high-end French bikes from about 1980-85. They're handy as they can be run with or without toe-clips, which I am not a fan of while commuting. The plastic Atom pedals that came on the bike have moulded toe-clips that cannot be removed and I find myself flipping the pedal over and using the underside, which doesn't give great grip. These alloy CXC pedals on the other hand are plenty grippy, though it does take a bit of work to get perched properly on them as you set off.


They're certainly well used, but have a great sporty patina. The bearings in both pedals spin freely with no weight on, but are completely dry and very noisy. The bearings are shot completely on the left pedal and there is significant play in it. This can be heard clinking from time to time while pedalling.


It turns out the bearings are 'swaged' in at the outer edge and are designed not to be removed. To give the bearings some lubrication I left them soaking in a tub of thick oil for 24 hours and then applied some fresh grease into the rim of the bearing using a small cable-tie end. In future I will remove the swaged-in bearings and replace them with removable, self-serviceable bearings. These will probably come from my original Atom pedals, as they are French and of similar vintage, so I am hoping they have a pretty similar if not identical bearing diameter. I will do a guide soon.


1 comment:

  1. Hi Lab, tks for your post. I’m trying to take of the anti dust caps of my Maillard (seems to be the 500 model). In you picture, I can see that you succeded to take of that even if you didn’t For the bearings. Could you please help me ?’

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