Spandex_fairy

Next question: about how many socal, non-rainy miles should I expect go get out of a set of 105 pedals before they need a rebuild?

I took my bike in to have my pedals tightened up; they were coming loose at the spindle and grease was beginning to leak out. I was told there's some play and they could use a rebuild.

big john

Good question. I never intentionally took a pedal apart except a cheap flat pedal in 1990 when I was touring and the bearing went bad. Packed it with grease to get to a town with a bike store.
Been using SPD pedals and Looks for decades. Looks wear out, either the cleat wears through the body or the latch for the cleat wears out. SPDs are extremely durable unless they get smashed against rocks and even then they still work.

urbanknight

I have never had to rebuild a pedal, and most of mine have been on multiple bikes. Only reason I bought a new pair last year was because I wanted a new pair in a different color to match the new bike.

Maelochs

I would recommend rebuilding the pedals every time they need a rebuild.

Spandex_fairy

Does the amount of power generated affect the service interval? I have a weak FTP (~200), but I can generate up to <1200W in a sprint. It seems like modern day bicycles/parts aren't very robust. Would going to ultegra/dura-ace pedals extend service life?

big john

Is there a service interval?

PeteHski

They should honestly last a very long time, although one of my 105 pedals developed a bit of play on the spindle after about 10k miles. I just took it apart, re-greased it and put it back together and it's been fine for another couple of years. I think the outer nut had simply worked loose (it's plastic on these). I did put Dura-Ace pedals on my main road bike, which do have better quality spindle bearings. I expect those will last forever without any service.

Spandex_fairy

I know the dura-ace pedals retain the use of a steel spindle, but drop a couple grams through use of ti plates and design. I never considered the quality of bearings inside; good point.

I checked and the right pedal does have an ever so slight wobble (almost imperceptible). Is there a specific type/model/brand of bearing that I should look out for or request?

Maelochs

Every part of a bike (most bikes) is a factory-produced artifact, and thus subject to the vagaries of automated production .... I would expect pedals (unless they are ultra-light and designed to be light and not durable) to last almost indefinitely.

However .... if a thing needs repair or replacement, regardless of what the manual or the community suggests .... well, it needs to be repaired or replaced.

Iride01 

How often you have trouble with them will determine what your service interval is.

If you have to make yourself feel like you are doing something, then just re-lube them at whatever interval makes you happy.

I've got two sets of PD-A520's and I've re-lubed them once in the last 11 years. One of those times it was due to a click that had developed in the slightly older set. So I re-adjusted the bearings when I re-lubed it. I guess that qualifies as a re-build that you asked about. However if it doesn't have any issue, there is no reason to re-build it. Maybe no reason to re-lube it either.

Might also depend on what pedal you have and how many watts you put out when you ride.

PeteHski

The bearing itself will be fine. It is a simple cup and cone bearing and all you need to do to remove the wobble is take the axle out and adjust the bearing preload with the 10 mm nut and 7 mm lock nut on the end. It will only need a fraction of a turn to remove any play.