Guide to Torrington Pedals (#8 and #10 Models)


The Schwinn New World still needs a pedal rebuild. With it cold and snowy today, I did some work refreshing them.

Torrington #8 and #10 pedals are deceptively simple. They are composed of, basically, an axle with a dog bone shaped casing over it, where the cups on each end of the bone-shaped casing contain the ball bearing cages. The axle has a fixed cone at the hilt and a screw-on cone at the end. Adjustment is made by tightening or loosening the cone nut. A lock nut and keyed spacer lock the cone nut in place.

Outside that core, there is the outer frame, which has a set of fixed pins and a pair of rubber blocks. This bolts to the inner frame which goes directly on the axle.  The picture below shows a #10 pedal taken apart for cleaning.



In this case I had to replace one pedal axle that was bent. Luckily, I had a set of worn #8s with straight axles around, so I swapped the bent axle for a straight one. It is important to remember that pedals have different threads, depending on which side of the bike they go on. These Torringtons have an "L" and an "R" on the hilt of the pedal axle. Obviously, one right and one left. Remember too, the left pedal is REVERSE threaded, so that it tightens by turning counter clockwise rather than clockwise. The right pedal is standard thread.

I lubricate the bearings with a mixture of lithium grease and medium weight oil. I like thinned grease because these really need to be able to roll freely to get a good ride. Caking on thick axle grease just gums them up. Instead, I use a mixture of thinned brown lithium grease and 50 weight motor oil.

Once they are reassembled, they don't look bad. Hopefully these will spin as nicely as I hope they will, and shall provide many more years of good service on the 1947 Schwinn New World.



4 comments:

  1. I seek the width of the Torrington 10 block so tom will know if can replace the Schwinn Deluxe 3-7/8" blocks withe torrington???

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  2. The Torrington #10 and #8 blocks are 4 inches wide. Sometimes you can take up a little slack if the blocks are a bit short with a star/anti-rotation washer at one end.

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  3. Any idea what the correct pedal for a boys 1953 Schwinn Panther is? Thanks in advance.

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    1. Sorry to say that I don't know off the top of my head. Both types of pedals would be appropriate for the 1950s era, and at any bike shop of that era you could upgrade to the 10 if willing to pay more.

      I recommend the 10 over the 8 for an adult rider today because the larger blocks offer more grip surface and are a little bigger/more robust.

      The Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchange (website is called "The CABE" would be a place to ask if you're looking for a dead-stock equipment.

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