Schwinn Large Cap Bow Pedals - 1964 Traveler

By the 1960s, Schwinn was moving away from traditional, US-made Torrington pedals for many of its bikes, and going with Schwinn Approved pedals from Germany. Among these were the Union waffle block pedals, and the rounded "bow" type pedals.

 

These pedals came in several varieties, with later bow pedals being unable to be disassembled, and earlier ones like these "large cap" bow pedals being something you can take apart and service.

So that's what I did this afternoon. The large dust cap with the Schwinn logo on it "pops" off. I used a pair of needle nose pliers like a bottle opener, getting the jaws under the ridge in the cap and levering the cap off.

After that, it's a fairly conventional pedal: lock nut, keyed spacer, and cone are removed. 

Outer bearings are removed individually with the needle nose pliers. Then the pedal is removed from the vise, and the inner bearings dumped into a little pan.

All bearings and surfaces are degreased and cleaned. The rubbers are also cleaned. The rubbers and frame I kept together and did not need to disassemble the pad/frame assembly.

Then everything is greased with Lucas green lithium grease and re-assembled.  The bearings and surfaces look good.

And so the final product is an attractive, functional set of pedals. I don't consider these to be of extraordinarily good quality, but they're like the old waffle block pedals: serviceable and functional.