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Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:17 pm
by JPB
Hi brains trust,
I am trying to remove the pedals on my bike using a 15mm Sidchrome spanner and extension bar and all I am doing is spreading the jaws of the spanner. Will a pedal wrench do a better job or do I have a more serious issue?
And yes, I am trying in the correct directions.
I know with the pedal wrench I could wack it with a hammer to give it a short sharp impact.
Jon

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:24 pm
by tez001
Can you whack the spanner with a hammer too? The pedal spanners I've seen don't look to be as strong as a normal spanner.

Is the spanner fitting on the pedal fine as some spanners I've used are too wide.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:53 pm
by uart
Yes impact generally helps a lot. Bear in mind that it also helps spread the wrench unfortunately.

BTW. What type of cranks (material) and what type of pedals? I've certainly had some pretty badly stuck pedals on some old retro bikes before. Take your time if you can and soak them for a while with some penetrating oil (I make my own with a 50/50 mix of acetone and auto trans fluid).

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:44 pm
by rodneycc
Spanner or shifter usually does the job ( maybe a squirt of wd40 to penetrate/ loosen).

Just be mindful of the 8mm hex key style (accesed from behind the crank arm). They can be a real bugger to get off if overtightened. (spank spike flat pedals for example).

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:51 pm
by DavidS
Wow, sounds bad. Hitting with a hammer usually works as it is the shock which loosens the bolt. I would go for soaking it in something, you need something which really penetrates and leave it overnight. Might be a lost cause though, I had one recently where I couldn't get the pedal off an old crank, ended up with new pedals.

DS

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:20 pm
by ValleyForge
Some pipe on the pedal spanner and a trusty assistant to jump on it works a treat.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:30 am
by bychosis
Make sure you are turning the correct way too. Don’t forget they are opposite threads on each side to stop them self loosening while you ride.

I think it as turning the pedal backwards on each side, saves trying to work out which one is left or right threaded.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:02 am
by JPB
bychosis wrote:Make sure you are turning the correct way too. Don’t forget they are opposite threads on each side to stop them self loosening while you ride.
I think it as turning the pedal backwards on each side, saves trying to work out which one is left or right threaded.
Yes, attempting to turn them in the correct directions. The pedals are marked with "tighten" and an arrow and I have even loosened the pedals on my other bike just to prove I am turning the correct way.
ValleyForge wrote:Some pipe on the pedal spanner and a trusty assistant to jump on it works a treat.
Using pipe on the Sidchrome spanner is how I manage to flex it enough the spread the jaws
uart wrote: BTW. What type of cranks (material) and what type of pedals? I've certainly had some pretty badly stuck pedals on some old retro bikes before. Take your time if you can and soak them for a while with some penetrating oil (I make my own with a 50/50 mix of acetone and auto trans fluid).
Not sure what material the cranks are, FSA Tempo, the manufacturer says "alloy" for whatever that means. The pedals are Shimano M520 SPD.
I gave them a good squirt of WD40 and tried again after a few hours but still had no luck.

Tossing up whether to ride to my LBS and pay them $20 or so to have a go with their pro tools and experience or pay $30 and buy a dedicated pedal wrench and hope it does the trick.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:00 am
by uart
JPB wrote:The pedals are marked with "tighten" and an arrow and I have even loosened the pedals on my other bike just to prove I am turning the correct way.
I could be wrong, but I always thought that those arrows were for assembling the spindle to the pedal body. Anyway, as long as you are going anticlockwise on the drive side pedal and clockwise on the non-drive side pedal (each viewed from the side of the bike that the pedal is on) then they should loosen.
Tossing up whether to ride to my LBS and pay them $20 or so to have a go with their pro tools and experience or pay $30 and buy a dedicated pedal wrench and hope it does the trick.
A good quality spanner should be as strong as a dedicated pedal wrench. The main idea behind a dedicated wrench is that they are often a little longer, so that end that you're holding clears end of the crank, and slightly thinner profile as some pedals don't have a lot of room for the thickness of a spanner. I've seen some cheap spanners with bulky heads that wont quite fit a pedal. I'd try a bit more penetrating oil and some impact.

BTW. Do you know when the pedals were last removed. Have they been on the bike since you bought it?

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:15 am
by P!N20
Between the sexist and homophobic remarks, there's some good advice and comedy gold in this thread: https://www.rotorburn.com/forums/index. ... ck.216155/

from the Spagthorpe files..

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:05 pm
by Thoglette
Presuming you're winding it the right way..

If it's a steel pedal spindle in an aluminium crank arm, heat is your friend. After soaking the wee bugger in your favourite penetrant for a few days, dry it*, then borrow the blow heater or hair drier and heat up the crank arm until you can barely touch it. Then apply spanner & hammer (in the right direction).

* most penetrating oils are flammable.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:22 pm
by Jmuzz
I snapped an Allen key socket attachment.
I was going backwards, despite my max strength torque it came off easily in the correct direction after watching YouTube.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:32 pm
by DavidS
I can't see a pedal spanner being better than a Sidchrome, they are great spanners.

I would actually just replace the pedal or crank arm if it is that bad.

DS

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:56 am
by Ancientflatulence
Plus one for the hot air gun .......... heat is always good but with ally and steel their expansion rates are different so is very effective.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 3:40 pm
by JPB
Looks like the pedals have beaten me. My fault for not greasing the threads before installing them a couple of years ago.
I have had the bike lying on it's side so that I could fill the recess on the inside of the crank with WD40 and let it sit for 48 hours. Then heated it up with a hot air gun ( started to melt the plastic retaining collar and burnt my finger went I touched the crank) and then tried a 6mm StahlWillie ( pro grade ) hex key in a battery impact driver and then with a long cracking bar and all that happened is that it started to actually twist the hex key before starting to round off on the corners.
And I am turning the correct way - because in the end I took the pedals off my new (secondhand) bike and replaced them with a very old set of SPDs I had in the cupboard, it is just my good pedals off my old good bike that is the issue.

May have to sell the bike with "welded on" SPD pedals

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 4:25 pm
by DavidS
JPB wrote:Looks like the pedals have beaten me. My fault for not greasing the threads before installing them a couple of years ago.
I have had the bike lying on it's side so that I could fill the recess on the inside of the crank with WD40 and let it sit for 48 hours. Then heated it up with a hot air gun ( started to melt the plastic retaining collar and burnt my finger went I touched the crank) and then tried a 6mm StahlWillie ( pro grade ) hex key in a battery impact driver and then with a long cracking bar and all that happened is that it started to actually twist the hex key before starting to round off on the corners.
And I am turning the correct way - because in the end I took the pedals off my new (secondhand) bike and replaced them with a very old set of SPDs I had in the cupboard, it is just my good pedals off my old good bike that is the issue.

May have to sell the bike with "welded on" SPD pedals
There comes a time when you just can't remove a nut or a bolt. I think you're there.

DS

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 8:15 pm
by Duck!
DavidS wrote:I can't see a pedal spanner being better than a Sidchrome, they are great spanners.
Regular spanners are often too thick to fit on the flats of the pedal spindle. The best spanner in the world is no good if it doesn't fit. Pedal spanners are thinner than regular spanners, but thicker, longer and harder than cone spanners.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:25 pm
by NASHIE
P!N20 wrote:Between the sexist and homophobic remarks, there's some good advice and comedy gold in this thread: https://www.rotorburn.com/forums/index. ... ck.216155/
:lol: Cant believe i read all 9 pages, but very funny.

Pedal spanner for the win.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 10:36 pm
by mikesbytes
JPB where do you live? perhaps one of us is local and can have a crack at it

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 7:02 am
by JPB
mikesbytes wrote:JPB where do you live? perhaps one of us is local and can have a crack at it
Glenwood ( Blacktown area )
My current plan is buy a $24 crank removal tool and get the cranks off the bike and then soak them in a kerosene bath for a few days keeping the pedals themselves out of the kero.
Then put a spanner on the flats on the spindle and then clamp it in a vice to stop it spreading.
The tricky bit will be remembering which way to turn once the crank is sitting horizontal.

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:47 am
by Mububban
JPB wrote: The tricky bit will be remembering which way to turn once the crank is sitting horizontal.
Draw some direction arrows on with pencil before you take the cranks off :) Or some painter's tape and a marker pen, that won't leave adhesive residue when you remove it

Re: Pedal wrench?

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 2:00 pm
by JPB
Success !
I took the cranks off the bike and soaked the ends of the pedal axles in kero for a week. Then used a hot air gun to get them nice and hot and with a spanner clamped in a vice I was able to loosen them.
Greased everything and and put it all back together ready to sell.
Anybody want to buy a Revolt 3? :) Probably an okay commuter biker as it has eyelets for fitting a rack, plenty of room for comfy tires and disk brakes