You’re watching someone armed with a 6mm allen key attempt to remove a pedal from the drive-side crankarm on the bench.

First of all you tell them to make sure you have the right thread direction, but the advice is ignored and they proceed to tighten up the pedal. Now they change direction, and you shout “dont be an arse, when that thread gives your hand is going to fly into that 36T chainring!”

They respond with something stupid like “but when it gives Ill just pull my punch a bit and I wont hit the chainring”.

Et viola, when the axle finally gives they end up with a spurty 1/2″ gash in their thumb, nicely tattoo’d in oily black.

The fact that there was only me in the shed this morning doesnt make it any better 😳

The fact that there was only me in the shed this morning doesnt make it any better

🙂

Never try and remove a bottom bracket, will you.

😀

cheesy – when I got to what passes for a our medical kit in the bathroom, it appeared that we only had Thomas the Tank Engine plasters in the house. Fortunately I remembered my private stash of idiocy patches.

Choo choo!

We have all done something similiar.

I don’t think it’d be appropriate to start naming names about this one

But I sold a frame to a mate, with a few components on, including a set of XT cranks. TO this day I have no idea how he managed this, but he managed to screw not one, but both pedals into the crank arms in the opposite direction to the threads. He must have been hanging off the spanner with a ****ing scaffolding pole to get them in! 😯

A man with less mechanical aptitude than me. I didn’t believe it was possible

😀 funny.

I do the same, note the impending injury but laugh in it’s face until 20seconds later I am looking for something to clean up damage 🙂 This also applies to rounding off bolts, snapping things etc, I fully realise it will happen but seem unable to actually desist.

If only I would listen to myself!

I don’t think it’d be appropriate to start naming names

not hora then.

It should be illegal to make pedals without pedal spanner flats. And when will someone think of putting a wee arrow on them to show which way it tighty? I change pedals a lot and still manage to make a mess of it.

I know it doesn’t help now… but:

– Pedals undo away from the bike, i.e. from bars to saddle
– BBs undo toward the bars, i.e. from saddle to bars

Remeber these simple rules, and you’ll avoid cross-threading and certain death.

Well, perhaps not the death.

i know which way they undo,

but that goes out the window when i turn the bike upside down

The horse has clearly bolted, but always shift the chain into the big ring first so that it’s slightly less pointy if you do smack your hand.

Right IS Right!

i.e.

The pedal on the right hand (drive) side screws in the correct/right way and the pedal on the left (non drive) side screws in the wrong way.

That’s how I remember it anyway.

buying a bike yesterday i took some flats with me so i could test the bike out, before going to put them on i commented “always makes me chuckle when people forget that each side screws in differently”, then i proceeded to spend 3 minutes trying to get the wrong pedal to go in the wrong side 😆

smoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth

lefty loosey – righty tighty 😛

remember it’s opposite on the left crank 😉

I’m more disturbed by the fact the the OP see’s himself in the “third person” scenario.

Phah..

– Pedals undo away from the bike, i.e. from bars to saddle
– BBs undo toward the bars, i.e. from saddle to bars

I’ve just printed that to stick on my shed wall – cheers

it does rely on you using the spanner/allen key in a certain way, though.

I’m more disturbed by the fact the the OP see’s himself in the “third person” scenario.

He’s not really bothered what you think.

I’ve an inch long scar on my right index finger that was earned in exactly the same way.

I learned the wax on-wax off approach because I was a saturday boy in a London bike shop in the 80s.

Sometimes we were put in a large room of bike boxes and told to get on with it.

That gave me the memory of bike in stand that will freewheel to put the pedals on – so when you pedal the bike you are removing them.

I’d hate to think what would happen if you tried to swap a fork out. 😆

He’s not really bothered what you think

Class comment 😀

Nice photo trailofdestruction.

I especially like how everyone else in the picture is looking off to the left, as if something more interesting is going on.

A football match on TV perhaps or possibly a young lady taking her top off?

Does anyone remember ‘Avocadogate’? 😆

‘Oh, let me use this sharp knife to get the stone out of this nice avocado. I’d better becareful because this knife is very sharp and stabby. Maybe not a good idea to proceed as I am doing, as this method is fraught with unnecessary risk and danger….oh dear. Oh whell, off to A+E it is then….’

What a stupid little idiot. 😳

Cam McCaul said:
“Once we learn the hob is hot, we know not to touch it. But when we fall off a bike- and it fkn hurts- we get right back on, day after day.”

Stupid is as stupid does and we love it.

I was in Thailand for the festival of “lets shove stuff through our faces..” Got lots of pictures somewhere…

And I take your bike fork, and raise you a fishing rod…

DrP