Hi…

I bought a near enough new charge duster rigid which is fitted with a truvativ crankset a couple of weeks ago….

have tried to remove the flat pedals and put my SPD’s on…..cant get the right hand (had to be chainring) side off…..have ruined a good 15mm spanner and my mates hardened steel pedal spanner so far…..

it cant be corroded or anything the bike is near enough new…..

any ideas would be welcome…..

thanks.

You are (of course) trying to unscrew it in the right direction….

Heat.

you are remembering one side is a reverse thread of course?

Get it good and hot and get the spanner well loaded up then hit the side of the crank arm with a hammer – the idea is to make it ring like a bell – the shockwave might be enough to loosen it.

Proper pedal spanner and use the other crank as a lever.

No way would I be heating it.

thanks guys..

its the right hand side so its the normal direction thread (anti-clockwise to remove)……
i had thought about heat but will it ruin the brand new black crank set??

yeah your right cynic-al…..my mates spanner was a hardened steel proper pedal spanner…….up the swanny…….

Why not heat al? I dont mean enough to change the qualities of the metal – hot air gun / hot water will do – but expanding the alloy will help loosen it.

Hmmm. Not been correctly assembled IMO, back to the shop with it!

I usually put pedal spanner on, sit on bike and lower weight on to spanner with your foot – usually does the trick…

might give the heat gun a try…..thanks tandem……

got the bike off of someone on the forum……so no going back i’m afraid….

2nd not heating it.

Give it a good soak with WD40 or plusgas. Leave it a while then give it another soak. Then use a good spanner. If you can take it off the bike and hold the crank in a vice (with soft jaws) that’ll help a lot.

If all else fails, dissassemble pedal and put the axle in a big **** off vice.

I am interested as to why you guys say not to heat it?

You just need to hit the spanner sharply with force, don’t be heaving on it. Get a good grip of the fitting and a couple of short sharp whacks will sort it out reliably.

If the spanner is slipping because the pedal fitting is rounding out from your labours, then you may have to use a pair of molgrips.

I am interested as to why you guys say not to heat it?

The aluminium will be heat treated so you risk affecting that. The heat treat temperatures can be pretty low

Even hot water at 100C ? That will be enough to expand it a bit

Soak in PlusGas. Leave a while. Try again.

TJ is right. A little heat might just do it. As he says hot air gun of hot water will do no harm. Warm the crank arm. Then give it a go as quick as possible.

I’d also try putting an extension on the spanner, and an allen key in the back at the same time.

SB

leave the crank on the bike and use a decent long pedal spanner, the cyclo ones are long and offer a lot of leverage and the main thing is use your legs and weight pushing down on the spanner

Crank’s vertical

Lots of cable ties

Lash the crank to the seat tube with the cable ties

Remove pedal

You have tried hitting a pedal spanner? If that doesn’t shift it, get some pipe or something that’ll fit over the spanner to increase leverage and then hit that. Maybe a good idea to soak for a while in plus gas.
Also try tightening first, then loosening.
However, I cannot believe it’ll be that tight, you are 100% sure you are doing it the right way?
May have to take the cranks off the bike and fix them in a vice…

thanks for the posts guys…..am trying to absorb all the ideas ready for tonight session………..

i can’t see some water from the kettle hurting things – might do enough to help.

let the wd40 work its way in for a good while, and be careful not to burn your self now won’t you!

(yes i know it’s a scald from hot water – i meant from the hot crank… 😉 )

my first broken spanner was a really good quality open ender……with a small scaffold tube over the end……….thats the sort of pressure i’m putting on it…
and i am turning it anticlockwise…..

You wanted to leave the flats on anyway, right?! 😉

Last time I had the issue I took it into Evans (closest bike shop) who did some magic (spanner with a LOOOOOOOOOONG handle) for me. Didn’t want paying for it but I shoved a couple of quid in the first charity box I passed.

If boiling water alone doesn’t work try using a pipe freezing kit from a plumbers merchant first and then pour on boiling water after a couple of minutes. I’ve freed up seized tap mechanisms before using that method when I didn’t want to risk using too much force and damaging pipework. You get a big shift in temperature in a very short time.

WD40/Plus Gas/ Hot-cold soak all great aids to removal.

But beg or buy a Park PW3 Pedal Spanner.

A fantastic bit of kit.
Keith T

Having the wrench at a good angle relative to the crank (less than 60 degrees?) will help increase the mechanical advantage – I’m not technical enough to understand why but I read it in the Park Tools book and it seemed to work for me.

Leave the crank/pedal interface to soak in coke (as in cola) over night then do as others have suggested.

I don’t know if anyone’s suggested this but you could try giving the back of the crank a good whack with a hammer on the end of the pedal axle – make sure to lean the pedal against the ground / a wall so you don’t just end up bending the crank arm!

This can unlock corroded threads (works well for rusty Bottom Brackets etc)

Bike upside down, both pedals undo to the front.

Hi,

I came across one of your threads this week-end about pedal removal as I was struggling with the original Pedals on my Giant Peleton of some 15 years. In the end I removed them with a combination of methods. Firstly I let a de-corroding agent seep in, something like WD40, then I slowly emptied a kettle of boiling hot water over each pedal connection point just before I started to work on each one. Then I set the right pedal at 3 o'clock, and the 15mm Spanner at 9 o'clock and simultaneously pushed down with the ball of my foot on the pedal and my heel on the spanner. Within one or two attempts I got a little movement and I was soon able to remove them both. One thing to AVOID is using any form of Copper ease when installing new pedals as copper and aluminium basically fuse together, like in a battery, and you could well ruin your crank in the future. The best product to use is LockTite's thread lock as it isolates the steel of the pedal from the aluminium of the crank whilst securing the two together. Thanks to all the advice given but especially to 'Poppa' for the spanner/crank positions.

Regards,

Sgt.

I would use Plus Gas (better than WD or GT85), hang onto the other crank, put the spanner on and give it a couple of smart taps in the right direction with a hammer weighing at least 2lbs. Undoes everything I've come across. If you're still struggling, order in a can or two of Loctite Freeze'n'release. May be available at your local motor factors, and does a good job of freeing things off when you can't use a lot of heat.

A lot of pedals also have allen bolt heads on the reverse side, giving you two chances at removal.

Ive been stuck with a pedal before. I know it sounds simple and you have probably thought of it but ……you can't beat an absolutely brand new spanner with a totally straight face. I tried a new spanner once just out of desperation and managed to get it free

Probably been covered but make sure you have a good wrench to crank position to get best leverage. I had this problem with a new bike. I ended up taking it back to the LBS as it was ridiculous. The guy in the shop just used a large park tool wrench and really jumped on it (literally). Risky with a new bike incase you slip.

I find beating brand new spanners quite amusing too.

Spray the pedals axle with penetrating solution then spray some onto some tissue and attach the tissue saturated with penetrating solution onto the axle interface with tape. Leave it for 24 hours remove the tissue then stick some ice melted as much as you want onto the pedal leave that for 5 mins and then apply some heat, hot water, a slightly warmed knife! like TJ advised.

avoid heating the axle too much though or altering the alloys composition. If that fails get some coke (as in cola) and vodka (as in alcohol)and tape your feet to the pedals like they do in glasgow! You'll look mad but be too drunk too care.

Holy thread resurrection! Batman.

I do hope he's still not trying to get the pedals off after 10 months. 😯