How to remove a pedal stuck in a carbon crank

Hi All

My XTR Pedal with 8M Allan key wont undo from my Raceface 6c non drive side crank arm

My current 8MM allen key which is about 8 inch long just start to bend rather alarmingly when i try to undo (The right way) the pedal from crank

Can any one recommend a extra long non bendy long 8mm allan key i could get try really putting a lot of force onto

As cranks are carbon – i cant heat them – not too keen on banging them with a hammer as the inserts for the pedals are liking to to come loose

tried wd40 – but that made no difference – any recommendations on a better peneterating oil ?

Or does any one had a old 175 mm 6c non dirve side crank arm they wat to sell ?

Find a metal pipe that fits over your allen key and try again.

Crank in the freezer to shrink the pedal thread?

I’d try one of these – Screwfix on a decent ratchet handle or breaker bar.

Failing that, LBS or friend with an impact driver.

8mm allen key socket and 3/4″ breaker bar … mine’s a 1m long so the pedals stand no chance 🙂

I had this once, check the pedal axle carefully for cracks. Mine had cracked at one of the points of the hex and as you twisted the allan key, it opened up the crack, making it tighter in the crank. Grinding two flats on the (already knackered) axle meant that it came out easily with a spanner.

I have a breaker bar with a 8mm socket but have never had to use it on a pedal. XO carbon cranks. I use a WERA hex plus on ours, its solid enough not to bend and the hex plus seems to stop it from slipping once inserted

Reminds me of the hilarious instructions manual from SRAM that came with my son’s new crank – crank mount bolt torque: 54NM Pedal torque: 54NM! WTF? Are they just trying to sell more cranks when folk wreck them?!
(page 22)

Given pedals self tighten I never do them up more than a hand tight plus a bit and also always coppaslip the thread. Never had one stuck

Given pedals self tighten I never do them up more than a hand tight plus a bit and also always coppaslip the thread. Never had one stuck

I think it may be a bit late for the OP 😉

8mm allen key socket and 3/4″ breaker bar

This.

Given pedals self tighten I never do them up more than a hand tight plus a bit and also always coppaslip the thread. Never had one stuck

This too.

Crank off bike and in a vice makes a big difference. I had to get Lbs to do that for me recently.
Freeze spray can also help, on axle obviously!

I think it may be a bit late for the OP

+1

Had this happen to me a few months ago, won’t buy pedals without flats for a spanner again.

Socket and breaker bar – job done

– not too keen on banging them with a hammer as the inserts for the pedals are liking to to come loose

Its Raceface, they’ll just do that themselves

Has the same issue with XTR pedals as Toby mentions above. Check for cracks as you put pressure on the allen key!

You’re right that WD40 makes no difference. Penetrating oil on the other hand…

When the allen key starts bending I always switch to socket wrench with allen head sockets, I have them in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2″ so no need for pipes or extensions, I torque my pedals to 30nm, most instructions are around that or higher, just nipping up from hand tight would leave me with a driveside pedal coming loose and ballsing up my threads, guaranteed, the self tightening thing is horseshit. Plenty thick marine grease that doesn’t wash out is the key to being able to remove them, I’ve seen people install pedals dry because the axles were plated in a shiny silver coating so they thought they wouldn’t bind up, they find out the hard way later on.

When the allen key starts bending

the self tightening thing is horseshit

Rightio!

just nipping up from hand tight would leave me with a driveside pedal coming loose and ballsing up my threads, guaranteed,

I’ve never had a pedal come loose. I just nip them up gently, nowhere near 30 Nm

overnight soak in Plusgas and a bit of pipe over the allen key to increase leverage.

DezB, I’m dreading having to remove my wife’s SRAM DUB cranks for this very reason. Also I don’t think I have a torque wrench that goes up that high and although I’m fairly good at doing bolts up by old school feel I’m not sure I know what 54nm is like.

I assume it makes a pretty loud noise when you undo them for the first time (and I assume with Go Outdoors it’s 50/50 if they put any form of grease, etc on them when they did them
Up in the first place)

 I’m not sure I know what 54nm is like.

Like the 40nm you torque a cassette or a centrelock rotor up to plus 14 more NM.

HTH

Dezb, what’s the point of quoting me about allen key bending, I’m confused.
As someone who has suffered from a pedal working loose on more than one occasion in the past I think my statement about self tightening is valid, plenty people have had this happen.
Shimano recommend 35-55nm
DMR 40-55nm
Infact every manufacturer I’ve checked recommend torque around my setting or higher which suggests relying on the self tightening theory isn’t the best idea as once you’ve noticed your pedals loose your crank arm threads are more than likely already compromised.
Are all those pedal manufacturers torque recommendations wrong.

I couldn’t undo a pedal once on a raceface carbon crank when the insert the pedal threaded into started to detach. LBS had a go, I had a go, mates had a go, when I returned it to the shop for a warrenty replacement they had to cut it off. It would be worth checking if there is any movement between the pedal and the crank arm.

I have never had a pedal come lose tightening them to hand tight and a bit. Never had one stick either. Tight bearings will loosen pedals. but in normal useage precession tightens them.

https://www.purecycles.com/blogs/bicycle-news/101877511-left-pedals-reverse-threading-precession-and-what-it-all-means

For the op – a bit of heat via hot water – might help break the seal. Use of a hammer helps but with CF cranks I understand the reluctance but many folk do it wrong. You load up the allan key socket so there is a lot of load on it then shock the thread by hitting the alan key socket in line with the thread ie along the axle not on the end of the lever- the aim is to make the threaded insert ring like a bell. the shock waves break the seal

Only ever handtighten ours and never had one come loose. Stamp, Boomslangs and DMR V twins.
They are removed on a regular basis to swap between bikes and when we have four in the camper garage. Tend to use a small amount of marine grease when the threads start to look a bit dry.
The SRAM cranks always make a loud crack when removing.

I’m not sure I know what 54nm is like.

Well I think the bikeshop I bought a Giant bike from last week knows !!!!

Sweet Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the baby donkey (always wanted to say that 🙂 ) it was like the pedals were welded on. Took some of the crank tread with them when I eventually managed to get them off. Luckily they were cheap pedals so old school 15mm pedal spanner meant I wasn’t going to round an allen key bolt. Had they been allen key pedals I’d say they were never coming off. Obviously the shop “mechanic” didn’t bother putting washers on the spindle either as that would have made the job too easy. If it been a few months before I attempted to remove them they were never coming off.

the self tightening thing is horseshit

Fair enough, I guess the left hand side pedal is reverse threaded purely to confuse bike maintenance novices, not because otherwise it would be a self loosening thing 🙂

I only ever do hand tight plus a little extra and have never had a pedal cone loose. If the pedal is a bit tight then there’s always usually a way to angle it so you can stand your weight on the Allen key with the bike upright on the ground

Some Yugoslavian truckers showed me TJ’s technique for removing stuck wheel nuts in the late 1980s. We were driving around Europe in an old Transit minibus, had a flat tyre on one of the rear double wheels. I’d broken my 1/2 inch socket ratchet trying to undo the nuts. They used a spider wheel wrench, 1 person applying turning force, the other hitting the centre with a hammer. It’s trivially easy.

the self tightening thing is horseshit

It’s called “precession”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_%28mechanical%29#Bicycle_pedals

‘Self tighten’
They don’t self tighten, but if the threads were the opposite way around they definitely would self loosen, no matter how tight they were to start with.
The precessional forces do mean that if they are adequately tight to start with they will stay tight.
Adequately tight, isn’t actually all that tight for an adult with a spanner.

Crank off and in a vise for me. Allows you options to get a hex bit securely inserted and avoid risking a slip. And then when that doesn’t work you can dismantle the pedal, grind flats into the axle and do it that way.

I’m another for just hand tight and a bit on pedals. Never had one come loose this way and I’ve come across plenty of pedals on so tight that they’re difficult to remove.

The self tightening theory is sound, but in practice it’s not 100% reliable, obviously it helps, there’s good reason for reverse threads and nobody would suggest changing it but it’s not real world proof, I’ve had a pedal come loose after tightening as hard as I could with a multi-tool and the only real backpedalling I do is when lubing my chain so how the hell it happened remains unexplained, bearings silky smooth, axles not bent, go figure.
Why do most pedal makers advise around 35nm, that’s a shed load more than nipped up.

Dezb, what’s the point of quoting me about allen key bending, I’m confused

I apologise. I have never bent or seen an allen key bending when removing a pedal I have fitted.
Even on my commuter, where they stay installed for years and are used almost daily in all weathers.
But yeah, I don’t actually think they self tighten, just, due to the way the threads are, they don’t come loose. I tighten them up with just bit of friction, so I know they’re done up. But 54NM as recommended by SRAM is ridiculous. I honestly didn’t think it needed that much explaining, so once again, I apologise.

I’ve had a pedal come loose after tightening as hard as I could with a multi-tool

1. A multi-tool is only meant for emergency repairs. They are usually so small and flimsy that you can’t torque things up very tight.

2. If it’s an aluminium crank, the threads may have been damaged. I’ve removed pedals that have been fitted without any grease. The fretting between the crank threads and axle tend to weld them together and it’s impossible to remove them without damaging the threads in the crank. If the threads are badly damaged, they’ll come loose no matter how tight you tighten them. That’s a completely different problem.

@LD has it.

Remove the crank and use an 8mm hex socket in a vice. Use the crank as the lever and it’ll come off easily.

I predict that if it is a tight as it appears to be, the insert that is screwed then pinned into the crank will unscrew before the pedal thread does. This has happened to me when I bought a s/h bike that came with some “FREE” pedals. I told the fella I didn’t want them, and he said “Just have them.” I found out why when I got home. I needed to buy a new crankset.

As above, in future keep the pedal threads clean, lightly greased, and only lightly “nipped” up.