Removing stubborn pedals

[Tim Hall]

Tough vacuum cleaners down your way then. Here in the world of Dyson, anything more than a strong look makes the pipe crumple.

An off cut of scaffold pipe, whilst useless at house cleaning duties, is V good at torquing things to DETH.

[Panoramix]

Cudzo came over to the SICRUT BWNCWR today - pedal sorted in a couple of minutes with a bit of plusgas, a big Park pedal spanner and a rubber mallet. We refitted the crank with the shiny new SPD pedal with plenty of anti-seize! 

Clearly, I need to build muscles or improve my technique!

[jogler]

An off cut of scaffold pipe, whilst useless at house cleaning duties, is V good at torquing things to DETH.

this is troofax

[Jurek]

Tough vacuum cleaners down your way then. Here in the world of Dyson, anything more than a strong look makes the pipe crumple.

An off cut of scaffold pipe, whilst useless at house cleaning duties, is V good at torquing things to DETH.

My thoughts, exactly.
The scaff pipe I've pictured upthread has a wall  section of 4.4mm. The tubes from my Miele do not.

[Tewdric]

Cudzo came over to the SICRUT BWNCWR today - pedal sorted in a couple of minutes with a bit of plusgas, a big Park pedal spanner and a rubber mallet. We refitted the crank with the shiny new SPD pedal with plenty of anti-seize! 

Clearly, I need to build muscles or improve my technique!

A bit of percussion with a big enough hammer rarely fails.  I do have a length of scaff pole standing by, fortunately it wasn't needed this time!

[mattc]

Scaffold poles - vv useful for this sort of thing ...

If you have one! Dad had a couple of (with different IDs), used them for quite a few jobs (usually to unf_ck something that I'd attempted the fettling of ).

Rarely a useful suggestion, sadly, as you can't just pop down Halfords/Homebase/etc and buy one to fix the urgent bike problem. If you already have one, you wouldn't be asking how to undo your stuck bolt! 

M

p.s. Er ... where do people get them from?   

[jogler]

Scaffold poles - vv useful for this sort of thing ...



p.s. Er ... where do people get them from?   

I will have to plead the 5th Amendment

[citoyen]

That's the thing - I don't have scaffolding but I do have a vacuum cleaner. A sturdy Scandinavian-built Nilfisk vacuum cleaner. I scorn your puny Dysons.

I'm sure my wife would rather I used a bit of scaffolding though.

d.

[Jurek]

That's the thing - I don't have scaffolding but I do have a vacuum cleaner. A sturdy Scandinavian-built Nilfisk vacuum cleaner. I scorn your puny Dysons.

I'm sure my wife would rather I used a bit of scaffolding though.

d.

Nilfisk?
*Impressed*
And jealous 
WTF?
What is vacuum cleaner envy all about ?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Cudzo came over to the SICRUT BWNCWR today - pedal sorted in a couple of minutes with a bit of plusgas, a big Park pedal spanner and a rubber mallet. We refitted the crank with the shiny new SPD pedal with plenty of anti-seize! 

Clearly, I need to build muscles or improve my technique!

A bit of percussion with a big enough hammer rarely fails.  I do have a length of scaff pole standing by, fortunately it wasn't needed this time!

It was a big hammer! And maybe the plus gas plays an important role? Tewdric made it look easy! Anyway, Panoramix, I don't think it's your muscles lacking (might be mine though!) cos I remember how the spanner was just slipping and chewing off the corners.

Big thanks to Tewdric for Mighty Percussion and a cause for a good ride too! And to Mrs Tewdric for cheese toasties and the little Tewdrics for entertainment. 

[citoyen]

Nilfisk?
*Impressed*
And jealous 
WTF?
What is vacuum cleaner envy all about ?

I'm sure Freud would have something interesting to say on the matter. 

d.

[Peter]

Feanor, I just tried your method from reply 15, as a preliminary to fitting some new pedals soon.  Worked a treat, even with a relatively thin headset/cone spanner.  Maybe I've just been lucky but I'll settle for that!

Many thanks

Peter

[drossall]

Good, if old, thread.

As Cudzoziemiec described in the original message, I'm using a Park workshop spanner on a pair of SPDs. Like Cudzoziemiec, I've leant on it hard enough to round the flats on the pedal spindle somewhat, so can't lean harder. I've tried a couple of kettles of water. I don't have access to a heat gun - maybe I should buy one? I could try a paraffin ("Primus" look-alike) stove that I have. Or the kitchen blowtorches are an interesting idea. Coca-Cola is also on my list, as in this thread. And the percussion method with a lump hammer - not seen that elsewhere.

I've used WD40 and even tried two of us, one on the Allen-key socket and one on the Park spanner, at the same time.

I was actually doing the pedals on two bikes that I've had for a while. I've shifted three out of four. This is the last one.

[Brucey]

I recently used a hammer (not hard) on a high quality 'stahlwille' spanner trying to get a stuck pedal out.  Two hits and I had a result.

However it wasn't the result I wanted; what I ended up with was a stahlwille spanner in two pieces.  I looked up the cost of an identical replacement and I realised that I had just broken one of the most expensive spanners I owned. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued.  I recommend that you don't hit spanners with hammers, and if you do, best not use an expensive one.

 If you use a blowtorch or heat gun on a typical (not all models) stuck SPD pedal you will have to find some way of stopping the  plastic 'pastrycutter' shaped bearing retaining collar from melting. I recommend wrapping tissue paper round the collar and keeping it sodden with water. If the worst comes to the worst you can buy a new sleeve, but dealing with the melty mess  of the old collar is no fun.

cheers

[hatler]

Plus Gas and a club hammer normally do it for me.

[drossall]

Thanks. As I mentioned, the flats on the pedal are rounded, so I don't think hitting a spanner will do more knock the spanner off the flats and cause even more damage to the plastic collar than has already occurred from slippage. I was referring to Euan Uzami's suggestion on page 2 of hitting the side of the pedal eye.

But yes, melting the collar is a risk with the heat idea.

Is Plus Gas significantly better than WD40?

[DaveReading]

Is Plus Gas significantly better than WD40?

No.

Plus-Gas is infinitely better than WD40.

[drossall]

Plus Gas it is then

And a lump hammer

[The Family Cyclist]

I used to get something from euro car parts called super crack. Was even better then plus gas

[Basil]

I used to get something from euro car parts called super crack. Was even better then plus gas

I think I used to buy that from a bloke round the back of the pub.

[Brucey]

if the problem is simply getting good purchase on the pedal spindle there is a (fairly time-consuming and fiddly) method which might work for you.

If you are prepared to use a set of grips on the bearing retaining collar (which will certainly mark it but may not ruin it) the bearing cartridge can be removed from the pedal body whilst the pedal is still on the crank. Once that is apart, the bearing assembly can be dismantled and the collar etc removed.  The pedal spindle can then be gripped in a bench vice directly, using packing and/or a light grind to give better flats if necessary.   That ought to give you enough purchase to remove the pedal, provided heat/penetrant is used accordingly.

BTW I wouldn't go smacking anything other than a steel crank or a cheap (soft, ductile) aluminium crank pedal eye with a hammer, not if I wanted to use the crank again.

good luck!

cheers

[Panoramix]

Wow, I nearly had forgotten this episode...

[SpaceBadger]

I had a seized pedal on a brand new Brompton recently.

Oil, boiling water, breaker bar and copious swearing. Nothing worked.

I had it dismantled down to the crank/spider (no chain ring) and said pedal. Three hours in the freezer, followed by pouring boiling water over it, then my usual body weight on the breaker bar and the thing eventually shifted.

Next to feck all grease and the tightening force of Hercules applied at the factory.

[drossall]

if the problem is simply getting good purchase on the pedal spindle there is a (fairly time-consuming and fiddly) method which might work for you.

Thanks. The collar, assuming that's the plastic thing, is already damaged by the spanner slipping off. So replacing it is a possibility already. One way and another, I've been using SPDs for many years, but I've never felt the need to strip one down, so this is helpful. I even have the tools to do it, just never really tried. The bearings have always felt good. I ought to have done it, but...

It's a basic Stronglight crank and a low-end SPD, so replacing one or both might be easier, but getting them apart while still usable would be far more satisfying. I may try the Plus Gas first. Or even Super Crack (see jokes above about that).

Mind you, you're talking to someone who has broken the jaws on two bench vices trying to separate bike parts.

[Brucey]

IME when it comes to stuck (corroded) pedals heat makes a difference, but plus gas (without heat) usually does approximately f-all.  The best I can say for it is that once the pedal has started to unscrew, it might make it easier.

NB the RH pedal uses a LH thread on the collar and the LH pedal uses a RH thread on the collar



cheers