Like the cleats of our shoes and so many other parts of cycling equipment, the pedals of our bike suffer wear with their use, and we must change them from time to time. In our article today, we will teach you How to take pedals off a bike easily, quickly, and without going to a workshop to do it.
When do you need to change bike pedals?
If the pedals on your old bike squeak and don’t work as they should, maybe it’s time to change the pedals on your bike.
Tools for changing pedals
To change the pedals of your bike, we will only need a wrench to loosen the nut corresponding to each of the pedals and some grease for the thread of the new ones. We could also use a fixed measurement wrench, but in that case, it should be the right size to fit the pedals that we will change.
It will be enough with:
- An old cloth or rag
- Bicycle specific mounting grease
- Depending on the pedal model, an 8mm Allen wrench or a pedal wrench
- Bike pedal shift
How to take pedals off a bike
If, when installing your pedals, you followed all the advice given above, such as using mounting grease, doing regular maintenance and not over-tightening, removing the pedals from your bike will be sewing and singing.
Put the bicycle chain on the large chainring to have more space and avoid hitting your hands. This often happens when the pedals are too tight, and a lot of force is required.
First, put the right pedal in the most forward position possible, forming a line parallel to the ground. Use an Allen wrench or a pedal wrench and turn back counterclockwise (in this case counterclockwise).
For the left pedal, perform the same maneuver but in reverse. Place the left pedal in the furthest area parallel to the ground and turn the key counterclockwise (in this case, clockwise).
Some Tips to follow
- It is not advisable to use an excessively flat wrench as a cone wrench because it is very fragile, and enough force must be applied to the pedals.
- First of all, you should know that there is a left pedal and the right pedal. If you try to install the pedal on the opposite side, you can damage the thread.
- The left usually comes striated on the axis and also often carry the letters r (right or right) and l (left or left)
- If the pedal is too hard, you can insert a tube into the wrench for more leverage or hold the opposite crank firmly and step on the wrench for more force.
- The problem comes when removing the old pedals to install the new ones. This is a straightforward process, but if you have never changed the pedals of your bike, you can make some mistakes and damage the thread and even break the crank.
Remove bicycle pedal
Depending on the pedal model you have on your bike, you will have to use an 8mm Allen wrench or a pedal wrench (15mm socket wrench). It is preferable to use these bike-specific wrenches, but sometimes even a standard spanner can be used.
The most important thing to keep in mind is to differentiate between the left and right pedals since the thread of each pedal is different. The right pedal has a regular thread that tightens clockwise, but the left pedal has the reverse thread, and it stretches left.
A simple trick so that you never forget how you should tighten the pedals on the bike is to think that the tightening is done in the direction of travel, that is, turning the key towards the front wheel. If you want to loosen the pedals, you must set the key in the opposite direction of travel.
With some pedals, it is easy to differentiate, which corresponds to the right and which to the left, but in other models such as Speedplay or spd it is not so bright.
But don’t worry, because all the pedals are marked with the letters “r” and “l” which correspond to the English initials of “right” and “left.”
How to attach pedals to your bicycle
The reason for the pedals to have the same thread direction as the cranks are straightforward. By rotating in the same direction, each time we pedal, we help the pedal to tighten more, and if they turned in the opposite direction, the brakes would loosen with each pedal stroke, and we would have a problem.
One “tip” so the pedals don’t get stuck and you can easily remove and put them on, is not to squeeze too hard when installing them, and to use a bit of bicycle-specific mounting grease on the pedal arm.
Now let’s get down to business:
- The first thing of all is to make sure that the pedals and threads are very clean and without traces of sand or dust. For this use, an old rag (with one of the kitchen, it can be used).
- Put some mounting grease on the connecting rod threads.
- Now insert the pedal marked with the letter “r” into the right crank of the bicycle and rotate clockwise (in this case, it is clockwise).
- Then insert the pedal marked with the letter “l” into the left crank of the bicycle and rotate in the direction of travel (in this case, it is counterclockwise).
- To make the tightening, we recommend using specific wrenches; 8mm Allen wrench or 15mm open-end wrench; the tightening torque should be between 35 and 55 nm, although a firm tightening by eye is more than enough and may facilitate disassembly in the future.
- If you need an exact tightening torque, either because you use a potentiometer, you can use a torque wrench that gives you the tightening torque indicated by the manufacturer.
Final Words
So, we wanted to give you some simple tips and advice on How to take the pedals off a bike so that you can change the pedals of your bicycle yourself with very few tools and in just a few minutes.