Well you can have the cranks on the right way but then the pedals on the wrong way, an easy mistake. I haven’t had this happen before, but I’ll be sure to look and make sure that nothing has changed after periods of idle or backwards riding practice.
I doubt that the pedals would be damaged. If there is no visible damage I would use them again. The steel is so much stronger than the aluminum.
Maybe I’ll try the loctite too!
You could superglue your pedals in, haha!
thats a good idea i might put gorilla glue in next time
Ah! I was just kidding! I wouldn’t do this, especially with a good pair of pedals/cranks. Unless you are only doing it on the outside of the crank, and if you have the proper chems to destroy it easily when you want to remove them.
I had a pedal come loose once on my old 20’’ pashley about 5 weeks after I’d learnt to ride, and I’d never even tried riding backwards. Luckily I noticed before it fell off (I was delivering eggs when it happened) and I’ve never had a pedal come loose since.
You deliver eggs on your unicycle?
What a strange thread. So far, only Deadbeatpope has confirmed that he had his cranks on “the appropriate sides”. Everyone else is still mute on the subject.
The thing is, pedals should not unscrew if they’re on the right way. Let’s get this out in the open. The right-hand pedal/crank go on the right side of the unicycle, that is, the side your right foot would be on. If not labeled, that’s the side that threads normally (righty-tighty). The left side threads backward.
Next, your pedals should be screwed in firmly. If you’re not using a good wrench for the process, you may not be getting a good tightness. The old adjustable crescent wrench I used to use back in the day, is too fat for most of the pedals I use these days. If you don’t have a wrench that’s thin enough for tightening pedals, you should get one. You can get a dedicated pedal wrench (bike shop or UDC), or even one that has a crank wrench on the other end.
You should not need to loctite or glue a pedal in. They don’t need to be super-tight, just screwed on firmly. If pedals that are properly installed are coming loose, it may mean there is wear & tear on the threads, making them looser, or more rarely, a defect in the crank or pedal where it’s not at the proper tolerances, and again fits too loosely.
Fess up, people. Check the threading. Got the right pedal on the right side?
Yes.
I think so. They’d survived 15 years, and in that 15 years they have never been taken off. I think the reason one came loose is because I had only just learnt to ride, so the pedal could have just rattled loose from being repeatedly dropped.
Oh and pedals tighten towars the front, so right side tightens clockwise, left side tightens counter-clockwise. Should be stamps on the pedals and the inside of the cranks
What John said
The only other reason I can think for a pedal on the right side to come loose is If the bearing is seized or very rough creating enough friction for the pedal to undo against.
I hadn’t checked my pedals on the way out the door. I assume they had loosened when idling but I was a mile into my ride so who knows. There could be thread wear I suppose but they haven’t come loose before and the wear isn’t visibly obvious.
I install them with an open ended wrench. Tighten them snug and then give the wrench a few good taps with a rubber mallet. The method has served well in the past. I grease the threads a little too but don’t see that as a problem - maybe it is? In summary - I just don’t know.
The stamps on the cranks and pedal spindles are usually good reference points. +1
I don’t see how this is possible without having the pedals inside the wheel. A crossthreading pedal will not thread all the way in. You have to take the crank off to get the wrong pedal into the opposite hole which will always look wrong when the unicycle is assembled.
It could be a case of having your seat the wrong way around too- the pedals and cranks can be aligned with the frame and a simple mistake of putting the seat backwards can allow your pedals to unwind. Unless there is a phantom pedal unwinder lurking there shouldn’t be any mysteries about why pedals come loose- they self tighten when installed correctly.
To add another tangent to this strange thread I will add that running home 1 mile kinda kicked my ass. My legs are still sore in places that never get worked. Guess I’ll have to run once in a while 
This is the incomplete belief system of many people. Pedals self-tighten when installed correctly and when they have healthy bearings. If pedals had bushings instead of bearings they would naturally loosen in the configuration in which they are installed. The balls in ball bearings rotate in a direction opposite to the motion of their contact surfaces. If the balls don’t roll freely, the good ball bearings turn into bad bushings and the pedals unscrew.
I think that this bad ball bearing thing was causing my problems because my pedal does not seem to spin very freely.
So i guess that answers my question about if i should get new pedals. Thanks
At least I believe in my pedals. You seem to have little faith in them. If pedals don’t spin freely find another set to install.
The bearings in the pedals in my example roll smoothly and are in good shape.
Hi, just caught this thread. I had this happen to me on my recumbent bicycle – riding along, then the left pedal just popped off. Definitely not a problem of having the cranks switched there. Soon after that I replaced the pedals, because they were getting really rough and had play in the bearings. I’d never connected the two issues before, but it sure sounds like Harper’s theory explains what happened to me.
Circles
This has all been hashed over before in an older thread.
I am going to answer my own original question by checking my pedals like I check my bearing holders.