on Fri, 26 May 95, Dirk Iwema said:
> I borrowed someones 24 inch Semcycle a few days ago and when I got on it the
> pedals didn’t feel right - kind of a wobble to it. When I looked at it closely
> I noticed that it was not turned in all the way. When I looked at it even more
> closely I noticed that the pedal was cross threaded. So I tried to take it
> off. That’s when I noticed that the left pedal was on the right side. I don’t
> know who put this Semcycle together but I’m sure they didn’t know what they
> were doing.
>
> Anyway, now the pedal won’t come off at all. Are there any tricks out there to
> get a cross threaded pedal off? Or should I go out and buy a new crank arm?
I guess the news for you is not good, the thread on pedals/cranks are
notoriously easily damaged. It is quite likely that both the pedal and the crank
are damaged and you often need to replace both, as fitting a damaged thread into
a good one will (very probably) damage it. If the pedals do come out undamaged,
but the cranks are damaged, there is a solution to saving the cranks. Cycle
shops often have helicoils to repair crank threads. As for removal - a good
spanner is all I can suggest, unless you are willing to apply heat (as long as
you have all metal pedals) and then re-pack them with grease.
I only just discovered about helicoils for pedals recently, as I am on a quest
for a realistic weight to a unicycle (Jez Western with a similar design claims
3lbs so far). I have constucted a light carbonfibre frame and have an aluminium
seat post, but I am stuck with a heavy hub and cranks. Helicoils to the rescue!
(with some discarded LH cranks scrounged from the cycle shop) I am having them
cut down and pedals fitted at 140mm.
Good Luck
Roger Davies