How to remove and replace bicycle pedals. It might seem like a very simple job, but
it's one where you can easily get confused on, and I'll get onto that a little bit
later. Tools you'll need for this job, I've got a specialist wrench like this or
spanner, as we call it in the UK, specifically for taking pedals off,
if it's a fitting like that. If you've got an Allen key fitting,
generally it's an 8 millimeter Allen key, sometimes it's a 6,
and if you've haven't gotten the proper tools for some basic pedals,
you can just use a plain 15 millimeter wrench or spanner.
Now, the reason that people sometimes get a little bit confused with this job is
because both sides of the pedals are not threaded in the same way.
They're actually designed so that when you pedal, they're in fact trying to loose
themselves away, because if it was the other way around, you would never manage
to get your pedals off. So, the drive side crank, which is where the chain rings are,
that unscrews in the conventional manner, so anti-clockwise. Whereas the non-drive
side crank, you actually turn it clockwise to undo it. A good way to remember it is
if you attach the wrench or the Allen key to the pedals as you turn the cranks in
the normal direction, it'll be trying to loose them as you hold it in place.
Starting with the non-drive side, it's easiest to have the crank facing downwards
and your Allen key pointing towards the rear of the bike. We've got it on a stand
here, and that way you just need to push down the Allen key, prevent the crank from
moving forward, and it should come loose. Once you've got it loose,
it should be relatively easy. You can put the long end, put the Allen key in and
just quickly turn it like that. Hold the other side of the pedal and it comes off.
Coming over to the drive side, again, put the crank so that it's facing down towards
the ground, put your Allen key in. That's facing backwards, push down, and with
a little bit of force, you should be able to release it. Long end of the Allen key
and again, turn it until it comes out.
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Before you replace your pedals, make sure that the threads are clean,
both on the pedals and inside the cranks. And then put some high quality grease on
the threads, and you're ready to get going. Just put it so that it's roughly in
the right position on the crank. Put your Allen key on the other side,
and you want to turn it clockwise on this side of the crank where your Allen key is
turning anti-clockwise on the drive side. Do it until it engages,
and it should be very easy to get it almost tight just by spinning the Allen
key. Once you've got it as tight as you can that way, put the Allen key on the
long side, this time the Allen key is facing to the front part of the bike,
and, again, you put your weight on it to make sure it's tight.
Back to the non-drive side again, put some grease on the thread,
place it up against the crank, so that it's roughly in the right position,
put your Allen key in the other side, and on the pedals side, you'll be turning it
anti-clockwise on the drive side. The Allen key itself will be turning
clockwise. Once it's most of the way in, put the Allen key the other way around,
facing forwards, put some weight on it, and that will be tight.
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Now, for the purposes of this video, I put some very basic pedals onto our top end
row bike to show you how to remove using the specialist pedal spanner or wrench.
In this situation, it's slightly easier if you put the non-drive side crank facing
forward and get your wrench, so that it's about that angle there.
That way you can hold onto the pedal, put all your weight downwards, and there's
nothing below that if it suddenly comes loose, you're going to hit your
hand on anything. Hold it solid, put your weight on the spanner,
and it should loosen. And with this type of pedal, once it's initially loose,
you should be able to do the rest of it just by hand.
Same for the drive side. Place the crank so that it's facing forwards, the
spanner is facing the rear of the bike, and push down until the pedal releases.
I've got basic pedals like this which look very similar. Normally, the way you
can tell which side each one goes on is because it's marked on the very inside of
the pedal axel, left on one, right on the other, marked with "L" and "R".
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On the drive side, screw it in by hand by turning it clockwise to tighten.
Then get the cranks at an angle so that you can engage your spanner so that it's
facing forward towards the front of the bike and then push down until it's
adequately tight. It's very important to get your hand into a place that if you
slip, it's not going to go anywhere near the sharp chain rings.
Over to the non-drive side, again, tighten initially by hand and put the cranks so
it's facing of the rear bike and the spanner so it's facing the front and push
down until it's tight.