pedals, for starters

I shipped my bike recently and had a bike shop put it together, which I'm
not qualified to do. I took it for a ride recently and all went well until
I parked it and secured it for 10 or 15 minutes while I got a soft drink.
When I returned, I didn't notice anything wrong until I started riding it.
I eventually figured out that the pedal was bent out of position. Shortly
afterwards, it fell off. It cost me almost 40 dollars to have it fixed because
not only was the pedal screwed up but the threads on the thing (?) it
fits into were ruined so the thing had to be replaced also.

When I picked up the bike at the shop and rode away, at first the pedal
felt funny, as it had when it started going bad, but that feeling quickly
went away and I think it is probably ok. I have no idea how to check it,
though.

It's tempting to think that the damage to the pedal was the result of
recreational vandalism or that someone simply didn't like having bicycles
parked in that spot or that someone might have walked by with a handtruck
and hit the pedal, but upon reflection it could just as easily be the
result of it having been improperly placed when the first bike shop put
it back together. There is another possibility too: I have to bring it
in and out of an apartment and there are a lot of opportunities for the
pedals to bang against doors on the way in and out of the building, so
maybe that eventually did in the pedal.

I'm trying to figure out how to prepare better for future problems like this.
One thing would be to learn more about repairs so that I can simply scavenge
parts and do repairs myself. I don't know if this is a particularly advanced
repair job for someone just starting out. If so, having spare parts to bring
to a bike shop with the bike might knock my costs down to just the labor
of installing it.

Another idea that occurs to me is to install pedals that can be folded up
when they aren't being used, so that they stick out less and don't bump into
things. I don't know if such pedals are available. Alternatively, what would
be wrong with pedals that consist of a round bar and which don't rotate
and which are one piece with the aforementioned thing that pedals normally
attach to? That way it is less likely that the pedal can be damaged and that
it and the thing will needed to be replaced. As one pedals, the same kind
of surface will always be presented to the shoe. If it is desirable to have
the foot fit inside something, as I've seen on some bikes, it can be attached
to the bar and rotate around the bar. That would probably be a lot cheaper
to replace if anything happened to it.

I talked to one bicyclist I passed on the street and asked him if his bike
has ever sustained any damage while being parked and he said not really
even after a year or so of parking it. So I think that even if it was
vandalism, which is in doubt, it was exceptional and I should probably
continue to feel comfortable parking my bike. At the same time, I have
to be prepared occasionally to make significant repairs in the bike,
so I think I need to start collecting spare parts and tools. The bike
shop didn't seem to sell the tools that, according to Rob van der Plas'
book, "Bicycle repair, step by step", they would have had to use to
make this particular repair. I'm not sure where I would get them
and how to know that they were of good quality. Maybe it isn't a good
assumption, but I'm inclined to think that a repair that needs to be
done once is likely to be needed again sooner than one that has never
needed to be done.

Ignorantly,
Allan Adler


************************************************** **************************
* *
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT Artificial *
* Intelligence Lab. My actions and comments do not reflect *
* in any way on MIT. Moreover, I am nowhere near the Boston *
* metropolitan area. *
* *
************************************************** **************************

On 07 Sep 2003 17:52:33 -0400, Allan Adler
wrote:



Another idea that occurs to me is to install pedals that can be folded up
when they aren't being used, so that they stick out less and don't bump into
things. I don't know if such pedals are available.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/pedals.html#folding

Sounds like the shop didn't tighten them, maybe they hand tightened them and
didn't go back with the wrench. I swap pedals on my bikes all the time. And
carry my bike up and down from the 3rd floor and through the halls every
day. Never had that happen to me. It's also a strange vandal who attacks
pedals. Wheels, deraillers, cables and even frames are easier targets.


"Allan Adler" a écrit dans le message de
...

I shipped my bike recently and had a bike shop put it together, which I'm
not qualified to do. I took it for a ride recently and all went well until
I parked it and secured it for 10 or 15 minutes while I got a soft drink.
When I returned, I didn't notice anything wrong until I started riding it.
I eventually figured out that the pedal was bent out of position. Shortly
afterwards, it fell off. It cost me almost 40 dollars to have it fixed
because
not only was the pedal screwed up but the threads on the thing (?) it
fits into were ruined so the thing had to be replaced also.

When I picked up the bike at the shop and rode away, at first the pedal
felt funny, as it had when it started going bad, but that feeling quickly
went away and I think it is probably ok. I have no idea how to check it,
though.

It's tempting to think that the damage to the pedal was the result of
recreational vandalism or that someone simply didn't like having bicycles
parked in that spot or that someone might have walked by with a handtruck
and hit the pedal, but upon reflection it could just as easily be the
result of it having been improperly placed when the first bike shop put
it back together. There is another possibility too: I have to bring it
in and out of an apartment and there are a lot of opportunities for the
pedals to bang against doors on the way in and out of the building, so
maybe that eventually did in the pedal.

I'm trying to figure out how to prepare better for future problems like
this.
One thing would be to learn more about repairs so that I can simply
scavenge
parts and do repairs myself. I don't know if this is a particularly
advanced
repair job for someone just starting out. If so, having spare parts to
bring
to a bike shop with the bike might knock my costs down to just the labor
of installing it.

Another idea that occurs to me is to install pedals that can be folded up
when they aren't being used, so that they stick out less and don't bump
into
things. I don't know if such pedals are available. Alternatively, what
would
be wrong with pedals that consist of a round bar and which don't rotate
and which are one piece with the aforementioned thing that pedals normally
attach to? That way it is less likely that the pedal can be damaged and
that
it and the thing will needed to be replaced. As one pedals, the same kind
of surface will always be presented to the shoe. If it is desirable to
have
the foot fit inside something, as I've seen on some bikes, it can be
attached
to the bar and rotate around the bar. That would probably be a lot cheaper
to replace if anything happened to it.

I talked to one bicyclist I passed on the street and asked him if his bike
has ever sustained any damage while being parked and he said not really
even after a year or so of parking it. So I think that even if it was
vandalism, which is in doubt, it was exceptional and I should probably
continue to feel comfortable parking my bike. At the same time, I have
to be prepared occasionally to make significant repairs in the bike,
so I think I need to start collecting spare parts and tools. The bike
shop didn't seem to sell the tools that, according to Rob van der Plas'
book, "Bicycle repair, step by step", they would have had to use to
make this particular repair. I'm not sure where I would get them
and how to know that they were of good quality. Maybe it isn't a good
assumption, but I'm inclined to think that a repair that needs to be
done once is likely to be needed again sooner than one that has never
needed to be done.

Ignorantly,
Allan Adler



************************************************** **************************
*
*
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT Artificial
*
* Intelligence Lab. My actions and comments do not reflect
*
* in any way on MIT. Moreover, I am nowhere near the Boston
*
* metropolitan area.
*
*
*

************************************************** **************************


---
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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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"trg" wrote in message
...
Sounds like the shop didn't tighten them, maybe they hand tightened them
and
didn't go back with the wrench. I swap pedals on my bikes all the time.
And
carry my bike up and down from the 3rd floor and through the halls every
day. Never had that happen to me. It's also a strange vandal who attacks
pedals. Wheels, deraillers, cables and even frames are easier targets.

I did the exact same thing. When I installed my first pair of SPDs I
crossthreaded a pedal. Discovered it a mile down the road when the pedal got
lopsided. Ended up buying a new crankarm on that one. I'm much more careful
now... :-)

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:52:33 +0000, Allan Adler wrote:

Hello, Allan.

and hit the pedal, but upon reflection it could just as easily be the
result of it having been improperly placed when the first bike shop put it
back together.

That is much more likely. If the pedal is not tightened, it can work
loose with results as you described.

Your average vandal would not have the tool needed to loosen a
properly-tightened pedal, which will probably require considerable torque.
Such a vandal would more likely kick your spokes in.

I'm trying to figure out how to prepare better for future problems like
this. One thing would be to learn more about repairs so that I can simply
scavenge parts and do repairs myself. I don't know if this is a
particularly advanced repair job for someone just starting out.

Not really. It does help to have general comfort with tools and
mechanical things, but beyond that the specifics are pretty
straightforward.

Another idea that occurs to me is to install pedals that can be folded up
when they aren't being used, so that they stick out less and don't bump
into things. I don't know if such pedals are available.

Some folding bikes have such pedals, but I don't think they are in common
use.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored
_`\(,_ | by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. --Ralph Waldo
(_)/ (_) | Emerson

"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...

I shipped my bike recently and had a bike shop put it together, which I'm
not qualified to do. I took it for a ride recently and all went well until
I parked it and secured it for 10 or 15 minutes while I got a soft drink.
When I returned, I didn't notice anything wrong until I started riding it.
I eventually figured out that the pedal was bent out of position. Shortly
afterwards, it fell off. It cost me almost 40 dollars to have it fixed
because
not only was the pedal screwed up but the threads on the thing (?) it
fits into were ruined so the thing had to be replaced also.

I can't imagine a pedal FALLING OFF unless it had not been tightened
properly.
It's evidently not that hard to cross-thread pedals. I picked up an
abandoned Schwinn Frontier a couple of years ago that had a cross-threaded
pedal (interestingly enough, the right pedal). The irritation from this
pedal may have been one cause of the abandonment.

...someone might have walked by with a handtruck
and hit the pedal, ...[or] a lot of opportunities for the
pedals to bang against doors on the way in and out of the building

The pedal could have been bent by an impact (I've bent a pedal by scraping a
pedal on the ground while rounding a turn, for example). But it wouldn't
fall off. There are so many easier ways to vandalize a bike that the
vandalism theory doesn't seem very likely to me.

I don't know if this is a particularly advanced
repair job for someone just starting out.

It's easy. The main thing to remember is that THE LEFT PEDAL HAS REVERSE
THREADS (i.e. lefty-tighty, righty-loosy). Also:
Tighten it fully tight, but don't go overboard.
Grease the threads when you put the pedal on, so it will not rust into the
crankarm.

having spare parts to bring to a bike shop with the bike might knock my
costs down to just the labor
of installing it.

In my experience, bike shops don't like this much. If you are a regular
customer and are asking for something that involves special tools (e.g. swap
two rear gear clusters) then OK; otherwise you won't get much enthusiasm.

The bike
shop didn't seem to sell the tools that, according to Rob van der Plas'
book, "Bicycle repair, step by step", they would have had to use to
make this particular repair.

To swap pedals, a simple wrench is sufficient.