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Okay, we're going to talk about installing and removing bicycle pedals. First, since
the pedals are already installed on this bicycle, we will take them off. This is a big issue
for a lot of people. We see a lot of customers come in where their pedals are installed improperly
and that can actually ruin your pedal and your crank. So you want to make sure that
you're doing this properly.
So to take the pedals off, what we're going to use, is we're going to use a 15 millimeter
pedal wrench. Basically the difference between this and another 15 millimeter wrench is that
it's just a lot narrower so that it can get in between the actual pedal and the crank
arm, which is the arm that protrudes out from the bicycle.
So you're going to put the pedal wrench on the pedal and to remove the pedals you go
towards the back of the bike. So they have different threads on both sides. The drive
side is right-tighty, lefty-loosey. The non-drive side is the opposite. That's where a lot of
people get confused.
So there's one pedal off. Let me go around here. And do the same with the other pedal.
So this pedal, remember, the non-drive side pedal is right loose, left tight. So, towards
the back of the bike is loosening. Towards the front of the bike is tightening.
Also a lot of times bicycle, especially modern ones, will have a hex wrench or an Allen wrench
hole right here, which is usually six millimeters or eight millimeters. Pretty much most things
on bicycles are metric. So you want to make sure you have a metric set laying around.
Now to install bicycle pedals you want to make sure that you have the right and left
distinguished. A lot of times they say on them "R" and "L". If they don't, then you
can look at the threading or start to try it on the bicycle. If it doesn't work then
make sure to back off quickly. You want to make sure that you have some grease. This
is just Park Tool grease. It's kind of the most common for putting on pedals. And make
sure that your threads don't seize and you can't get your pedal off.
So when installing the pedal make sure they have the proper pedals. This is the right
side, or the drive side. And make sure that you use just your hands. You don't want to
use the tool until you're almost done. So remember, towards the front of the bike is
tightening. So I'm going to do righty-tighty. And I get all the way until it's flush with
the crank and then you can use either your six millimeter or eight millimeter hex depending
on the size of the pedal. Or your 15 millimeter pedal wrench. And you make sure you put about
50 pounds of force on the pedal. Not too much; not too little. You don't want make sure that
it's on there for the rest of its life but you also want to make sure that it's not going
to come off.
So then taking the left pedal and making sure that you're threading towards the front of
the bike. This is the pedal that most people get wrong. They try to do righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.
That's not the way it works. And they'll cross thread the pedal. So this is important that
you're using your hands to make sure that you're not putting a tool on it and cross
threading it.
So also what you can do is you can hold it right there and it makes it so you can just
spin backwards like that and it spins right on. So you can see where the tool is well,
where you just spin backwards and it threads right on, on both sides, drive and non-drive
side. So then make sure you get the proper amount of torque and that's how you install
pedals.