Changing my pedals

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
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Bristol, Uk
I decided to change the pedals on my Kalkhoff Pro Connect Alfine 8G as the ones that come with it have little to no grip when things get greasy and/or wet.

The right hand pedal came straight off with an allen key. The left however nearly bent the allen key trying to get it off (i'm fairy strong in those situations but it's solid). I took it to a bike place I use in Bristol who said he'd have to take the crank arm off and put it in a vice (he tried it with a much larger allen key than I tried with).

I turned up later in the day and he said he'd been unable to get it off. He showed me that he had set his torque wrench up to 80-90nm odd and it wouldn't budge. He said the most likely reason for this is that when the bike was made, they hadn't greased the pedal when it was fitted which points towards the original assembling stage of the bikes life before sale.

I was therefore considering going down to 50 cycles in Bristol to discuss this with them but I didn't want to bother them if the liability lies elsewhere. It's still under warranty FWIW. What do you guys think?
 

oldtom

Esteemed Pedelecer
i'm fairy strong in those situations
Now I know that's not what you meant to type Steve but it does conjure up an image!

That aside, as a fellow PC rider, albeit my mount has the Xion motor, I understand your desire to fit better pedals as I have a difficulty also when it's wet. It's one of those things I keep meaning to check out and always forget about, probably as I try not to use my bike in inclement weather.

Have you found alternative pedals that provide better grip for normal footwear rather than the SPD type or more traditional toe-traps?

Tom
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
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Bristol, Uk
Now I know that's not what you meant to type Steve but it does conjure up an image!

That aside, as a fellow PC rider, albeit my mount has the Xion motor, I understand your desire to fit better pedals as I have a difficulty also when it's wet. It's one of those things I keep meaning to check out and always forget about, probably as I try not to use my bike in inclement weather.

Have you found alternative pedals that provide better grip for normal footwear rather than the SPD type or more traditional toe-traps?

Tom
Heh.. :) still a bit bleary eyed!!

To be honest, I didn't go with any type of toe clip or SPD type pedal. Just a standard similar, but a little more expensive as they're metal, than these

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/wellgo/atb-pedals-ec005313

All I wanted was something traditional and simple that had some teeth that stuck in to my soles. I've got one on and it seems to work well so far :confused:
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
Were you turning it the right way? The left one has a left-hand thread.
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
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Bristol, Uk
Were you turning it the right way? The left one has a left-hand thread.
Yep. Pull to the back of the frame from the top. The mechanic that had a go as well is very very good and wouldn't have made that mistake.

I should have clarified this in my original post.
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
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I don't know the pedal and crank, but if you have a steel thread in alloy, the alloy can spall (i.e. swell) and it is nearly impossible to separate them.
The only hope is a blow lamp and lots of heat.
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
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Bristol, Uk
I don't know the pedal and crank, but if you have a steel thread in alloy, the alloy can spall (i.e. swell) and it is nearly impossible to separate them.
The only hope is a blow lamp and lots of heat.
I was starting to think that may be the issue. Weird though that the right hand side came straight off with a small amount of pressure.

A new crank arm may be the only way out of this..
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
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1,627
I have only had this happen once, on a Vauxhall car which had a steel drain plug in an alloy part of the cooling system. I had to drill it out in the end.
Apparently, it is electrolytic degradation (that white powder you sometimes find) The powder builds up an enormous pressure to lock the two parts together.
A new crank arm would be quickest.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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The mechanic that had a go as well is very very good and wouldn't have made that mistake.
If he was that good, he would have got it off.

It's a steel thread in aluminium, so you only have to heat it up and it'll come out easily.
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
263
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Bristol, Uk
If he was that good, he would have got it off.

It's a steel thread in aluminium, so you only have to heat it up and it'll come out easily.
He said he could do it if he spent more time on it. He was currently overhauling my GF's pedal bike and I was asking him for a favour.

It got to the stage that it was going to cost more in labour than a new crank arm. I do however have a heat gun if you think that's worth a go?? (no blow torch though!)

The other thing worth mentioning is that, the original pedals only have an allen key and not the spanner option which is probably part of the problem.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
A heat gun will be perfect. You may have to get it quite hot, which can damage the seals in the pedal, but I guess that you're going to chuck it anyway. You might find that it gives with just a little heat. If it doesn't, just go hotter until it does. It will eventually go.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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To get the best torque on your allen key or spanner, position it ablout 10 degrees above the line of the crank so that you can grip the crank and key/spanner with one hand. With two hands, squeeze them together. If it's hot, you'll need an oven glove or similar.
 
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Tomtomato

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 28, 2015
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I recently removed the pedals from my Kalhoff bike myself, and I had no issues. They had put some grease when the pedals were put in the shop, quite visibly.

I believe all Kalkhoff bikes are delivered to shops or individals without pedals fitted in, so it mainly depends on what the person did at that point, rather than what the factory did.

If it's under warranty, take it back to the shop and get them to deal with it, but I think they would have put some grease when assembling the bike.
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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If its cross threaded then a new crank will be in order.
 
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anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
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I found a new crank arm (5€) to replace the one with stripped thread today and am just about to go down the pedal removal route myself. I haven't yet decided between the new large platform ones or folders - for the train, parking at the bottom of the stairs...