So if pedal metal is soft enough to get worn down with me trying and being unable to take the pedal off, is it gonna be soft enough to hacksaw away and drill out?
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@Andres4NY with these junk bikes part of the challenge is _not_ using new parts if I can avoid it ^_^
and the thing is if I live with the shitty pedals... it's not like they don't work. They're just lumpy. they were probably lumpy from the factory tbh. and I've made everything way less lumpy so
(today i trued the front wheel, which ... honestly the braking was okay already but this made it better.)
@moira If by "lumpy" you mean the bearings in the wheel are shot, then yeah, that's a decision.
If you're talking about various protrusions on the pedal flat (which looks like plastic to me), maybe you grind that shit down so the pedal is actually flat.. or at least flatter than it was?
@Andres4NY I mean the bearings in the _pedals_ are shot.
The wheel bearings, I was able to salvage. The wheels are feel decent now, particularly for what they are.
I am considering going back in and taking out the caged bearings and replacing them with free bearings, but only if I can get this pedal and crank situation sorted.
Sometimes the end of the pedal spindle (on the inside of the crank arm) has a socket for a hex key (usu 8mm, sometimes 6mm).
@moira Definite maybe. The way I would approach it is to destroy the pedal first, then remove the crank from the bike, crush the part just outside the crank arm in a vise, see if you can turn it that way. You probably don't have this but I use a Park Tool frame bender for that kind of thing. It would let you grab hold of the crank arm with a huge lever. https://www.parktool.com/en-int/product/frame-and-fork-straightener-ffs-2
You may also find that it just destroys the crank arm.
@pws I'm trying _not_ to remove the crank. _Just_ the pedal. I want to preserve the crank.
This may be a fool's errand, but if I can drill the pedal shaft out enough, I'm hoping to peel the remnants off the threads.
(Also I sadly lack many tools, including that one. Alas.)
@moira Yes I'm talking about temporarily removing the crank arm in order to have better access to get the pedal unscrewed from it. If it worked I would re-install the crank arm.
The tool I mentioned is not one I would put high on the list for a home mechanic unless you straighten a lot of bent frames. Honestly I wouldn't buy it if I didn't already own it. It is very useful if you need to change the rear axle spacing of a steel frame or do alignment work.
@pws Oh okay sorry - yeah, I’m just a duffer fixing up old bikes that just need some TLC, and learning while at it. I’m fine at truing a wheel, but fixing a bad frame feels like a lot too much for me right now ^_^
@moira is there an Allen wrench slot (not sure what the right word is) on the other side?
@MrBirch Sadly, no. Checked that right away.
@moira Do you have vice grips? That would be my next step.
@MrBirch Yes, but there's not room, and it's bending spanners and also smoothing the metal, so
really what I need to decide between is saying fukkit and leaving them as they are _or_ saying fukkit and destructive removal
which gets to my question about if the metal smoothing under wrenches rather than breaking free, does that imply i can drill it out?
@moira I don't know if there are any useful bike mechanic tricks, but from my machinist background, that is steel. The only practical way you are going to drill through that is if you get it on a drill press (and then, it will still be a struggle without the right bit. In production, cutting steel basically requires carbide tooling).
Before drilling it, I would try to cut off the spindle and grind flats back onto the stub using either an angle grinder or a belt sander. Then giving time for some penetrating oil.
If you don't have these tools handy, an inexpensive crankset might be easier and less expensive.
@porkroll I don't think I should be able to strip steel with hand tools tho'
(that rounding is courtesy me with a spanner)
other replies are saying that if the pedal is something iron based and the crank is some aluminium alloy then they will have literally welded together by now and the correct answer is "replace that shit"
one thing I do know is that multiple days of penetrating oil hasn't done anything, but that's kind of the usual for me with penetrating oil? i am using literally the only one that's ever done anything for me and it's not doing anything here.
@moira Nope. If it is a steel peddle and aluminium crank they will have welded themselves together. Save yourself 4 wasted hours (it won't work) and buy a new crank and peddle.
@HowardGees @moira +1 for replace both the crank and pedal.
If they were high end items and worth saving, you could try heating the crank and pedal to break the bond. But I think that pedal might be plastic resin, so possibly not wise to try too much heat.
@jbenjamint @HowardGees lol the twisted allen key - I both made and destroyed an allen wrench that way once
also in this case it's literally valid to ask "is this bike actually worth the cost of new cranks and pedals" xD
BUT
yeah I gotta figure out what these cranks are made of, they're coated with something plastic but I don't think are actually resin? (BUT THEY COULD BE IDK) so... magnet test I guess, it's not gonna be stainless so I should be okay wiht magnet.
(The plastic or resin or whatever the hell it is is why I can't try heat. Sadly.)
RE: https://social.ridetrans.it/@Andres4NY/117488885420176098
@moira I don't know the particulars of your pedal, but I'm gonna say yes?