stuck pedal

[Brucey]

any good LBS will have a pedal tap and will run it through your crank for you (from the back, preferably). If I was in the middle of nowhere I'd make a tap from an old spindle as you suggest but otherwise if I didn't have a tap, the LBS would beckon.

FWIW I've used cranks for years that have been missing the first two threads (don't ask how this happened.... ) and it has been fine.

cheers

[TrekMad]

Here's a handy video that breaks down pedal tapping and replacing a thread with new for you, but as the guy suggests sometimes it's just easier to replace the crankset....

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=exJtmapUR1c

[tykeboy2003]

Like Brucey, I've got a (left-hand side) alloy crank with the first 2mm of threads well-and-truly mashed up, but with a bit of patience I managed to screw the pedal back in after first screwing it in from the wrong side. It seems to have lasted quite well - although it's on a bike I keep at my sister's in Spain so it hasn't had much use. If it fails I guess I'll have to replace the crank, it's an old bike so I don't mind having unmatched crank arms.....

[horizon]

but as the guy suggests sometimes it's just easier to replace the crankset....

If cranksets are reasonably cheap and interchangeable then I think that's the best strategy. Even if they're not, it shouldn't happen that often (we learn the hard way). I often go into a job thinking "if the worst comes to the worst I'll bin the pedal, or bin the crank, or bin the crankset, or bin the BB or bin the frame.... that way you're the master whatever the bike says.

[MartinC]

Slightly OT. I've got s set of old XT cranks (90's) in the garage, the bike they came off is long gone. The pedals in them are seized. I haven't thrown them away 'cos I've half a mind to rescue them. Unfortunately the threads in both are knackered - I can get the axles to turn with some force but thy don't unscrew. Not sure how I can get them out without the major hassle of drilling them out. I'm happy to scrap the pedals (M324) but not the cranks - they're just too nice to throw away. They're almost bound to need thread inserts but the major hassle is finding an easy way to get the pedals out.

[Brucey]

if they turn like that it is usually just a case of applying enough axial load as you turn them to persuade the pedals out. [Probably they are hanging on because there is one intact thread next to the undercut in the pedal thread or something like that.]

One way of doing this is to do the pedal dismantle/grind flats thing, then fit a thick plate with a hole in it over the spindle before it goes into the vice. Then you can fit a small automotive-style puller to the plate, pushing against the back of the pedal spindle as you go.

There may well be other methods that might work, but that is one that I'd try if I were in your shoes.

cheers

[ericonabike]

Final report: friendly LBS took two minutes from his day to run a tap through the crank thread and it is now in full working order. Handy, as the little Dahon Presto Lite it is attached to is now going to fulfil a dual commuting/touring role, involving switching from SPDs to folding MKS pedals on a fairly regular basis. Is now the work of a moment rather than a day or so! Onwards and downwards....