Pedal stuck in crank

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

I have a pedal that will not loosen from a crank. It is actually both pedals. I have ruined a good Park spanner and stripped the pedal axle a bit. Ihave also snapped an allen key in the back. Where to from here??? And why are they stuck??

(I have swopped pedals heaps of times bfr, so know the right way the thread goes)

Anyone have a suggestion?:confused:

maybe u can spray some wd 40 in the threads then try again later

turn the bike on its side and pour a little "real" coca-cola on the pedal-crank interface. let it sit overnight...then try it again.

did you lube the threads before installing?

Take it to a shop. Any good shop would put some muscle into it.

Here that is our specialty. Get things out that will not come out or even better, make the other local shops look bad by doing things they claimed was not possible.

The pedals were greased bfr installation. I have used wd40 too. Looks like it may be time to hea down the street. How does Coke work?

Not sure about the cola trick but I would recommend something other than Wd40....

Go to the HW store and buy some penetrating oil such as liquid wrench or some other penetrator with grafite or simmilar...

And finally if all else fails take it to the shop.

I had a seatpost stuck in an old tandem frame and I tried all of my tricks but what I found was I didn't have the time to mess with it and the shop did. It still took them a week to let it sit and steep and tap on it every few hours but they got it loose.

Support your LBS!

We used to use a propane torch and wave it around the pedal area, as we are aware, the expansion rate of aluminium is more rapid than ferrous material. Try undoing when warm. What possibly is the problem is there is a bit of corrosion buildup between the threads, aluminium inclusive due to the use of dissimilar materials and moisture. Aluminium T6 is safe to heat to 466deg.C without a change in it's integrity.
Coke acts as a weak acid,if you still cannot remove the pedal, you are just introducing another medium for corrosion ie. sugar (diet coke?)
Take the crank off and put it in the oven for about 30 mins and drop it in water, the thermal shock might free the bind between the threads.

Thanks joachim, good info here. Dont know about the crank in the oven though. Half of the look pedal will melt:(

As well as the above suggestions, have you tried tightening the pedal slightly - this can sometimes break the bond of corrosion in a thread - also tapping around the thread with a hammer may help to break the seal. I would put something metal between the crank and hammer so you are not actually hammering the crank! Good luck!

Try an even longer spanner. One with an extender if that's what it takes. A longer lever arm will apply more torque to the joint.

Yes and no. A longer spanner may work,however ask yourself, how much torque stacking is required? Too much and and you lose feel and just when you think you have suceeded in loosening the pedal the aluminium thread comes out with the mating thread on the pedal. I wouldn't like to insert a helicoil in the crank, it's too fiddly. Try torque stacking with some of the combinations in the above posts, just be careful, the ferrous thread on your pedal isn't too forgiving on the aluminium.

Good luck.