Bicycle Mechanics - Hail, hail Sheldon Brown!

A couple of weeks ago, someone started a thread about a pedals stuck to a crank.

Someone responded with a link to Sheldon Brown's site. Sheldon recommended heating the crank and then giving the pedal a pull with the wrench.

I had tried everything - soaking in ammonia, soaking in oil, torquing the living crap out of the wrench on the pedal - no budge. I rebuilt the pedal as best as I could with the old parts, but the cones were pretty trashed.

Well, I tried Sheldon's suggestion, put the crank in a vice, heated the crank arm, and gave the wrench a hard pull. To my surprise, "CREEEEEAK, the pedal budged! I couldn't believe it. Well, to make a long story short, the old crank is off at last and a new one is on.

Cool. Thanks again, Sheldon. I don't know how many times you have given me/us good advise, but this is yet another one I owe you.

Thanks again, Sheldon. I don't know how many times you have given me/us good advice

+1000

To Sheldon Brown! :beer:

+ 1001; but still worried about his health. No update on his journal about diagnosis or prognosis. Lets all wish him good health for the new year!

I was the one that started that thread, and the help I got from it, including links to Sheldon's site, solved my problem. Thanks to Sheldon, who has an incredible site, and to everyone else that chipped in to help me get my pedals off.

A couple of weeks ago, someone started a thread about a pedals stuck to a crank.


Morphing the topic a little, I once had a customer who called to complain that a Park Tool pedal wrench that I sold him was defective. Now how can a pedal wrench be defective? I asked him if he was sure he was turning the pedals the right way and told him that the left pedal had a left handed thread. Yeah sure, he knew that. I told him to bring the bike and the wrench into the store and we'd make it right.

Sure enough, 30 minutes later a guy comes in with two bikes, neither of which has a right pedal and both of which have left pedals. After I removed the left pedals for him (which, of course, both came off very easily), he asked for his money back on the pedal wrench because he didn't need it anymore.

So how many similar situations do you suppose that Sheldon has encountered through the years and still maintained his patience? To me, rather than his bicycling knowledge, that patience is his most remarkable trait.

Morphing the topic a little, I once had a customer who called to complain that a Park Tool pedal wrench that I sold him was defective. Now how can a pedal wrench be defective? I asked him if he was sure he was turning the pedals the right way and told him that the left pedal had a left handed thread. Yeah sure, he knew that. I told him to bring the bike and the wrench into the store and we'd make it right.

Sure enough, 30 minutes later a guy comes in with two bikes, neither of which has a right pedal and both of which have left pedals. After I removed the left pedals for him (which, of course, both came off very easily), he asked for his money back on the pedal wrench because he didn't need it anymore.

Hee hee hee. Ya ya. "Waiter, bring me a new spoon. This one dribbles soup on my shirt!"