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Some friends have loaned us a tandem, but the pedal threads have stripped out of the right (non-drive-side) crank arm. It's Shimano Deore LX, and in looking around, about all I can find is a left-side crank arm, which is the non-drive-side arm on non-tandems. If I use one of those, I'll need two left-side pedals. :( Does anyone know where I can get a replacement for a right, non-drive-side crank arm? Preferably a black, square taper Deore LX, or something close?
Thanks very much!
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For a quick fix, any right drive-side crankset with or without the chainrings installed will work so long as it has a compatible bottom bracket interface. It looks a bit odd but, well, when you're riding a tandem it goes without saying...
Assuming you have a square taper bottom bracket, for a permanent replacement most bike shops and Etailers should be able to order a single right front Sugino XD tandem crank from QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) and/or you could contact one of the tandem speciality dealers. Rich Shapiro always seemed to have some of these odds and ends on hand or available. See http://www.gtgtandems.com Unfortunately, they'll probably be polished and not black anodized.
As an example, AirBomb lists both a 170mm and 175mm right hand crank for about $16.00 (http://store.airbomb.com/items.asp?CartId={EVERESTA8BA011B-D673-4E0E-B5AA-56B91302D132}&Cc=204%2DT%2D397&iTpStatus=1&Tp=)
You can also take a left-side crank and have the threads drilled out and replaced with a helicoil to give you the correct right-side, right-hand pedal threading. Any machine shop could do the job in a few minutes.
I thought somone posted here about drilling out the old threads & installing a Helicoil. That should be easy & cheap. I would imagine most bike shops could do this.
Try and find a local shop that has an online store hooked up to the distributor Quality Bicycle Products. There are a couple out here but the one below has a cool site with lots of interesting things like "name that tool" and "What IZIT" retro stuff.
http://www.bikeman.com/
If you go to their "store", under cranks, you can get a whole lotta tandem cranks (available singly as well). Coincidentally these cranks appear in the QBP catalog as well. QBP is good so I figure these online store links must work well too.
Bonus is if the store is near you - then you don't have to have the item shipped from, in this case, Maine.
hope this helps,
cdr
I would imagine most bike shops could do this.
.... if they had a drill press and really well-rounded bicycle technician.
I've installed a couple helicoils on my own bikes (as well as many other things). If you have the knack for it, you can get away with using a 3/8" hand drill on the very small hole repairs, e.g., one of the pivots on my Ventana was honked-up from the git-go. The nice folks at Ventana loaned me a helicoil kit and the repair was made in about 10 minutes.
However, as you get to the larger diameter bolt holes you can really butcher the heck out of aluminum if you don't have the right skills or equipment. Same thing goes for tapping threads.
Bottom Line: If I worked in a bike shop where people paid me to work on bikes and someone brought a bike in for repair, I'd be darned sure that I was using a drill press for just about any job. When it's your own stuff, different rules may apply since you bear the risk and associated costs of any screw ups.
Thanks for the good info, everyone. There's an LBS in the neighborhood that's hooked up with QBP and they've even been known to have a tandem or two on their floor. I'll wander in with my busted arm and see what they can do for me.
Cheers. :)
One more question: I put an old Sugino crank arm on, but it's intended for the left-side, so the right side pedal doesn't work. I've got another pair of pedals, though. What sort of risk would I be running if I left this new crank arm on the right side temporarily, but used a left-side pedal? Is there a chance the pedal would loosen itself, since it's on the unintended side? Does this make any sense?
I've got another pair of pedals, though. What sort of risk would I be running if I left this new crank arm on the right side temporarily, but used a left-side pedal?
I'll assume you're talking about a platform pedal, not a clipless or aero quill pedal. If so, a little Loctite 242 (blue) coupled with a good bit of torque it should keep it firmly seated for a good while. An occasional check of the pedals with a wrench to make sure it hasn't started to loosen is a good idea. If a pedal does back itself out then tend to do so quietly and can bugger up the threads of the softer crank arm (never the steel pedal axle) when they finally back out far enough.
I'm using SPD pedals, so that's what would go on the wrong side arm.
$16 here... is this what you're talking about?
http://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30&action=list&Category=204&brand=397&modelid=1778&type=T
I thought somone posted here about drilling out the old threads & installing a Helicoil. That should be easy & cheap. I would imagine most bike shops could do this.
+1
One better than using a RHS crank: If it's a cheapish tandem or for a quick fix you could take a silver RHS crank such as old style Ultegra, 105 or pre 2006 Campag and 'modify' it using a hacksaw and file in an hour or so to look like a LHS crank. However it's clearly a substandard solution compared with helicoiling a LHS crank.
I'm using SPD pedals, so that's what would go on the wrong side arm.
A left-hand crank's pedal axle hole is left-hand (reverse) threaded, as are left-hand pedals and right-hand cranks are right-hand threaded, as are right hand pedals.
Someone suggested and they are probably correct that an Eggbeater pedal installed on a left or right hand crank would most likely work if the crank were installed on the "wrong side" of a bike as they use an asymetrical engagement system. Again, like platform pedals, a little Loctite and some extra torque when installing the pedal would be prudent and go a long way towards making sure it didn't come unscrewed by the rotational forces known as precession.
However, I can't recall seeing any Shimano SPD pedals or SPD clones that were asymetrical, and not easily defeated by simply installing the cleat backwards: that creates a whole raft of other problems. It was further suggested that you might be able to disassemble an SPD pedal and swap the axles and bodies but, again, this would depend on how all of the axle parts are threaded as any "reverse threaded" part would defeat this approach. My personal recollection on SPD pedals is that even the threads between the axle and the pedal body used left / right threading, but I haven't taken apart an SPD pedal in 8 years.
After giving up my search for 180mm captain cranks, I started using "regular" 180mm XT cranks (Octalink) installed on the wrong side of the bike. As stated above a little blue loctite worked like a charm for keeping the pedals in when on the wrong side. For going clipless, I swapped spindles on some Wellgo SPD pedals just like what TandemGeek is talking about. I don't remember whether the nuts that hold the body onto the spindle are reverse-threaded or not, but regardless I had to loctite them since I couldn't seem to get the secondary (lock)nut tightened enough against the primary nut to stay put (while maintaining proper bearing tension). This setup has worked wonderfully on & off-road for several years, including some off-road racing.
Now for the hijack :D. Last fall I put flat pedals on without loctite, figuring it was just a leisurely cruise around the park with my 5-year-old (child stoker kit). Well, we ended up offroad riding some excellent singletrack. We were having so much fun I failed to notice that the left-side pedal (actually a right-side pedal mounted to a right-side crank arm, but installed on the left side of the bike) started to back out. Next big climb - pedal ripped right out, taking ~half the threads with it. I started researching the Helicoil repair, and was really excited about "repairing" both my 180 XT crankarms with the Helicoils on the wrong side (effectively turning my "regular" 180 cranks into tandem captain cranks permanently! :beer:). However, I've gotten mixed opinions about the durability of Helicoils (my local shop said they use them for derailleur hangers but wouldn't recommend for pedal threads). A friend then pointed out that there are more robust pedal thread repair options - using a steel, solid threaded insert (like some aluminum BMX cranks have) rather than just a Helicoil spring. Well, you can imagine how many bike shops are equiped to do that. :rolleyes: BikePartsEtc.com has two different options ($100 & $140 for complete repair kits), but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Right now I'm wondering if the external threads on these solid inserts is odd/proprietary, or if I could just order the inserts (~$8) and then buy some cheap thread taps to do it myself (thankfully I have access to a drill press :)). Any insights/opinions would be much appreciated...
Second Mouse - good luck with your problem!
winbert
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