Bicycle Mechanics - mis-marked pedals

I am in the middle of putting together a bike; BB went in, then cranks went on, and then I started putting the pedals on.

On the end of one spindle was an L, and on the other was an R. (As there often is.) So, being the trusting fool I am, I tried to put the L pedal in in the left crank. No deal. Not wanting to force anything, I tried the R pedal in the right crank. Again, no deal.

For a moment, I thought I had just had a stroke. Maybe I was confused about which hand was which. Nope, I have been good at that since kindygarden. Did I put the crank arms on the wrong sides? Nope. So, I gingerly tried the pedals in the "wrong" arms. Of course, they went right in.

Huh? Admittedly, these are cheap platform aftermarket pedals. Probably made in China. Maybe they have lead paint on them too.

I know mistakes can be made, but this just seems so fundamental that it is preposterous. Am I missing some other easy explanation?

jim

If you look at your bike while in China, the L and R will be reversed.

Reft. Light.

You set your cranks up for left hand drive?

You have a set of tandem cranks installed backwards?

I got nothin'. The real question is, did the L pedal screw in counter-clockwise (left hand) and the R pedal clockwise (right handed), or the other way around?

-yeah, for a second, I wondered if I had installed them backwards. Never made that mistake, but it seems easy enough to do. But no, they are on right.

-Nope, not tandem cranks.

-They threaded on the normal way. So, it is only the label that is wrong.

... The real question is, did the L pedal screw in counter-clockwise (left hand) and the R pedal clockwise (right handed), or the other way around?

Isn't it easier to remember about pedals that to tighten they rotate toward the front, and to loosen they rotate toward the rear? Except in China of course. ;)

On the topic of mislabeling, I have a Hozan (Japanese) Lockring wrench intended for older cup-and-cone bottom brackets and the name cast into the handle is "Rock Ring Wrench".

-yeah, for a second, I wondered if I had installed them backwards.

I saw that on a bike on ebay once (it's easy to tell with Look pedals) and informed the seller that thr cranks were probably shot. He thanked me and ammended the description. The bike went pretty cheap, but I didn't bid out of fear for what else the seller might have done to it.

Reft. Light.

Funny; I rike.


Seems to me that they just installed the axles backwards. Just swap them and you should be fine.

Seems to me that they just installed the axles backwards. Just swap them and you should be fine.
All of the pedals I'm familar with have the L & R engraved on the axles themselves, usually on the wrench flats. They had to be fundamentally mismarked if the L-marked axle screws into the right crankarm.

I found a translation mistake regarding left and right pedals from a Look installation insert.