Folding Bikes - My sister broke my Carryme :(

I let my little sister borrow my Carryme for a couple months, and she manages to mangle one of the folding pedals...to the point that it's completely locked into the crank at a strange angle.

The bike guy at REI took a look at it and said that it might take a new crankset and set of pedals.
I have no clue how my 50 kg sister can do this, when it's suffered my 84 kg.

Anyone know how much/what it'll take to fix?

-Matt

Is the actual crank arm bent or is it just the pedal?

It's the pedal.
The pedal is bent at a weird angle and won't unscrew with my pedal wrench.

The crank itself is fine (I think).
If I fix it, my mom has expressed interest in it...otherwise I'll keep it in the car for exploring new neighborhoods.

I'm not trying to alarm you but if the pedal is crossthreaded into the crankarm, chances are you might have to replace it since there is a possibility that the thread is ruined too. Maybe after you have the pedal removed, the crankarm can be re-tapped to repair the damaged thread. Just a thought.


It's the pedal.
The pedal is bent at a weird angle and won't unscrew with my pedal wrench.

The crank itself is fine (I think).
If I fix it, my mom has expressed interest in it...otherwise I'll keep it in the car for exploring new neighborhoods.

That's what the bike guy said too.

Do you have any tips to remove the pedal?
I don't feel comfortable drilling it out.
However, I do happen to have a set of machine taps.

If it costs too much, I may consider selling the carryme at a low price instead of dealing with the mess.

Thanks.

-Matt


I'm not trying to alarm you but if the pedal is crossthreaded into the crankarm, chances are you might have to replace it since there is a possibility that the thread is ruined too. Maybe after you have the pedal removed, the crankarm can be re-tapped to repair the damaged thread. Just a thought.

Sorry I don't have any tips to offer. You should take it to the bike shop as I'm pretty sure they must have dealt with similar situations in the past.

If you really like the Carryme, it's certainly worth a try to fix this issue.


That's what the bike guy said too.

Do you have any tips to remove the pedal?
I don't feel comfortable drilling it out.
However, I do happen to have a set of machine taps.

If it costs too much, I may consider selling the carryme at a low price instead of dealing with the mess.

Thanks.

-Matt

It's the pedal.
The pedal is bent at a weird angle and won't unscrew with my pedal wrench.

Could just be jammed. Try a longer wrench. One meant for a wheel axle should fit.

Of course, you might end up ruining the threads, but since the alternative is to assume they're already ruined, I think it's worth a shot.

It may not be as difficult to solve as you think.

Once you get the pedal out, you can restore the crank arm using a helicoil insert. Basically it is a metal tube that is threaded on the outside to screw into an enlarged hole in the crank arm, and also threaded on the inside to receive a new pedal. It comes with a tap that carves new threads into the crank arm to accept it. A good bike store can do it for you. It is made of more solid metal than the original crank arm and actually ends up making a superior connection with the pedal compared to what you had with the original undamaged set up.

You might not even need a new pedal. The pedal threads are much harder than the crank arm, so it is probably just the crank arm that is damaged.

I had a bike store do it for me. They actually bungled it and drilled the wrong size threads in the crank arm, but they jammed the insert in anyway, and it still worked.

You mentioned that the pedals wont unscrew with your wrench. Does that mean that that it won't budge at all, or that it unscrewed some and then got stuck?

1) Are the bearrings shot in the pedal? You might not be able to tell by spinning them by hand. You'll need to take the bike for a ride and see if you can feel any clicking or binding that isn't related to the bent pedal.

2) Ask your sister if the pedal ever came off. If it did, then someone must had to put it back on, and ended up ruining the threads.

If its the threads that are ruined, my guess is that the bearrings bound and basically unscrewed itself from the crank. Then was improperly reinstalled.

If its not the actual threads, then something else is bent.

Possibilities:
-pedal
-crank arm
-bottom bracket arm

I've read that lots of people end up with bent folding bike parts from carrying them in their car all the time. Since its obviously not used while they're driving, it ends up at the bottom of their trunk with cargo on top. Or things like groceries (big soup cans, 12-pack of whatever canned drink, a frozen turkey) sliding around back there will bang things up pretty quickly depending on how you drive.

1. The pedal spins fine...so I don't think the bearings are shot.

2. I don't think the pedal ever came off. Knowing my sister, she'd simply have the pedal in hand with a sheepish look, instead of try to fix the thing herself.

3. It was bent before I ever put it in the trunk. I keep it in the trunk to remind me to fix the thing. I generally try to baby it (relatively speaking), but it did have my bass guitar briefly on it for about two hours.

4. I have mixed feelings on this bike. I love the size. The fold is nice. The parts are well machined. And the bike get's a lot of attention, particularly from young females.

However, I'm somewhat annoyed with the fiddlyness of the handbars, proprietary parts, underpowered brakes, and the difficulty of freewheeling...part of me is seriously considering a strida-like-object

Isn't that just like a little sister !

It has to be worth more repaired and rideable than in its present condition, I'd be inclined to take it to another bike shop for a second opinion, somewhere with a bike machanic who enjoys the challenge of actually fixing things.

I'm glad your sister broke your bike. It puts balance back in the universe. I broke my sister's Schwinn Fiesta using a board, a cinder block and a nice hill for speed. Everyone knows girl's bikes jump better, they just don't land as well.

However, I'm somewhat annoyed with the fiddlyness of the handbars, proprietary parts, underpowered brakes, and the difficulty of freewheeling...part of me is seriously considering a strida-like-object

OT:
Is your freewheel in the crank bracket or in the rear wheel?

Also, yeah brakes on this bike are a major problem. I've been struggling to upgrade mine for quite a while.

I'm pretty stumped. If the pedal used to be ok, but came back crossthreaded enough to look bent, it might of come loose at some point.

Maybe someone else broke it for her/you :D You know everyone is just dying to try those things when they see them.

You're right about many, many people wanting to try out the Carryme.

It could very well have been one of he drunk dormmates who used it.
However, I'm pretty certain that she kept it in her room the whole time.

Regardless, I'll be selling it on Craigslist.

Which crank? If it's just the left arm, you can probably get a replacement pretty easily.

It seems that she has hit a curb by the side. Something like that happens on mountain bikes riding on single tracks, when you hit a side rock with the pedal.