Bicycle Mechanics - Problem with the LBS...Input requested

So I stripped my pedal thread on my drive-side crank...took it to the LBS and had the whole crankset replaced with a used one, from their shop. Everything was cool...but 100 miles later I ended up with the same problem...I misplaced my receipt , but I do have records of my payment on my credit card.

How does one go about rectifying this...or am I screwed? Thanks for your replies good and bad!

How long ago was this ? if it 30 days or less use the credit card statement as your receipt and demand something to be done about it. But being "use" in the first place yes you may be "screwed". In my shop I would give away the use stuff with the understanding it will not be replace as with most shops .

If it were new parts, an answer would be a little more clear, but I have no idea what their policy on used parts might be.

Just curious, did you guys re-use the old pedals? Have you done anything to the pedals since? What was used to tighten the pedal down?

Edit: I don't think used=screwed is a fair statement- you get what you pay for. If someone asks for a used part because a new part is too costly, that's on them. If this does come to be the case, see if you can work out something halfway with the shop.

If it were new parts, an answer would be a little more clear, but I have no idea what their policy on used parts might be.

Just curious, did you guys re-use the old pedals? Have you done anything to the pedals since? What was used to tighten the pedal down?

Edit: I don't think used=screwed is a fair statement- you get what you pay for. If someone asks for a used part because a new part is too costly, that's on them. If this does come to be the case, see if you can work out something halfway with the shop.

Good points, and thank you...No we did not reuse the old pedals...and no I have not done anything to the pedals since, except on the ride where I felt my pedal wobble...I knew what it was...I was angry to say the least....I had to ride home using my left foot only.

I just asked for a repair...your right I got what I paid for...I have been going to this LBS for my tubes and gear for the last year...oh and they replaced a bottom bracket of mine on the spot in 15 mins...so I gave them a shot on this repair...I am not having a good feeling about this...BTW the repair in question was about 30 days ago.

How long ago was this ? if it 30 days or less use the credit card statement as your receipt and demand something to be done about it. But being "use" in the first place yes you may be "screwed". In my shop I would give away the use stuff with the understanding it will not be replace as with most shops .


But what if your workmanship caused the problem and not the part in question? I payed for this repair is was not given to me in anyway shape or form.

Maybe I should find a shop that has the support to helicoil?

if you can prove it was cost by the workmanship yes ask for a replacement .

if you can prove it was cost by the workmanship yes ask for a replacement .


That right there is the hard part....I did not touch the pedal with a wrench...but cant prove it one bit....BTW my repair was about 30 days ago

ok, without you knowing it or the shop for that matter , the threads in the crankarm could be bad in the first place. it might be the reason why the shop have it in the first place. over time it sat there until you have a need for it and they saw it and put on your bike not knowing there was some thing wrong with it .

I'd go back and talk to them. If they sold you a used crank that is fine. But I would expect that they would have checked the used crank to be sure it had good condition threads. Assuming that this SHOULD have been the case you should at least be able to meet them halfway on another crank arm. And while you're at it talk to them about why you've had two crank arms go bad on you in so short a time. Generally this sort of thing is pretty solid and it's rare to have a crank arm strip out from riding. If they re-used your old pedal perhaps the thread on it is slightly undersized for some oddball reason?

Bring it back to the shop and have a conversation about it. Don't start off accusatory, just describe the issue and ask what they can do for you in this situation. If they want to charge you for new crank plus install fee, consider a different shop. Hopefully, there would be some kind of compromise--an average shop might do an install of a new crank you buy there for free; a better shop might credit the cost of the used crank toward purchase of a new one, or at least give some kind of good will discount off a new crank.

I don't buy a word of it.

Bring it back to the shop and have a conversation about it. Don't start off accusatory, just describe the issue and ask what they can do for you in this situation. If they want to charge you for new crank plus install fee, consider a different shop. Hopefully, there would be some kind of compromise--an average shop might do an install of a new crank you buy there for free; a better shop might credit the cost of the used crank toward purchase of a new one, or at least give some kind of good will discount off a new crank.


Thank you for your input...I considered this....and I think this is the way I will go...and if I do not like the response I get...I will tell them our relationship is over and walk out the door.

I don't buy a word of it.


That is my concern....that the LBS will convey!

just take it in. it was only a month ago. if they are any good and want your business they will correct the problem.

just take it in. it was only a month ago. if they are any good and want your business they will correct the problem.


Thank you...and everyone who said similar...I will take it in and comment what transpired here...soon!

That is my concern....that the LBS will convey!

That is the least of your problems. You've had the same failure twice and what happened is pretty rare, you need to figure out what is causing these failures to prevent it from hapening a third time.

How u can strip the threads in the crank if you were using the bike? I mean, you take the pedals in and out daily or something? I have seen people putting the left pedal in the right crank and figure it out when the pedal was like 80 % in the crank, this way clearly the threads are strip and redone, but strip the threads just like magic w/o taking the pedal out and in the crank it is hard to do and even harder to believe, worse if it is the second time that happens.

If you can justify this probably the LBS will hear you. But sincerely i doubt they will believe it or buy it as Duck said.

That is the least of your problems. You've had the same failure twice and what happened is pretty rare, you need to figure out what is causing these failures to prevent it from hapening a third time.

That's what I think too. There's something goofy going on here that we don't know about.

ok, without you knowing it or the shop for that matter , the threads in the crankarm could be bad in the first place. it might be the reason why the shop have it in the first place. over time it sat there until you have a need for it and they saw it and put on your bike not knowing there was some thing wrong with it .


True the threads could have been bad in the first place....Lucky me the mechanic knows me by face...so I hope that pays dividends!

That's what I think too. There's something goofy going on here that we don't know about.


So are you saying I am pedaling incorrect? I never touched the pedals after the bike shop did...just wondering! BTW I own 3 bikes and this is the only one to have this issue, and it happened twice!

This comes across as the dreaded "JRA" failure. I'm not saying that you did anything, but stripping out two arms in a short period of time? Did you do something with the first arm/pedal and maybe it came cross to this one? I say give the shop a chance to help you determine what is causing this to happen. I'm guessing that it is something in the pedal if nothing else was touched after the shop installed it.

If the LBS does warranty this somehow, remember that and not only should you consider them "your source" but spread the word to other folks. It's hard for shops to deal with situations where the customer wants new product support from used or mail-ordered stuff. However, many will give it.

Report back.. I'm curious to find what the issue might be.

So are you saying I am pedaling incorrect? I never touched the pedals after the bike shop did...just wondering! BTW I own 3 bikes and this is the only one to have this issue, and it happened twice!No, he's saying you are either lying or leaving out something significant. Pedals don't just spontaneously strip out crank threads.

If it hasn't been long just go in and talk to them. The receipt won't matter either way except maybe to remind them of the sale if some time has passed. Used parts usually aren't warrantied, but if it's a fairly recent job, a decent shop would try to correct the problem with another used crank, or give you some sort of credit towards a new one.

In my early years in the bike biz, I was the go to guy for problems, and I assure you that customers who came in with an honest explanation of their problem and asked if I could help them, did far better than those who came in with a negative attitude. I saw problems as an opportunity to showcase out pro customer attitude, but if I felt that no matter what I did, we'd be reviled anyway, I wasn't inclined to do much.

I agree with FBinNY, no matter what you do you can not make everybody happy.

The best JRA stories are from mountain bikers with cracked drive-side chainstays and shattered rear derailleurs ;).

I know a lot of folks have weighed in on this, but I thought I'd add my thoughts as a long-term wrench.

1. It would have been helpful if the LBS had advised you to check your cranks and pedals for tightness after 50 miles or so. NOT touching the pedals is not necessarily a good thing, but it's the LBS job to advise you, and to assume you don't know automatically to check. It's similar to the written warning you will typically get on your repair receipt when you have work done on aluminum wheels on a car.

2. One thing I have seen stress pedals, cranks and BB's is what I call the "Roy Rogers" method of mounting/dismounting. That is, placing your foot on one pedal, pushing off and then swinging your other leg over the bike. Dismounting is the reverse process. The problem is that you can exert force in excess of your body weight, in one spot on the rotation, over and over. Heavy persons especially can stress things enough to cause problems.

Yes, it's quite possible to do the above without damage but I saw a high correlation between that method and various crank/bb problems. 90% of the pedal and crank arm problems I saw were with the left side, which is where the great majority of folks mount their bike.

As I said in my earlier post, go in and talk to them about it, and give them a chance to tell you what they will or won't do, before setting yourself by anticipating the worst.

After-thought on the possible cause of the problem, not the solution. Two stripped cranks on the same side in short order is too much of a coincidence for me to swallow, and I suspect there might be something else at work, such as a problem pedal.

The right/left threading on cranks and pedals is configured to keep a functioning ball bearing pedal tight. Unfortunately a pedal with excess bearing friction will tend to unscrew. Once it unscrews about half way out it'll tear out the rest of the way stripping the crank arm. Whenever I see a crank stripped about half way, I assume that's what happened. Don't strip a third crank, have the shop check that the pedal spins freely and the bearing is properly lubed so it'll spin freely under load.

If it turns out the pedal is the problem, it's up to you and the shop to work out who's fault it was for not having checked this last time, but at least there won't be a third time. Just in case, make it a habit to glance at your pedals once in a while to make sure they're threaded in all the way.

This comes across as the dreaded "JRA" failure. I'm not saying that you did anything, but stripping out two arms in a short period of time?

+1 I refurbish old, neglected bikes, usually 25 to 35 years old, and I have not seen this problem in the last 150 bikes. Maybe I have been lucky. To have it happen back to back, with two different sets of pedals, and two different cranks, is way out on the probability curve. It will be interesting to hear what the cause was in this case.

ok, without you knowing it or the shop for that matter , the threads in the crankarm could be bad in the first place. it might be the reason why the shop have it in the first place. over time it sat there until you have a need for it and they saw it and put on your bike not knowing there was some thing wrong with it .

This is a good reason for trashing any part that is not usable right away or at least putting a label on it noting what is wrong with it if you want to salvage any of the parts on it.

I don't buy a word of it.

+1 I'm not an expert bike wrench; but it takes some significant toolage and intent to strip a pedal out of a crank arm......and twice at that.....a likely scenario is that the first pedal was crossthreaded at installation (destroying the thread intregrity) and it failed........and who knows about the used one...you get what you pay for with any used parts.

+1 I'm not an expert bike wrench; but it takes some significant toolage and intent to strip a pedal out of a crank arm......and twice at that.....a likely scenario is that the first pedal was cross-threaded at installation (destroying the thread intregrity) and it failed........and who knows about the used one...you get what you pay for with any used parts.

As you say, you're not an expert. Stripped cranks are fairly rare, and the scenario of a person cross threading one crank, then somehow getting a defective crank stretch credulity. Two different cranks stripping on the same side is rare enough that you should be searching for a common denominator. Either the OP is lying and is cross threading his pedals (possible), or the pedal has a damaged thread and is damaging the crank when installed (though a mechanic should have felt the resistance and caught it) or the pedal is unscrewing halfway then stripping under load, which is the most common cause of stripped cranks.

nothing incredulous at all.....especially if the second crank is used and from an unknown source.........

but you ARE an expert and your assessment is probably correct......

I have seen a few stripped cranks in my time... the causes were (1)pedal not properly tightened; (2) cross-threaded or forced left side into right cranks; (3) excessive bearing friction.

(1) is always my first guess. But if the OP rode 100 miles then this is unlikely. Generally, an improperly installed pedal will pull out on the first few miles. It's not impossible, but just not how it has happened in my experience.
(2) is usually obvious, except where the threads are ripped out clean and no 'evidence' remains, but if someone is determined and careful it is possible to get a pedal in to a crank of the wrong thread type and ride it like that for a while. But the rider would notice or feel the pedal being crooked as it is usually pretty bad.
(3) does not happen too often, in my experience. If a pedal is properly tightened from the beginning, the amount of torque required to unscrew would easily be noticed by the rider as the pedal flips over under his foot.

That is the least of your problems. You've had the same failure twice and what happened is pretty rare, you need to figure out what is causing these failures to prevent it from hapening a third time.


I agree the first was my fault..the second one was not....awwwe it is so frustrating because that is my good bike!

I agree the first was my fault..the second one was not....awwwe it is so frustrating because that is my good bike!

I can't imagine that you can't get back on the road for $50 at the most....parts and all.....in my region there are donor bikes on CL and at thrift stores all day; everyday for cheap.......it won't be Campy; but it'll work.......

Which crankset are we talking about?, i can understand the op might not have money but a crankset is not that expensive now a days. Rather get a crankset than a pair of brifters.

All I can say is: if you came into our shop with this problem, I 'd have a very hard time swallowing the JRA angle...

All I can say is: if you came into our shop with this problem, I 'd have a very hard time swallowing the JRA angle...

Do you really think the OP removes his pedals just for fun daily? Who takes their pedals off with any regularity? No one.

ok........I give........JRA?

ok........I give........JRA?

I had to research it..."Just Riding Along" I believe.

:lol: http://www.jrabikeshop.com/

Which crankset are we talking about?, i can understand the op might not have money but a crankset is not that expensive now a days. Rather get a crankset than a pair of brifters.

The first crankset was a BD bike...I went to Mentor Ohio and had to palace my bike in a trunk of a car...I took the pedeals off so it would fit....My fault.....The second crankset was a used one from the LBS...I rode around 100 miles on their repair and had the same problem...strange?

Do you really think the OP removes his pedals just for fun daily? Who takes their pedals off with any regularity? No one.


Thank you! I take the pedals off only when I need to...and that is a rare occasion!

Did the problem pedal spindle threads have alot of grease or anti-seize on it? :notamused:

I think that was the over enthusiastic rookie move I made when I slathered the spindles of my replacement pedals, placing on my current 15 year old beater, with anti-seize, and noticed about 100 miles after the rebuild I had lost probably 75 percent of the torque I put on onto the non-drive side thread. Went down from like 36 N-m to about 10 N-m. The drive side was perhaps 25 percent down then. I attribute it to over-lubing and new pedals whose seals seemed to have fair bit of dynamic drag twisting the spindle loose. Bottom bracket fixing bolts loosened a little too. I re-tightened checked again another 100 miles, pretty much stayed 100 percent tight. Relief - glad I didn't taer threads out my new Sugino XD600 cranks. 900 miles - nicely spinning cadence 90-110 continues. :thumb:

Telecom commercial "Don't make me get off this bike: Alphonse, no man over the age of 30 should ever include emoticons in his messages."

Did the problem pedal spindle threads have alot of grease or anti-seize on it?


When I work on my bikes, I make sure to grease just about every nut and bolt. I've dealt with way too many stuck/rusted/sheared off bolts on bikes. The grease actually allows you to tighten them down more. Getting off stuck pedals is especially painful.