Bicycle Mechanics - Pedal Question

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velosprinter
10-22-10, 06:17 PM
I have this tandem but the cranks are not tandem cranks. This means the front cranks are reversed so the sync chain is on the left and in the rear both cranks are right side cranks. I have crank shorteners on the back for the 7YO so they are normal left right thread but I want to put on clipless pedals in both so the front is a problem with normal SPD.

Right now I have speedplays on the front but need mountain shoes so I can walk around more at daycare etc. Does anyone know if I can put the Crank Brothers Smarty Pedal on the front? Looking at the picture of the cleat it seems there is not front or back.

reptilezs
10-22-10, 06:55 PM
crank bros pedals should work
joejack951
10-22-10, 08:58 PM
Kits to do it yourself are pretty expensive so you might want to consider an LBS for this task, but you could always drill out the current threads then install a thread insert with the correct threads to fix the mismatched cranks.

Nerull
10-22-10, 09:02 PM
I have this tandem but the cranks are not tandem cranks. This means the front cranks are reversed so the sync chain is on the left and in the rear both cranks are right side cranks. I have crank shorteners on the back for the 7YO so they are normal left right thread but I want to put on clipless pedals in both so the front is a problem with normal SPD.

Right now I have speedplays on the front but need mountain shoes so I can walk around more at daycare etc. Does anyone know if I can put the Crank Brothers Smarty Pedal on the front? Looking at the picture of the cleat it seems there is not front or back.

When I was looking at a bike that came with Smarty pedals, I did some research on them. While Crank Bros. pedals mostly get good reviews, the Smarty reviews were terrible. They were discontinued, possibly for this reason.

You may want to look at some of their other models.
DannoXYZ
10-23-10, 12:53 AM
Getting pedals that are bi-directional without distinct front & back is one solution for tandems.

If you have pedals with distinct left and right sides, they can still be used. You keep the left & right pedals where they are, but swap the pedal axles to make them fit the cranks. So on the front crank, you put the right pedal-axle on the left and the left on the right so they can thread into the cranks correctly. Then on the rear, get one more right pedal-axle for the left pedal.

Due to the improper thread-directions, you'll want to use some blue Loctite on the pedal-threads to make sure they don't creep lose.