JJ49

Lately I've noticed that a lot of people out at the MUP where I ride are removing their pedals before mounting their bike on their car for the drive home. This has sort of left me curious, because whenever I remove my pedals, it seems to be a bit of a struggle. I always seem to get grease on me, and the pedals never want to come off as easily as I'd like them to. In short, it seems to be more of a hassle than it's worth.

So here are my questions - if there are any of you who do infact remove your pedals after each ride, how much grease are you using, how often are you applying grease, and how tight are you putting your pedals on? Are you putting new grease on before each ride? Are you installing your pedals a little on the loose side so that when your ride is finished you don't have to really crank on them to get them to come off?

As a side note - after the conclusion of Stage 7 of the Tour de Georgia on Sunday, my girlfriend and I were in the team area, observing the High Road mechanics clean the team's bikes. While we watched, I noticed that the mechanics were removing the pedals with only a palm sized allen key, and didn't seem to be applying much force at all. Indeed, it seemed as though the pedals must have been fairly loose to come off so easily. And from my point of view (which was about 5 feet away from the bikes), the pedal threads didn't seem to be exactly covered in grease - what's the deal?

tekhna

Seems like a great way to strip the threads and need a new crankset.

AEO

the pedals stick out a lot, removing them for transportation really lessens the width of the bike.
Some people really tighten down the pedals when it's not necessary.

ImprezaDrvr

It's not hard to put them on or take them off. People make it seem harder than it is and, as AEO implied, a lot of folks waaay overtighten their pedals. You won't strip any threads as long as you remember which side is reverse threaded and have the right wrench for the job.

Second Mouse

The folks out at your MUP are nuts.

curiouskid55

The thread direction on pedals makes them self tightening (unless you are peadling backwards) which is good because otherwise they would be self loosening.

mike9903

+1

This makes no sense to me, if you are going to take your pedals off might as well take off your bars as well, they stick out even more. . . .

JJ49

What about team High Road? Are they nuts too?

mike9903

Team High Road has at least 15 bikes to transport about 2,000 miles, think it is a little different than taking your one bike 10 miles home.

JJ49

Yeah I agree - I don't see the point of it, but they're definately doing it (they = roadies at MUP). I guess they just think it's cool or something

merlinextraligh

They also have professional mechanics who completely tear down the bikes, including gluing new tubulars every stage. Doesn't mean it makes much sense for the rest of us to do that after every ride on the MUP.

They're also getting new bikes with new components at least every year.

dmotoguy

i just snug my pedals on, they arent going anywhere... no need to really torque them down hard...

Phantoj

Maybe "they" have more bikes than pedals..?

I do pedal-swapping fairly frequently. If I'm going on a ride with a non-biker, I'll swap out the clipless pedals for clips 'n straps. Or I might swap Look for SPD because my winter/rain shoes are SPD.

Anyway:

1. I don't grease the pedal each time, but the threads are usually pretty greasy.
2. I probably get the pedals too tight. I don't want creaks, though.
3. I use a Nashbar pedal wrench. Doing without a pedal wrench is kind of like doing without a chain whip. You can get the job done without it, but it's really worth it to have the right tool.
4. I wouldn't remove the pedals just to stick the bike on a rack. But pedals CAN scratch up other bikes or even the car.
5. My fave MUP is within riding distance.

cparekh

This is totally the key. Pedals are self tightening. You put them on so that they won't move in the crank. An easy hand tightening with little force should do the trick. As long as the grease is not dried up, they should be easy to get off and on. Usually, I remove and grease the spindle at the beginning and the end of each season. They are easy to remove with an allen key.

Hobartlemagne 

I just install my pedals finger tight since the are self tightening.

CastIron

Er, no.

Frankly I'm surprised the MUP crowd can figure out the reverse threading. Perhaps it's reasonable with four bikes jammed on to a trunk rack.

billallbritten

I've been at charity/for fun rides where some folks madly search for pedals to borrow - a caveat about frequent removal.

pathdoc

I'm guilty. I overtighten my pedals.;(

fogrider

I agree, why take off the pedals? unless you are going to change them. I hear people crying about taking off wheels, taking off pedals is way more work...even if they are not tightened down much. I don't believe in overtightening them, but they do need to be tight.

JJ49

This isn't the typical MUP, and not the typical MUP crowd. It's the Silver Comet Trail - an old rail-line which has been paved over. It runs from Atlanta, GA, to central Alabama. It is split into two lanes, twelve feet wide, is paved with asphalt and runs west for over 100 miles.

If you live in Atlanta (where the traffic is absurd) it's basically your best option if you want to spend any significant time in the saddle. So, believe me, the majority of the crowd "can figure out the reverse threading."

aicabsolut

Maybe they need a better car rack system?

Even with bikes close together, it's generally not that hard to figure out a way to get them to fit next to each other without having a pedal jam into another bike. If the bikes are that close together, I'd be even more worried about skewers against forks, or do they take the wheels off too?

Hobartlemagne 

If those people really are smart about avoiding their bikes hanging up on stuff while in the rack,
they will know to attach two bikes on the rack with the chains facing away from each other
so they wont be damaged.

JJ49

Wheels come off too. I'd be (even more) confused if they took the pedals off and left the wheels on.
To clarify - it's not like every single roadie I see out there is taking their wheels and pedals off after they finish their ride. I'm just suprised to see it at all, and without fail, every time I go out there I see someone putting their bike on the roof rack, minus wheels and pedals.

NoGaBiker

Roof rack???

JJ49

Yes. A rack. On the roof. For carrying bicycles. On the roof.