Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Your pedal itself looks OK, but the crank arm is bent. Back in the day of steel crank arms we'd straighten these by removing the pedal (RH thread on right pedal, Left thread on left pedal) slipping a pipe over the arm and straightening it on the bike in 3 seconds.
Unfortunately aluminum cranks aren't as ductile, and can be very unforgiving of this kind of abuse. Breaking a crank is never fun; they break at inopportune times, usually at the moment of maximum load, and can cause serious injury in the form of a gash from the sharp broken end, broken ankles, or legs when the foot slams into the ground. Since there's no way of predicting if or when a straightened crank will snap, sane people don't straighten them.
A complete new crank with chainrings attached can be had fairly cheaply, but most shops tend to only sell models of a higher range then yours. If there's a local bike co-op in your town that's your best bet.
Thank you. Yes, I should have said "crank".
I really don't have a clue about how it got bent in the first place, but it was probably when the bike was borrowed sometime. My thinking is that if one can bend it (by running a truck over it?) out of alignment, it ought to be possible to bend it back. But you're right, doing that on aluminum is risky. I've snapped aluminum rods by bending them, and it's pretty exciting. I might try it, though I would wrap it in some foam or fabric first for protection.
So, you're saying, "back in the day" you'd straighten them by removing the pedal, rather than the crank? Interesting. Have to think about how to restrain the bike frame while doing this.