Basic questions about Pedal Installation
 

Hi- I bought a set of Shimano M324s for my first foray in clipping in. When I picked them up at a large spoRting goods EmporIum (ahem), the sales person (not the bike mechanic) said I should have them installed there. It was explained that they required a special tool, special grease and so on.

Online directions say it's very simple and it seems so, other than remembering about the left hand thread. Though there was some suggestion of a $26 pedal tool at the store, Shimano just says "use a 15mm spanner" (which is no more than $5 at Home Depot). Online there is mention of grease. Shimano doesn't mention it though there is a film of light grease on the threads of the new pedals. I suppose there is some Very Special bike pedal grease for 23.95 or something somewhere. So...

Will a $5 15mm open end wrench do the job? For greasing the threads, I have a small tube of lithium, another of graphite, and one of chain lube. Will one of them work?

Thanks!

You should be fine.

Great! The bike is only 8 months old, and I can feel the grease on the original pedal screws (bolts?)so I figured I wouldn't be dealing with anything seized. (BTW, love the NY Night Rain Ride video)

Thanks

decosse, If a 15 mm open end wrench doesn't work (too wide) there is possibly an allen head socket on the threaded end of the spindle where an allen wrench can be used.

Grease, used anywhere on a bicycle, is often a debate item for someone's favorite that it seems any grease is good. It is primarily used to prevent two pieces from corroding, whether due to galvanic reaction or not, into a single piece.

Brad

Many pedals have 15 mm flats wide enough to accept an ordinary open end wrench but a few have narrow ones and need a "pedal wrench" which is just a thin 15 mm open end. If you find the flats too narrow for a standard 15 mm wrench, a few minutes with a bench grinder can create a narrow one.

Some pedals also have a 6 mm or 8 mm hex recess on the back that take an Allen key and a few (Shimano's current MTB pedals for example) only have the hex recess and no wrench flats.

As to grease, almost anything will do fine for this use.

bradtx, the 15mm open end worked-but it is close- width is marginal. The left side was easy, the right was really on there. Since the grease is meant mostly to prevent the parts from corroding together, I'll q-tip the old out, and put a tiny dab of the lithium grease on ( since I already have it :P)

HillRider, yep, they have an 8mm hex and wrench flats, so if the wrench side it too tight, I have another option :) Good to know I don't have to hunt up some special grease-

Thanks!

I like REI, but just like anywhere else, they have good mechs, poor mechs, and half-informed sales people. At a different, bicycle-specific chain, I had a sales guy try to tell me the Bontreger top tube bag hangs underneath, and really got confused when I asked how to keep things falling out when I unzipped it.....

Moral of the story? Find a good mech and stay best friends + hang here on BF and DIY.

Job done! Now just to put the cleats in my shoes and figure out the clipping adjustments (yep, they're compatible). Thanks for the advice/encouragement!

RoadTire, I like 'em, too :thumb: Actually, the main mechanic there had implied it was pretty easy. I have new handlebars on the way (originals were replaced with wrong ones elsewhere-long story), and he's already said from our discussions, I should be able to do that as well. I think the salesperson was, well, selling, and erring on the side of caution. There is also the occasional incorrect assumption that because I'm an over 55 woman who wears nail polish and lipstick, I'd rather not get my hands dirty :P. Its all good.

Yep, and BF has been a great help! What's New? and the paper are my morning coffee reading, lol.

I'd start by backing out the tension screws on the clip side of the pedals all the way (counter clockwise) until they stop. Don't force them but there will be a noticeable stop at the end of their travel. That will give you minimum force needed to both clip in and out. Ride with the pedals that way to determine if you have problems staying clipped in and tighten the bolt only enough to get reliable retention while being able to release the pedals without a struggle. Also, practice clipping in and, more importantly, out until it becomes second nature. You don't want to have to think about it in a sudden stop.

As to being a woman, yes, a lot of bike shops are male dominated and will be pretty patronizing to any woman customer until she establishes her credibility and/or refuses to be talked to like a child. They tend to treat novice men the same way but it's worse for a woman.

Yes, start with your pedals on minimal release tension. And after you get the cleats properly positioned, you'll want to re-tighten the screws after riding 15-20 miles.

Have fun!

On some pedals you can use an ordinary 15mm open end wrench to remove it but if there's not enough room to get a wrench in you'll need a pedal wrench. You can also use a hex key to install (many better quality) pedals but if they've be ridden a lot it's hard to get enough torque to remove them.

Any grease will do, I usually use marine grease from an auto parts store but given what you have, I'd go with the lithium.

If you have seen what many customers try to pass off as a home "repair" you would never assume a customer that you don't know is competent with a wrench. Giving advice on mechanics can be a legal liability. And yes all levels of mechanics can be found in all types of places, usually REI stores have several basic techs and one or two Barnett certified master techs(likely an assist. manager level employee)

Main things for pedals,
Don't mix greases(in general, not just on pedals. This is more important than getting just the right kind of grease, but less important than any grease vs no grease.)
If using flats and a 15mm; when the pedal is tight the wrench should still be fairly loose, if not the pedal is just tightened against the wrench not the crank.
EP grease reduces torque values by 30-50% vs dry threads, ie 100ft-pound dry is about 75 with 30w oil or 50-60 with EP greases. This is approximate, it's best to follow and use what the maker specifies, I just include this to avoid over tightening.
Pedals can take a pretty firm pull on a standard length wrench, even when greased.
I prefer the 8mm hex on the inside end of the pedal because I can more easily use a torque wrench on it.(my eggbeaters use this)

Shops are male dominated because, for practical hiring purposes, female mechanics don't exist. You'll get maybe one in 30-50 that even apply and that is at a place practicing positive affirmative action in it's recruiting; so even if one of the 30 applicants is female she would need to be better than all 29 male applicants, them's steep odds even if she is better than 80% of them, as you don't compete against the average applicants, you compete against the best.

I have 324's on a couple of my bikes. I use a Park Tools 15mm cone wrench to put pedals on. I don't crank them down hard.

Pedals are one of the few threaded fasteners on a bike that have absolutely no need for a torque wrench.

Thanks! The instructions caution against loosening the adjustment bolt to the point of withdrawing it from the plate. There is a window on the bottom of the pedal and I have loosened as far as I dare-there is about a mm left before the marker is at the bottom-or weakest-position.

Yes, I figured the rep was being cautious, and didn't take offense. The mechanic and I had had some discussions, and he'd seen a little bit of adjustment work I'd done (had him give it the once-over) so he was ok with me doing some of the more "basic" stuff. I'm not one to overstep my limitations, that's why I consult you all (grin).

I wiped out the old grease before applying the new. Good to know, though. I don't have a torque wrench, so I used the standard 15 mm, and gave it a firm tug. I'll check them frequently and make sure they aren't loosening. I know if I want to do anything more involved, I'll need to get the right tools and go to a class.

Thanks all!

The most important part is making sure the wrench its self is narrow enough not to effect the final tightening. Bezalel is right about the torque wrench, but it does give one a basic feel for how tight, "tight" is.

I agree on the importance of being sure the pedal tightens against the crank arm, not against the wrench but I've also never seen the need to gorilla-tighten pedals. I've always installed them "good and snug", guessing maybe 5 to 10 N-m, and that has always been plenty. The pedals never loosen and never damage the crank arm. Shimano specifies 35 - 50 N-m on some of their SPD pedals and that seems hugely excessive.

Update: Inaugural ride was yesterday, complete with premature clipping in :D. It went great. I decided to start on the flat side of the pedals, and noticed right away they were grippier than the OEM ones, enabling force in a larger arc.

As for the early clip-in, (lol) after a stop I realized one pedal must've turned to the clip side. I decided to just keep riding and flip it at the next light. It was green, so I made a right turn and started climbing. The lumpy feeling in the one pedal went away, and I realized suddenly that I was clipped in on that side, lol. I had a second of panic, then just turned my heel out and unclipped. The plan had been to go to the park, and and practice on the grass or paths. Thought to myself "oh, what the hell' and clipped that side back in. I had a 3 mile climb with a couple of stoplights and practiced clipping and unclipping as I rode.

I also realized I been climbing one and two gears higher with just one clip in. When I got to my first level street, I just went for it and clipped both sides in. I finished the whole 12 miles that way!

Putting the pedals in the loosest (that I dared) position worked great. They stayed clipped until I turned my heel out (or even yanked up), then disengaged easily. They feel like my feet are in a more outboard position than I'm used to, but that may be a good thing as I used to frequently brush the cranks with my ankles. I'm giving it a couple of weeks to decide whether I want to adjust the cleats to the side. Right now they are centered so I can go a couple of mm either way.

I repeated exactly the same route I had done 2 days before, and that day I had averaged 11.4 mph, with a peak speed of 21.8. This time I averaged 12.1 mph, peak speed of 23.5. Totally unscientific, but still! This was with pedal-fumbling and a half mile of jogging pace on the flat when I overtook a group of runners on the MUP portion. They all were staying to the side and gave me room, but there were oncoming runners and bikes as well. It was ok, they had every right to be there and they were very aware of their surroundings.

I will likely tighten the pedals up a notch at a time in the future, but there is no rush. And as a plus, the reflectors from the OEM pedals pop right in.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement!

Wonderful, I'm glad your experience was so rewarding. I expect once you get a couple of more rides with the clips you will never want to go back to flat pedals again and may indeed start considering double sided SPD pedals that have the clip mechanism on both sides and are significantly lighter.

I would leave the pedal tension at the lowest level for a while and only tighten it if you find your self releasing when you don't want to. There is no benefit to having the clips any tighter than needed for reliable retention.

It is also a good idea to add some grease to the surfaces where the cleat clicks into the pedal. This will make the action a bit smoother. Sometimes with new pedals, my cleat can feel like it hangs up a bit in the pedal while I'm twisting out

I use Park Tool Grease. A little tube will last for years.