alcjphil

Had you shown the bike to the people in the shop previously? Did they tell you that you need 1/2" pedals sight unseen? Just by looking at your picture I can tell that you almost certainly need 9/16" pedals

ciclista_pazza

Wow - thanks. I actually bought the bike from the bike shop that's telling me that it requires 1/2" pedals. I'll take it by another bike shop tomorrow to see what they can tell me.

dedhed

​​​​​​https://thirtythree.org/projects-unco...n%20Frames.pdf

ciclista_pazza

Thanks! This is very helpful and confirms it was made in March 1979, probably Chicago. Sadly not made in Japan, but still cool to know it was a limited edition.

atnyc

Don't you have a pedal wrench? It's easy enough to take one of the pedal off and put the 9/16 pedal to the hole. It should be pretty obvious if it's too large.

(but if you don't have a pedal wrench, by all means go to another shop and have them switch pedals. Once they take the old one off, it should be obvious whether the new one is too big)

macstuff

I'm going to bet it has 9/16" pedals. I've only seen 1/2" on three piece cranks on kids bikes or steel arm cruisers from Europe. Schwinn did make a lot of one piece crank derailleur equipped bikes and they are fated to 1/2" pedals. The best being the Atom 440, but hard to find in good shape.
But I'm thinking that if it is 3pc. and aluminum arms, it has 9/16" pedals.
Although it would be VERY interesting if they are actually 1/2"
Take one off and look for Chrysakes.....

But if you do end up needing them, I have a pair of adapter extenders you can have for postage. You need to use short pedals or the bike looks like its a duck paddling. Kind of an orthopedic bicycle look.....

ciclista_pazza

I actually have a pedal wrench, but I once tried removing a pedal and it was impossible. I have trouble with this stuff for some reason. I can never unloosen a bolt or screw that the bike shop has installed. I often have to take my bike in for things like saddle changes since I can't get the strength to move the bolts once they've been tightened by a mechanic. I also tend to not tighten them as much as I should and that can be problematic as well. And since I don't have a vehicle (by choice), I worry if I get a pedal off and can't get it back on, that I'll have to walk the bike to the LBS, which is quite a distance. It's a shame because I would love to be more self-sufficient. My LBS usually only charges $5-10 for basic stuff so it's usually not a huge deal.

SkinGriz

Thank you!
I’m actually perfectly happy with Ashtabula for my current needs. Except….. lack of pedal variety.

I was scratching my head about using 9/16 without adapter. Now I can put a little weld bead on the tip and open up the hole.

ciclista_pazza

Haha! I wish I could just take one off and look but as I noted above, I'm terrible with most mechanical stuff. I'll update this thread once I confirm what pedals I need by tomorrow. Cool that you're also in Tucson!

macstuff

I did'nt notice that you were here in town right away.
Good, then if you do end up needing those adapters we can just meet at BICAS.

ciclista_pazza

Cool and thanks for offering the adapters by the way! And I love BICAS!

rumrunn6

there is zero chance of you getting a pedal off & you not being able to get it back on. if you can get it off, you can get it on. hmmm ... sounds like a bumper sticker

rumrunn6

can't he just look at the backside of the crank arm w/ a ruler? the hole goes all the way thru, right?

ciclista_pazza

Haha! Good point. But don't you need grease and everything to put a pedal on? I also don't really understand whether it would immediately be obvious in putting a wrong sized pedal on that this was the case, or would I just screw up the threading by trying to put the wrong size on. I also have heard there can be ball bearing issues and other things that are over my head, so I'll probably just wait. Also, I don't have any 9/16" pedals laying around for sure - I have one spare set of pedals but am not sure of their size and don't really want to take the Lamdas off my other bike to test it. It's probably some of my own issues creating this "fear" of messing with the bike too much myself, but I have had issues where I tried to do something myself and it turned out to be a disaster so I just leave it to the professionals. I think it's pretty silly myself and wish I could just get over it but I rely on my bikes so much, it makes me nervous to mess them up.

ciclista_pazza

I'm not sure what you mean exactly. I held a flashlight up to the other side of the crank arm and I can't see the flashlight through the small hole (which from the picture I posted above, I just mean that slot key like opening). I don't know if you mean actually taking something off first and then seeing the "hole" you're referring to. But that bike shop is closed until Tuesday anyway, so I'll need to visit the other local bike shop tomorrow after work and see what they say.

rumrunn6

sorry, I meant you should be able to see the spindle, in the hole & you can measure that

rumrunn6

maybe just ride w/ the pedals you have & fuggetaboutit?

atnyc

It's true you can get it back on easier than getting it off. But getting a pedal off isn't the easiest thing. For one thing, one need to figure out which way to loosen it. Get it wrong, it won't come off...

Because the 1/4 is smaller than 9/16, it should be fairly obvious. The pedal just won't go in. As long as you don't try to jam it, you're unlikely to damage the thread.

You can start with the left side pedal. That's the one that loosens the "usual" way.

ciclista_pazza

I tend to ride in shoes that don't have a large heel or base or whatever you would call it, so I feel the pedals through my shoes, and the rat cage pedals are not working well with this setup. The MKS Lambda pedals work great for me so I'll get those put on one way or another.

woodcraft

How about this?

Measure the hole that the pedal screws into, on the backside, as suggested by Rumrunn6,

and measure the same on the other bike that has the pedals that you like.

If the size is the same, then the whole 1/2" sidetrack can be left behind.

atnyc

That's a very good idea!

ciclista_pazza

I contacted the bike shop (I sent the mechanic a link to this thread) and he said he was mistaken as he said he assumed most vintage Schwinns take 1/2" pedals, and he confirmed you guys are correct that the Le Tour actually takes 9/16" pedals instead of 1/2". So that's good news that I don't need an adapter or replacement crank arms. Thanks for everyone's help in figuring this out!

FBOATSB 

Maybe you can get him to join up and be schooled proper

ciclista_pazza

SkinGriz

1 piece crank = 1/2”
Almost all others = 9/16”