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Pedal Washers?
My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the
pedal and crank. Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. My question is what are they for, and should I care. I've read a bunch of reasons for them, the two most common being 1) to keep the pedal off the crank arm enough to fit a wrench 2) To evenly distribute pressure from the pedal to the crank arm. 3) To avoid scratching the crank surface. If it's actually 1 & 3, I don't care. My wrench fits fine without it, and the bike has scratches and will get more. OTOH, if they serve a functional purpose I should replace it, and if it's an important functional purpose I should replace it soon, and minimize use until then. So, what are they really for? How much do they matter? Thanks, Dan |
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Pedal Washers?
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Pedal Washers?
On 14 Aug, 13:40, " wrote:
My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the pedal and crank. *Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. My question is what are they for, and should I care. *I've read a bunch of reasons for them, the two most common being 1) to keep the pedal off the crank arm enough to fit a wrench 2) To evenly distribute pressure from the pedal to the crank arm. 3) To avoid scratching the crank surface. If it's actually 1 & 3, I don't care. *My wrench fits fine without it, and the bike has scratches and will get more. *OTOH, if they serve a functional purpose I should replace it, and if it's an important functional purpose I should replace it soon, and minimize use until then. So, what are they really for? *How much do they matter? You can buy folding pedals. This will save any damage to the crank pedal eye. Ignore the washers they may have been supplied so that the bike can be set up for display and dissasembled without scratching. |
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Pedal Washers?
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Pedal Washers?
On Aug 14, 9:02 am, jim beam wrote:
wrote: My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the pedal and crank. Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. dude, this is not "best practice". standard iso threads are not designed for this kind of use - they are for "fit and forget". similarly, aluminum isn't a wear resistant material for this application. Yeah, I know. Loosening the stem and turning it 90 degrees as often as I remove the pedals isn't the best practice either, but it's the rules to put a bike on the bus I take to & from work when not pedaling the entire way. My question is what are they for, and should I care. I've read a bunch of reasons for them, the two most common being 1) to keep the pedal off the crank arm enough to fit a wrench 2) To evenly distribute pressure from the pedal to the crank arm. 3) To avoid scratching the crank surface. If it's actually 1 & 3, I don't care. My wrench fits fine without it, and the bike has scratches and will get more. OTOH, if they serve a functional purpose I should replace it, and if it's an important functional purpose I should replace it soon, and minimize use until then. So, what are they really for? How much do they matter? kinda 3. it's to prevent surface damage to the crank face, thus help mitigate fatigue initiation. Cool. So if it's mitigating fatigue, something this practice is increasing, I should replace it. They're cheap enough I'll just buy a couple and keep a spare in my saddle bag for next time. Thanks, Dan again, what you're doing is very bad news for crank wear and fatigue. at a minimum, you should inspect the cranks, especially the pedal eyes, very closely for cracking and fatigue on a weekly basis. buy a magnifier and use it to do so. Not a bad idea. I do look at the stuff whenever I'm messing with it, but have not checked with a magnifier. I tend to go through my bikes at least once a week to look over the basics, no reason not to add this to the list. better yet, don't remove the pedals at all. if you know that carpet offcuts can be used in bike packing or have even rudimentary tetris skills, can't imagine why you would need to do so. Today was odd, the driver (a guy I see/drives me often) told me I could throw the bike in as-is as I was taking off the first pedal. I don't see why it matters, it's not like they're stacking the things. Maybe I'll try to develop a rapport with the drivers I usually see and ask if I can get away with carpet covers over the pedals, explaining that the constant removing of pedals and twisting of stem isn't the best thing for my bike. Some may go for it, some may not. Suppose it can't hurt to try. While we’re on the subject, I had the guy at the hardware store tell me not to grease things I’m loosening/tightening regularly (stem bolts) or removing regularly (pedals). Thoughts, assuming I still have to continue this practice (as it is the company rule)? |
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Pedal Washers?
On Aug 14, 9:13*am, Lou Holtman wrote:
WTF at least 6 times a week. Why????? From the website: "Bicycles- A Bicycle may be accepted in the luggage compartment of the coach. Bicycles will be accepted in a hard-sided, padded case designed for bicycles or with the handle bars secured sideways and pedals removed. C&J is not responsible for damaged bikes." Washers are for distributing the load. None of the pedals I use have washers. But would they be of use to me in this situation, especially considering how often I'm removing and reinstalling them? |
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Pedal Washers?
DanKMTB wrote:
On Aug 14, 9:02 am, jim beam wrote: wrote: My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the pedal and crank. Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. dude, this is not "best practice". standard iso threads are not designed for this kind of use - they are for "fit and forget". similarly, aluminum isn't a wear resistant material for this application. Yeah, I know. Loosening the stem and turning it 90 degrees as often as I remove the pedals isn't the best practice either, but it's the rules to put a bike on the bus I take to & from work when not pedaling the entire way. ouch. time for a few well written and addressed letters - campaign for bike racks on the front of busses. we have them on most public transport here in the bay area - a huge convenience and no disassembly rules. i think they have details on the sfmuni.com and goldengate.org websites. also contact sfbike.org and find out what they did to mobilize this initiative here, then use it where you are. My question is what are they for, and should I care. I've read a bunch of reasons for them, the two most common being 1) to keep the pedal off the crank arm enough to fit a wrench 2) To evenly distribute pressure from the pedal to the crank arm. 3) To avoid scratching the crank surface. If it's actually 1 & 3, I don't care. My wrench fits fine without it, and the bike has scratches and will get more. OTOH, if they serve a functional purpose I should replace it, and if it's an important functional purpose I should replace it soon, and minimize use until then. So, what are they really for? How much do they matter? kinda 3. it's to prevent surface damage to the crank face, thus help mitigate fatigue initiation. Cool. So if it's mitigating fatigue, something this practice is increasing, I should replace it. They're cheap enough I'll just buy a couple and keep a spare in my saddle bag for next time. Thanks, Dan again, what you're doing is very bad news for crank wear and fatigue. at a minimum, you should inspect the cranks, especially the pedal eyes, very closely for cracking and fatigue on a weekly basis. buy a magnifier and use it to do so. Not a bad idea. I do look at the stuff whenever I'm messing with it, but have not checked with a magnifier. I tend to go through my bikes at least once a week to look over the basics, no reason not to add this to the list. better yet, don't remove the pedals at all. if you know that carpet offcuts can be used in bike packing or have even rudimentary tetris skills, can't imagine why you would need to do so. Today was odd, the driver (a guy I see/drives me often) told me I could throw the bike in as-is as I was taking off the first pedal. I don't see why it matters, it's not like they're stacking the things. Maybe I'll try to develop a rapport with the drivers I usually see and ask if I can get away with carpet covers over the pedals, explaining that the constant removing of pedals and twisting of stem isn't the best thing for my bike. Some may go for it, some may not. Suppose it can't hurt to try. While we�re on the subject, I had the guy at the hardware store tell me not to grease things I�m loosening/tightening regularly (stem bolts) or removing regularly (pedals). Thoughts, assuming I still have to continue this practice (as it is the company rule)? i think he works in a hardware store because he's not a "doer". |
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Pedal Washers?
On Aug 14, 9:30*am, jim beam wrote:
DanKMTB wrote: On Aug 14, 9:02 am, jim beam wrote: wrote: My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the pedal and crank. *Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. dude, this is not "best practice". *standard iso threads are not designed for this kind of use - they are for "fit and forget". similarly, aluminum isn't a wear resistant material for this application. Yeah, I know. *Loosening the stem and turning it 90 degrees as often as I remove the pedals isn't the best practice either, but it's the rules to put a bike on the bus I take to & from work when not pedaling the entire way. ouch. *time for a few well written and addressed letters - campaign for bike racks on the front of busses. *we have them on most public transport here in the bay area - a huge convenience and no disassembly rules. i think they have details on the sfmuni.com and goldengate.org websites. * also contact sfbike.org and find out what they did to mobilize this initiative here, then use it where you are. Our normal around town buses have those racks. This is a longer distance commuter bus, and bikes are stored in the under bus luggage area. I don't see them changing their policy anytime soon. Could be worth a couple letters, but I don't foresee much change. If doing this is often as I am is likely to cause serious damage to the bike, does anyone have any experience with these? http://tinyurl.com/o8rexq I like the idea, but don't like needing a special cleat. I like being able to wear the same shoes for any of my bikes save for the BMX, which runs regular flat pedals that get along with any sneaker. These would more or less require a second set of shoes, and if I wanted to take the MTB to work I'd be back to removing pedals. It could be a solution for the road bike, but again @ $100 in pedals + a second pair of shoes it's not a cheap solution. And unless I bought 2 sets I'd still be using a wrench on the rain bike. The BMX is it's own story, those cranks are bombproof. If I need to remove those pedals, so be it. |
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Pedal Washers?
DanKMTB wrote:
On Aug 14, 9:30�am, jim beam wrote: DanKMTB wrote: On Aug 14, 9:02 am, jim beam wrote: wrote: My road bike came with washers on the pedal spindles to go between the pedal and crank. �Since the pedals come off the bike 2x/workday on average, and at least 6x/week, it's no big surprise I managed to lose one. dude, this is not "best practice". �standard iso threads are not designed for this kind of use - they are for "fit and forget". similarly, aluminum isn't a wear resistant material for this application. Yeah, I know. �Loosening the stem and turning it 90 degrees as often as I remove the pedals isn't the best practice either, but it's the rules to put a bike on the bus I take to & from work when not pedaling the entire way. ouch. �time for a few well written and addressed letters - campaign for bike racks on the front of busses. �we have them on most public transport here in the bay area - a huge convenience and no disassembly rules. i think they have details on the sfmuni.com and goldengate.org websites. � also contact sfbike.org and find out what they did to mobilize this initiative here, then use it where you are. Our normal around town buses have those racks. This is a longer distance commuter bus, and bikes are stored in the under bus luggage area. I don't see them changing their policy anytime soon. Could be worth a couple letters, but I don't foresee much change. fwiw, our longer distance commute buses have those racks, but no pedal removal or h-bar adjust. don't know why ours should be different, but i think it's worth investigation. If doing this is often as I am is likely to cause serious damage to the bike, does anyone have any experience with these? http://tinyurl.com/o8rexq I like the idea, but don't like needing a special cleat. I like being able to wear the same shoes for any of my bikes save for the BMX, which runs regular flat pedals that get along with any sneaker. These would more or less require a second set of shoes, and if I wanted to take the MTB to work I'd be back to removing pedals. It could be a solution for the road bike, but again @ $100 in pedals + a second pair of shoes it's not a cheap solution. And unless I bought 2 sets I'd still be using a wrench on the rain bike. The BMX is it's own story, those cranks are bombproof. If I need to remove those pedals, so be it. |
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Pedal Washers?
Hi,
You can buy folding pedals. This will save any damage to the crank pedal eye. This would probably be the best solution - either folding pedals or very small-outline ones (e.g. Egg-Beater?). They would be made to fold, in contrast to the normal pedals, which will wear out your crank eyes extremely fast if you remove them so often. As for the handlebars, you might look at one of the "quick-fold" stems or the quick-raise systems with folding device - or even replace the stem bolts with QR levers? Ignore the washers they may have been supplied so that the bike can be set up for display and dissasembled without scratching. As far as I remember, most crank eyelets fail due to "scratching" (abrasion) of the pedal bolt's shoulder on the face of the crank - the bolt's shoulders sink into the crank surface and over time microscopic cracks develop. They widen and your crank breaks. The washers are supposed to protect the crank surface to prolong the life - though I'm not sure how well they work, I think it's a good idea. I'd replace them - at least they don't hurt ;-) Have fun... .. |
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