Found out standard pedal threads are different sizes for left and right cranks after 8 years of just wrenching them on

I was at a co-op in Portland helping a guy rebuild a 90s mountain bike and the lead mechanic pointed out that the left pedal is reverse threaded, which explained why those two pedals I cross threaded back in 2017 were so hard to get off. Has anybody else gone that long without knowing this and just got lucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

janab8213d ago

A buddy of mine from the shop I used to work at, he went a solid six years before figuring it out. He'd just hammer the pedals on with a wrench and pray, never stripped one out. I dunno how he managed it, he was always lucky like that.

barbaraw1614d ago

Took me ten years and a stripped crank arm to figure that one out myself.

kevin_martin14d ago

Stripped crank arm" is exactly what got me too. I used to think torque wrenches were overkill for basic bike work. Then I overtightened a crank bolt on my old mountain bike and shelled out $80 for a new arm. Took that lesson to heart, now I use the torque wrench for anything that says "Nm" in the manual.