First time with cleats

[markyt71]

Hi merry Xmas and Happy New year to all. OK. I'm going onto cleats for the very first time so I'm extremely nervous. I'm unfortunately not a mechanical minded cyclist although I do try my best. I've managed to fit my cleats to my shoes without much of a problem but I'm struggling to remove the pedals to fit the new ones. They seem way to tight so I'm nervous about putting to much pressure on trying to loosen them. I don't have a bike spanner I'm trying to use a regular spanner. Thinking about going to evans cycles to ask for help but they are not very accommodating unless you pay £50 for the pleasure. ( the pedals didn't cost me that much). I'm confused as to which way to loosen the pedals as I've read one is clockwise and one is anti clockwise but I'm not sure which is which. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Many thanks
Mark

 

[Gunk]

If you are not confident take it to a local bike shop, they’ll soon pop the pedals off without damaging anything. (go to a small independent or bike charity, not a large chain)

 

[markyt71]

Thanks. Think that's the route I feel more confident taking. Small independents seem pretty scarce these days even in a large city like Manchester I'm afraid. Thanks for the advice. Appreciated

 

[Sharky]

Run your thumb nail on the threads of the new pedals. Should be able to work out which way to turn.

Or, with the spanner at the 12 o'clock position, push spanner towards the rear wheel .

Good investment to buy a pedal spanner. Apart from having better leverage, they are also a bit slimmer. The latter used to be necessary with older pedals, as they had tighter clearance.

Good luck

 

[slowmotion]

Have a look at this clip....

[media]
]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmPkYMPVqQU[/media]


It's not difficult. Just watch the clip again and again until you feel confident. You'll need the correct sized spanner.

There are lots of clips on YouTube to help you. Good luck.

EDIT: you can get a 15mm pedal spanner for less than a tenner on eBay. I would go for one with a longish handle.

 

[Psamathe]

nb Don't know if it's the right thing to do but I always put some copperslip on the threads when fitting pedals to stop them seizing. Do tell me if I shouldn't be doing this.

Ian

 

[Seevio]

Not the thread I expected from the title.

Right pedal unscrews anticlockwise like normal threads. Left pedal unscrews clockwise. The reason for this is so that the normal pedalling action doesn't unscrew your pedals as this would be a bad thing. As a consequence, the pedals get tighter over time. Much tighter. When removing pedals I have had to stand on the spanner and bounce to get it loose. The pedal spindle is designed to take your weight so this is not a problem as long as the spanner is the right size.

As for actually riding clipless, once you have established that you are physically able to unclip, the embarrassment of slowly toppling sideways is a great teacher. Not everyone has done this but you certainly won't be alone.

 

[Gunk]

Run your thumb nail on the threads of the new pedals. Should be able to work out which way to turn.

Or, with the spanner at the 12 o'clock position, push spanner towards the rear wheel .

Good investment to buy a pedal spanner. Apart from having better leverage, they are also a bit slimmer. The latter used to be necessary with older pedals, as they had tighter clearance.

Good luck

Both pedals unscrew towards the rear wheel

 

[Gunk]

nb Don't know if it's the right thing to do but I always put some copperslip on the threads when fitting pedals to stop them seizing. Do tell me if I shouldn't be doing this.

Ian

I do this

 

[Mo1959]

Both pedals unscrew towards the rear wheel

That’s how I remember it too. Back off.

 

[steveindenmark]

Put on a 15mm spanner and hit it hard with a hammer. You turn them both to the rear of the bike.

 

[dicko]

This brings back awful memories of me fitting cleats to my pedals, getting my shoes into the opening, cycling off feeling the benefit of push/pull and having to stop quick and falling over onto the road. Those 17/6d cleats from Curry’s weren’t for me.

 

[ianrauk]

nb Don't know if it's the right thing to do but I always put some copperslip on the threads when fitting pedals to stop them seizing. Do tell me if I shouldn't be doing this.

Ian

I do the same. It's never been a problem.

 

[cyberknight]

Put on a 15mm spanner and hit it hard with a hammer. You turn them both to the rear of the bike.

yeah sometime if the pedals have seized you need to break the corrosion with percussive maintenance aka twat it .

 

[ColinJ]

I remember the pedal threads as 'right is right, left is wrong'.