[Closed] remembering which way to undo pedals? gnfckrackghahh!@#$&(@!

Wrench on/in upwards, move it towards the back of the bike.

EDIT : you said upside down. Wrench handle towards the saddle, move towards the back of the bike.

When you’re putting them on, you can use the chain to hold the cranks still still tighten the pedals against it.

Removing it’s the opposite! So if you’re ‘removing’ the pedals by pulling against the tension in the chain you’re doing it wrong! Turn the way that would slacken t(e chain and make the free hub back-pedal if you let the cranks turn.

For a bike sitting on its wheels, it's pedal to the front, wrench to the rear, press down. I usually use my foot.

Reverse if the bike is upside down. I reckon it's always better to be pressing the wrench down than pulling it up.

Left is right

Right is wrong

To undo always turn towards back of bike. Simples.

Hold the spanner still, horizontally, and back-pedal (wheel not moving) to tighten. Same but pedal forwards (wheel moving) to loosen.

🤩😳🤯

Foot on pedal & pull up on allen key/wrench.

Can I just remind folks about the question:
When the bike is upside down, sitting on handlebars and saddle...

For a bike sitting on its wheels, it’s pedal to the front, wrench to the rear, press down.

This.

Left is right, Right is wrong

Er, no, that’s BBs. Right hand pedal is right hand thread, left half pedal is left hand thread. BB is Bloody Backwards.

Handedness of the thread doesn’t change when you turn the bike upside down…

As above, RH pedal is RH thread, LH pedal is LH thread. When you turn the bike upside down, the sides of the bike are reversed.

For a RH thread, point your right thumb along the axis of the bolt or pedal axle in the direction you want it to go (i.e. towards the outside of the bike to remove a pedal) and curl your fingers. You turn the spanner in the direction your fingers are pointing. For a LH thread, you do the same thing with your left hand.

Handedness of the thread doesn’t change when you turn the bike upside down…

Exactly! But the left pedal is now on the right 😆

Crank side is normal thread. That's all you have to remember innit.

Gets complicated when you have allen key from the back, and spanner from the front.
I never do my pedals up really tight, so can feel straight away if I'm going the wrong way. A gentle push will either undo it or tighten it.

When you turn the bike upside down, the sides of the bike are reversed.

Well, they're not. But if you think they are, simply look at the bike from the front* and hey presto, problem solved 🙂

* If you find that turning the bike upside down also turns the front into the back then put the spanners down and get an adult to help 😉

We talking northern or southern hemisphere?

Ah, yes, be sure to check that your cranks don't have Coriolis threads 🙂

Bike upside down, crank arms facing backwards & upwards at 45 degrees, allen key in pedal, level & facing forwards towards the front axle. Push allen key down.

Ah, good point Dez B- yes, its Allen key from the back, which you are utterly and totally correct in stating adds another left right up down flip flop variable...

I've got a huge smile on my face reading all the responses, as what is playing out is exactly my internal monologue each time... hilarious 😆

For a bike sitting on its wheels, it’s pedal to the front, wrench to the rear, press down. I usually use my foot.

This +1, heel of the foot when your foot is on the pedal

If the bike is upside down, turn it the right way up and use above method

Why don't you just get some small, plain, vinyl stickers and a fine permanent marker, and stick them on the back of each crank arm to show two arrows labelled "fit" and "remove"?

Or just one arrow saying "fit". You'll probably work out the rest 😉

I’m assuming nothing 🙂

I’m assuming nothing 🙂

Hahaha!

The way I remember it is thinking back to that Sideways Cycles Thursday night ride when my pedal bearing started to stiffen up and my pedal kept undoing itself and falling off.

They come off the same way a wheel would turn if you rolled your bike backwards. They screw on the same way as a wheel spins when the bike's going forwards.

I've had various other methods, but the above seems to be almost completely idiot/hangover proof.

Well, they’re not.

Sure, if you take it literally instead of considering what words mean.

I always remember that you can do pedals up by backpedalling via a pedal spanner. So forwards pedalling to tighten. Easier with the back wheel in, to double check you're doing it right.

If you can get things right when the bike is upright, I find a good way of visualising that when the bike is upside-down on the ground is to stand in front of the handlebars looking at the bike. It is like you just looped out of a wheelie and caught it - the handlebar on your right is the right handlebar, the one on your left is the left handlebar, same for pedals.

Sure, if you take it literally instead of considering what words mean.

Surely "considering what words mean" is literally "literally"? 🙂

So when you turn your bike upside-down you suddenly have a left hand drivetrain? No. It's still on the right side of the bike. Just as when you look at an upright bike from the front, the right side of the bike is still where it was, even though from your viewpoint it's on the left.

Your right hand is still your right hand when you do a bungee jump, because we take the reference point on nominal left/right sides as being the thing—bicycle, bungee jumper, whatever—they're attached to, assuming that thing has some inherent orientation (ie you don't have a left/right side of a football). If you use a viewpoint as the reference point, that's completely transient and arbitrary and it makes it completely impossible to even talk about anything having a left or right side.

THIS IS WHY SOME PEOPLE NEED BOTH ARROWS ON THEIR STICKERS

😉

Why not just fit/remove the pedals when the bike is the right way up?

If I ever have to remove pedals with the bike upside down I find it easier to stand upside down too, that way it's the same as if the bike was on its wheels.

Simon, I assume you've got one of those workshop mechanic's caps that makes it easier to fit cranks while upside down?

As Tomhoward and philjunior said undoing is like pedalling backwards also i have it written on the spanner i use most often with a marker pen L undo Clock R undo Anti i guess if Left Right get complicated when you invert the bike then Chainring side and Crank only side?

Surely “considering what words mean” is literally “literally”?

Pedantically, yes, but real people use langauge to say what they think, not just talk about dictionaries.

Isn't it the opposite way to bottom brackets?

If the bike is upside down then to undo the pedals you push the wrench down and towards the back for both sides.

Pedantically, yes, but real people use langauge to say what they think, not just talk about dictionaries.

Of course. You’re taking “what words mean” too literally 😉 …or at least too narrowly.

Context is everything. Left and right must always have a reference point, they’re entirely meaningless without it.

We each carry a reference point with us, of course: our vision. But that’s not the only one.

If a thing “has a left/right side” then the reference point is that thing (which must also have a natural top/bottom and front/back, otherwise it can’t have a left or right: a wine glass has no left/right because it has no front/back, and a reflector in a torch has no left/right because it has no top/bottom).

Evidently, some people struggle with the idea of objects have inherent/natural sides like this, and appear to resort to the left/right that are derived from their own viewpoint.

That doesn’t mean a bicycle doesn’t have a consistent left and right, it just means you struggle with a reference point other than your own.

But again, it seems odd that turning a bike upside down flips the sides for you, but presumably you don’t struggle the same way when you walk to the front of the bike. If you look at a right-hand drive car from the front I’m guessing you wouldn’t say the steering wheel was now on the left of the car, just as you wouldn’t if you found the car upside-down on its… well, presumably now it’d be it’s bottom, so… we… nope, it’s all broken.

If we always used only our own reference points we’d never be able to discuss anything without… well, all this 😀

I'm glad I came back to this discussion. It's brilliant 😆

there are barnys all over the web about it!
But look what someone pictured

Wowza

So for allen keys - attach your marked spanner to the front of the pedal and follow the arrow direction!

With pedal level at 9&3, turn towards the frame. Can't do it with the rear pedal as the frame is in the way.

Turn the spanner the opposite way to how you pedal?

Context is everything. Left and right must always have a reference point, they’re entirely meaningless without it.

Exactly. That's what I've been saying all along.

That’s what I’ve been saying all along.

I know. You've just been taking a stance which doesn't recognise the bicycle itself as a reference point for its own sides.

Anyway… 🙂

Don’t forget to grease the threads on the new pedals - it’ll make it easier next time. Oh & don’t gorilla them on.....there’s really no need..

If you think you are going to punch the chain ring if you slip its going the right way 🙂

The whole thread makes me LOL, but I'm fairly sure everyone has contradicted each other at least once.

I should also add, this is usually at the end of a long trip, I'm jet lagged, usually hungover on the final morning, and facing trying to pack up a bike and not get the hotel room covered in grease or mud. As has also been quite clearly pointed out, I am an idiot. th whole 'opposite to the way you pedal' thing just makes me even more confused

OK, so to conclude:

Bike upside down, Allen key into pedal, Allen key pointing up the way and push it towards the front of the bike.

Bike correct way up, Allen key into pedal pointing straight up - push it towards the rear of the bike.

Is that correct?

It's correct if you're trying to fit the pedals, incorrect if you're trying to undo them.

FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN MAKE SOME STICKERS

I know which way the threads work but I absolutely can't stop myself from sorting pedals in confined spaces rather than getting the bike out properly and so I always end up smashing my hand into a neighbouring bike's chainring or something equally stoopid

Can anyone make me a pedal spanner with "stop being a lazy ****" written on it please ?

If it's upside down in a hotel room you need to you youtube it in the bathroom mirror.

Bike upside down, Allen key into pedal, Allen key pointing up the way and push it towards the front of the bike.

I think that is right for allen key in the back of the pedal ! Doesn't matter which way up the bike is.

Bike correct way up, Allen key into pedal pointing straight up – push it towards the rear of the bike.

And that's wrong!

With allen key- put pedal forward, allen key into pedal, below the frame- this is the only sane way to do it with allen keys anyway. Rotate crank til allen key hits frame, allen key now turns towards frame, which again the only sensible way to do that is forwards. Sorted, you don't even need to think about directions, because naturally you'll select the right direction

If it’s upside down in a hotel room you need to you youtube it in the bathroom mirror.

Didn't know you got those sorts of videos on YouTube? Whatever, this thread has made my ears bleed.

My technique: if it doesn't work one way try it the other. Also works for pedals.

(**** me. Editing to say what I actually do. Pedalling tightens them - so unscrew in opposite direction to the one they turn in when pedalling. Whew...)

I think that is right … And that’s wrong!

But they're both the same!

Why do people insist on thinking in terms of pushing towards the front or rear? That's how you get screwed up when you turn it upside down or have the allen key pointing a different way.

Right hand threads. Left hand threads. Stick to those and you're fine. There's a reason why engineers don't talk about "threads where you push towards the back of the bike if you're trying to undo it, assuming you've got the spanner pointing upwards, unless you've turned the bike upside down in which case assuming you've got the spanner pointing downwards, and not forgetting that if you've done both then it's fine, although if you're taking an alternative reference point for what constitutes up and down then we'll have to go through this all again, pass the gin would you?".

To undo, turn the spanner the same way as the wheel would be rotating if you were cycling backwards. Simple.

Backwards = undo, forwards = do up.

Pedal spanner or Hex key parallel with seatpost. Turn 90 towards towards chainstay.

This works no matter which way up the bike is....

Pedal spanner or Hex key parallel with seatpost. Turn 90 towards towards chainstay. This works no matter which way up the bike is….

IT BLOODY DOESN'T! THERE ARE TWO OPPOSING DIRECTIONS WHICH ARE PARALLEL WITH THE SEATPOST AND TURNING TOWARDS THE CHAINSTAY IS CLOCKWISE FOR ONE AND ANTICLOCKWISE FOR THE OTHER!

I know you mean "pointing towards the saddle" but hell's bells, man, we got 45 posts in and the OP seems to have come to entirely the wrong conclusion: we need all the accuracy we can muster here.

IT BLOODY DOESN’T!! THERE ARE TWO OPPOSING DIRECTIONS WHICH ARE PARALLEL WITH THE SEATPOST AND TURNING TOWARDS THE CHAINSTAY IS CLOCKWISE FOR ONE AND ANTICLOCKWISE FOR THE OTHER!!

Are you serious? Of course it works. The bike remains in the same spot so moving to the other side means you are turning the other way. And pedal threads go in different directions depending depending on LH or RH.

Are you serious?

Yes. You're using the word "parallel" when that's not quite what you mean.

IT BLOODY DOESN’T!

,😁😁😁😁😁

And yes i do mean pointing to the saddle 🙂

But it is parallel to the seatpost. If the spanner is anywhere other than pointing towards the seat then its not parallel. If its pointing towards the floor its in line with the seatpost but not parallel.

And yes i do mean pointing to the saddle 🙂

Yes. Then it works 🙂

Problem is, the OP asked for a way to remember how to remember which way to undo pedals. He's got about thirty different descriptions of techniques for undoing pedals, some of which for various reasons are prone to misinterpretation, but if he can't remember "right is right-hand, left is left-hand" then I can't see any of them being memorable.

Hence stickers. Then there's no need to remember.

Hence stickers.

Ha ha ha - fair point.

If its pointing towards the floor its in line with the seatpost but not parallel.

I suspect hols2 will be back to tell me I shouldn't be using the meaning of words to determine what words mean 😉 but…

By the conventional/mathematical meaning of "parallel", the arm of the allen key is parallel to the seatpost whenever a line through its axis, projected for an infinite distance in either direction, maintains a constant distance from an infinite line similarly projected through the axis of the seatpost. So for each pedal there are two orientations of the allen key which fulfil this: one upwards, one downwards.

Daring to go Full Pedant (try and stop me), it's not truly in line with the seat post unless that distance is zero, ie it's collinear, whereby you'd be holding the allen key either above the saddle or below the BB shell… or you'd carelessly got it stuck inside the seatpost—and given the apparent mechanical aptitude of some people here to be honest I wouldn't rule that out 😉 But of course it can also be described as "in line" when the two are observed from a viewpoint that results in them appearing parallel and superimposed, and many people would (as you did) use the term even without the superimposition business. Which is fine. It's just that any lack of clarity and the OP's going to be swearing in hotel rooms for the rest of his life.

😀

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/FFdmxKQC/index.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/FFdmxKQC/index.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

So whats a rhombus?

So whats a rhombus?

It's like a square, except that it comes with a 70-post argument about whether it's been tilted to the right or the left.

ha ha ha. Thats easy to remember

As above
RH is RH thread, use RH rule (thumbs up sign)
LH is LH thread, use LH rule (thumbs up sign)

I like BB is bloody backwards, not heard that before!

Problem is, the OP asked for a way to remember how to remember which way to undo pedals.

Allen key/spanner pointing to saddle, push to back of bike. Works for both sides.

Sure it works for both sides, but fast forward two months and assuming you’ve remembered it’s allen key up and not down, and that it’s push to the back and not the front, what are the chances of remembering whether that’s how to undo them or do them up?

For me that wouldn’t work at all as a means of memorising it: there are three details to remember and there’s no logical connection between them that allows you to recover any one of those details if you forget it. YMMV, but given how much the OP’s evidently struggled to remember it so far I’m guessing we need a fairly robust method here 🙂

Can't be arsed to read the thread, but both undo towards the back of the bike and do up towards the front with the tyres on the ground. Get a big bar to leverage getting em off and job's a good 'un.

Can’t be arsed to read the thread, but both undo towards the back of the bike and do up towards the front with the tyres on the ground.

See, this makes no sense as you don't know if the wrench is pointing up or down.

Was the bike on a treadmill?

Get into the habit of only ever undoing pedals while working from the drive side. Regardless of whether you use a spanner on the spindle or an allen key from the rear, whether undoing the RH or the LH pedal, whether the bike is in a stand or upside down on the floor...... the tool will always need to move anticlockwise from your perspective.

They tighten up in the same direction you pedal.

Get into the habit of only ever undoing pedals while working from the drive side.

Hurrah! A simple system that works.

They tighten up in the same direction you pedal.

Hm…

If you hold the spanner at a steady angle and turn the cranks in the same direction you pedal, the pedals loosen.

If the pedal axle were to seize and you pedalled forwards, the pedals would loosen.

I think I know what you mean (the spanner turns in the same rotation as the crank on the same side does when you pedal forwards), but like half the stuff on this thread there’s at least one valid interpretation of the instructions that gives the incorrect result. (Even if you remember whether that’s the technique to tighten or to loosen.)

the trick is to not do them up tight in the first place and a liberal coating of anti-sieze paste/grease when fitting.

my solution = have a pair of shimano pedals to hand whenever undoing pedals - they have tighten -> arrows stamped on them

Get a big bar to leverage getting em off

Seriously?! Wtf are people putting them on so tight? I just nip mine up, then when I take them off, if they don't undo easily, I know I'm trying the wrong way!