I am trying to pack up my bike to be shipped tomorrow. The first step is remove the pedals. Well I have a wrench that fits but it is the one that you carry with your bike so there is not much leverage. I tried to get one of the pedals off without much luck. Can you help? Which way should I be turning it? I am afraid to even try because I am afraid I might tighten them even more. Or maybe I am just not strong enough to do this? ( I am a female.)
Always turn to the back of the bike
Take them off with the wheels still on so you can get leverage. Use your weight if you need to by stepping down with your foot on the tool.
Good luck!
Jodi
Right side, right hand thread - counterclockwise to loosen
Left side left hand thread - clockwise to loosen
jaretj
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the way i was shown
as you face the bike, put the crank arm to 3 o’clock, put the peddle wrench on so it points to around 1 or 2 o’clock.
put both or your hands (palms) on the wrench, grasp the crank arm with your finger, squeeze
this should get it free, if not you may need a little more leverage but at least you are going in the right direction.
same applies for both sides
And for the love of god, get a real pedal wrench (I like the Park pro version; they aren’t too expensive and you will use this tool nearly as much as a good set of metric hex keys).
Wear a sturdy glove on your wrench hand to protect your knuckles. Have the crank arm you are working on pointed toward the front wheel and use your body weight over your straight arm (the one you are pushing down on the wrench with). You can also bang on the wrench handle with a solid rubber mallet to break the initial thread tension.
You can do this.
get a piece of pipe with an inside diameter just slightly larger than the end of the wrench you have.
slip it over the end.
longer the piece of pipe…more leverage you get.
this is your new “persuader”.
Oh darn. Thanks for all your posts. I really do need to go buy a pedal wrench. My bike shop REALLY put them on tight. After all your descriptions I tried as hard as I could to turn them (in the right direction) with this darn little hand wrench. I used all my weight, and it slipped out and I hit my head on the aerobars. Now I have a headache…off to the LBS to buy a pedal wrench and get these darn things off!
Thanks again everyone!
bring your bike with you and have them take them off while you’re there. If you haven’t done it in a while they might be some bonding taking place.
Then remember to re-grease the threads before you put them back on. Those sound like TIGHT pedals.
Oh darn. Thanks for all your posts. I really do need to go buy a pedal wrench. My bike shop REALLY put them on tight. After all your descriptions I tried as hard as I could to turn them (in the right direction) with this darn little hand wrench. I used all my weight, and it slipped out and I hit my head on the aerobars. Now I have a headache…off to the LBS to buy a pedal wrench and get these darn things off!
Thanks again everyone!
Remember over and back.
I am trying to pack up my bike to be shipped tomorrow. The first step is remove the pedals. Well I have a wrench that fits but it is the one that you carry with your bike so there is not much leverage. I tried to get one of the pedals off without much luck. Can you help? Which way should I be turning it? I am afraid to even try because I am afraid I might tighten them even more. Or maybe I am just not strong enough to do this? ( I am a female.)
Here’s a tip an old auto mechanic taught me. When faced with hard to remove fasteners (like the pedal spindles), TIGHTEN it first, then remove it.
Yep…you read that right. It’s easier to “break loose” a threaded fastener in the tightening direction. Saves a lot of skinned knuckles.
Ok I got the pedal wrench. Took the pedals off. Washed my bike. Cleaned the chain. Took off the seat. Took off the bars and attached them to the frame. I still need to do a few more steps here, but I have a question:
HOW IMPORTANT IS A FORK PROTECTOR?
I just realized I don’t have one of those either…
Pretty important IMHO; just get a length of dowel or something similar and tape it in there. That way, when the gorilla jumps up and down on your frame, the forks will just get dented instead of bent 
get a piece of pipe with an inside diameter just slightly larger than the end of the wrench you have.
slip it over the end.
longer the piece of pipe…more leverage you get.
this is your new “persuader”.
what he said
thats the way ,older but smarter
well for me just older I guess
dirt
If traveling with your bike will become frequent, where you take the pedals off, when you get back may want to put some grease on the threads when you reinstall them. This help protect the threads and makes the pedals easier to get off next time. You don’t need a ton.
Bubble wrap is good to wrap the frame as well.
Best of luck.
What kind of case/box?
A Serfas Case.
Then yes, it’s a good idea to get a fork spacer and probably one for the rear too. Often bike shops will give you one for free if they have any laying around.
OK I widdled a Fork protector from wood and taped it in there. I have the whole thing in the box. I closed it but I was wondering. One last question…
How hard is it supposed to be to close the case? It was a pretty tight fit and I had to press down a little to get it closed. ( Not all my weight or anything like that.) Is that OK? It’s kind of doesn’t matter now that I have the whole thing packed but I just don’t want to worry about my fork, etc. for the whole next week.
Hey thanks everyone for the help. It was quite a lot of work to figure it out, but with your help it wasn’t that bad. And next time I do this it will be a breeze!
Oops didn’t use one for the rear…
Not as big a deal for the rear, but if you ever get a set, you might as well use them. I’m sure your bike will be just fine!