Pedals

The new pedals advertised at reference 1 have now turned up and have been successfully fitted. First outing around the Ewell by-pass anticlockwise entirely successful and much easier on the feet.

Having bought the vintage pedals without giving the matter much thought, I then started to worry about thread sizes and spanner sizes. There was some comfort to be drawn from Bing, which suggested that there had only every been one thread size - at least for practical purposes - but there had been two spanner sizes - 9/16 of an inch and the slightly larger 15mm.

Given the way pedals are organised, you need a special pedal spanner rather than a more regular spanner, adjustable or otherwise. But I did not seem to own such a thing, and I have only ever owned cheap ones. So, in the interest of not taking chunks out of my hands, I decided to invest in a posh one from the USA which could do both sizes. A serious tool which was unlikely to crumple under stress. Made by Park Tool of Minnesota (reference 2) and sold by the splendidly named Biketart of Canterbury (reference 3), via Amazon.

Having just (re-)learned that pedals come as a pair, with a left hand pedal and a right hand pedal, with the thread of one going clockwise and of the other anticlockwise, I thought it wise to read the simple instructions (on the blue wrapper) about which way to turn things. After which, I was both surprised and pleased that the old pedals came off with very little bother - with the left pedal being easier, for some reason, than the right pedal. I even remembered to oil the threads before putting the new-to-me ones in, as per some instruction that Bing had turned up at some point.

As it happened my vintage pedals needed a 15mm spanner, so the 9/16 inch was not needed. But I had no way of finding that out - and you never know. I might need the smaller size next time.

With the point of the new pedals being that their flat rubber treads are much better suited to my walking shoes - which have ribbed soles which do not sit well on the metal prongs and spikes which come with most modern pedals. Of which I am now the proud owner of four pairs. Perhaps they are destined for the metal recycling part of our local tip.

The only odd thing, is that the inner bearing of the new pedals is open. Is this because something is missing, or is that how they are supposed to be? Now oiled, in any event.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/05/trooley-418.html.

Reference 2: https://www.parktool.com/.

Reference 3: https://www.biketart.com/.