A question from the mechanically challenged one...

[Livin the Dream]

First, just let me say that I have almost no mechanical aptitude

Now, on to my questions. I have been spinning with SPD pedals all winter. Now I'm ready to put the clipless pedals on my road bike. Do I need a special tool to swap out the pedals? Is this an easy task?

Second question -- I just bought a different bike to take camping. I'd like to put an odometer on it. If I order an inexpensive one from Nashbar or somewhere, will I go nuts installing it and getting to work?

I appreciate any responses!

Thanks,
LTD

[Fredwina]

It shouldn't be problem, but then I usually get called on for mid ride mishaps

[parity]

Now, on to my questions. I have been spinning with SPD pedals all winter. Now I'm ready to put the clipless pedals on my road bike. Do I need a special tool to swap out the pedals? Is this an easy task?

You need this to take off the existing pedals and put on some Shimano SPD pedals:

http://www.parktool.com/products/det...7&item=PW%2D4#

Other pedals like Shimano SPD-L, Look, etc use hex wrenches for installation. But I suggest you go to a bike shop and buy the pedals. This way you can also have them put them on your bike and also do a fit for you (maybe for an additional charge). The most important thing is getting cleats in the right spot. You may think you have them right since you have been using them on a spin bike. But in reality the setup on your road bike is different then the spin bike and you will be probably putting in longer hours on your road bike. Things can feel fine after 45-60 mins on a spin bike but after you have ridden 2+ hours on a road bike do you start to really notice when things aren't right.

[Zen]

Switching out pedals and installing cleats are about the only mechanical things I trust myself to do

Get yourself a pedal wrench for about 20 bucks and a multi-tool (which you should have anyway) with an Allen wrench to install your own cleats. You can then adjust your own cleats as needed.

[madscot13]

yes I can do this too. actually I can do this with pedals Zen sent me!

[Triskeliongirl]

These are both trivial tasks, but you will need to change your attitude. I think this fear of mechanical things is not uncommin in many women, and related to 'math anxiety.' The key, is to approach it logically. For anything you want to do mechanically, just look at it, ask yourself how it works, and then it will be obvious what you need to do. For example, pedals, all you need to do (with the right tool) is loosen the old ones until they come off, place the new ones on (with grease of course) and tighten. One trick though, is that the direction that tightens is not the same for both pedals. Here, to reason it, ask which direction do you need to turn so the pedal so it tightens rather than loosens as you pedal.

If you are new to mechanics, I recommend buying a book to walk you through things, like the park tools blue book or Lennard Zinns the art of road bicycle maintenance (I have both). They'll also explain the non-obvious, such as when to use lubrication, what kind, how much, etc.). Its all really easy, especially the tasks you asked about.

[Grog]

Yes, these are easy tasks you can do yourself. It will make you feel empowered. They are great tasks for beginners to tackle.

1) Pedals: You need a pedal wrench, but you can also most likely do this with a hex key as most higher-end bike pedals (i.e. those you clip in compared to $10 platform pedals) have a hex-shaped "hole" (for lack of a better word - forgive my English at this early hour). The pedals that came with your bike probably don't have the hex "hole"; and a pedal wrench just gets the job done faster when you take the pedals OFF.

To take pedals OFF your bike, you need to unscrew towards the BACK of the bike. You're "stopping" to cycle (as you'll have no pedals) so you go "backwards".

To put pedals ON your bike, you need to screw towards the FRONT of the bike. You want to GO for a bike ride so you screw FORWARD. As you pedal, both pedals get more tighten as you pedal forward.

2) Putting the odometer on is really easy. You'll probably be a few minutes slower than a shop person when you do it just because you're not used to, but it's really NOT hard and NOT technical at all. Just read the instructions that come with it. The delicate part is to carefully wrap the wire (if there is one involved) around your brake cables, loose enough that they don't constrain your steering, without having loose cable all over the place. Just look at other people's bikes to get the idea.

After you've done that, you can teach yourself to change a flat, if you don't already know how. This is an essential skill and if only for safety purposes - you don't want to be stranded somewhere strange with a flat tire waiting for a prince to come and help you - a very important one to have.

Mechanics classes are GREAT, I strongly encourage you to attend one! Even if I actually don't fix my own brakes and gears usually I'm glad to know I can do it, and I can fix things at least temporarily on the fly as needed.

Enjoy!

[Crankin]

Hi Trisk and Grog,

I'd like to chime in and say it is not exactly easy for some of us to "look at something and see how it works." I can't look at anything mechanical and logically figure out how it works. If you show me, like a million times, I *might* be able to remember the sequence, but to me, you are absolutely right-- it might as well be an equation, and I had absolutely no memory for any mathematical algorithm in school.
I bet the poster actually has some mechanical ability, or she wouldn't have asked how to do these things! I would never even attempt it. Mostly, because if I did it wrong, there would be a safety issue.
So, I'd say, yes, mechanical anxiety and math anxiety are highly related because you are using the same processing skills. I have been to 4-5 mechanical clinics and I still wonder if I could change a flat if I had to. After eight years, I've only had one and I wasn't alone.
I know that this is a genetic learning thing, because my dad is even worse than me in the mechanical area. My mom was a whiz at fixing things, so it's not gender related. I have other relatives who are much worse than me. As the years have gone by, and more and more things are technology driven, it has made me feel like a prisoner in my own home. I can't remember how to use half of the stuff we have; I think a lot of this stems from the fact that I don't think we need most of this stuff anyway (dvd/dvr, on demand, remotes, programmed heating/cooling systems, cell phones, and most of the stuff on a computer). The only thing I like is the Internet, because to me, it's just an extension of being in a library!
OK, totally off topic, but not all of us just want a prince to come and rescue us... I'd gladly pay anyone to fix my stuff!

[Livin the Dream]

Thanks for all of the responses! I really appreciate everyone here, though I seem to do more lurking than posting. I do think I'll give it a try, then go to the LBS where I purchased the pedals if I have any issues. I bought the pedals last year when I bought the shoes for spinning classes, but decided not to put them on the bike until I was riding regularly again this spring.

I am determined to be more self-sufficient with small tasks on the bike and elsewhere -- I've been more and more aware of how much I rely on my very handy DH for even small tasks I should be able to do on my own and I don't like it.

Happy riding!

[Zen]

These are both trivial tasks

What's trivial to one may be monumental to another. It's relative.

[Torrilin]

I'd like to chime in and say it is not exactly easy for some of us to "look at something and see how it works."

It is a skill. You *can* learn if you want to. And it's ok to not want to . It took years of taking every single math class at least twice for me to work my way up to calculus, but I did it. Mechanical stuff was easier since both of my parents are very mechanically inclined, so there were always things to play with.

If you want to start picking up mechanical ability, I'd start with something small. Screws are a good place to start. Many parts of a bike are held together with screws of some kind, so if you can screw and unscrew, you can make adjustments. If you want something safe to practice on, I'd start with a couple soft steel screws and hex nuts. Soft steel is easy to damage which is *exactly* what you want for learning. You want to learn the feel of when the threads (that spiral engraved on the screw) are hooked up right to the nut... and you also want to know what it feels like when you're stripping a screw. If you can tell the difference between those two, it makes a *lot* of mechanical work doable. You want the difference between "works" and "it's stripping" to be automatic.

One of the big steps for me in doing mechanical work was learning to trust myself. Sometimes, stuff really is put together wrong. I'll feel a screw stripping, or I can tell the wrong kind of screw was forced in, and I'll feel very uncertain. Usually, it was done wrong in the first place and I didn't do anything wrong. (there are a lot of bad mechanics out there, and the more you learn to do, the more you'll run into bad work)

And no, I still can't work a remote. But if you want a car radiator changed, I can do it! I won't remember the sequence without looking at a Chilton's manual for every step, but I can do the steps. Even the best machinists and mechanics I know have to check the directions, which is why there are so many repair manuals.