Silly Question about pedals

[OakLeaf]

Not a silly question.

I'm not sure what CC meant by "the same direction as the wheel going backwards" though.

The right pedal is right hand (standard) threaded ("lefty-loosey, righty-tighty"). The left pedal is left hand (reverse) threaded.

A pedal wrench is 15 mm. Depending on your pedals (if they have the flats for a pedal wrench on the outside of the crankarm) you may be able to get an ordinary 15 mm open ended wrench on there, or you may need a dedicated pedal wrench, which is very thin for pedals that don't have a lot of clearance between the pedal and the crank. If you don't have a 15 mm lying around the house to try, and if that's the way your pedals go on, you may as well just get a pedal wrench. Any LBS will have them. My Look Keo pedals use an 8 mm Allen wrench on the end of the spindle - don't know if that's the same for the Crank Bros. pedals, but the thing you have to remember there is that you're pushing the spindle through the crankarm, so you're going to be turning the Allen wrench the opposite direction of how you'd turn a pedal wrench on the outside of the crankarm.

It will probably take a lot of force to get the pedals off, because they tighten themselves up in use. You'll need a long-ish lever; a short wrench or hex key will not do the job. You'll have to reach through the frame to hold the opposite crankarm steady. I've never been able to do it without a helper, but I know some people on here can, and it's more a matter of getting a good angle on it than it is of strength alone. For the same reason, when you re-install the pedals, you won't need to put them on very tight.

I think the last time the question of lubricants came up here, most people suggested not using any, but we were just at the LBS last week getting new pedals for DH, and they DID put some anti-seize on his pedal spindles. You can get that at the auto parts store, the same thing you'd put on spark plugs. Any time the fastener is a different type of metal from what it's being fastened to, there's a tiny amount of electrical current generated that will bond the metals together over time. It only takes a tiny bit; use your finger to wipe it around the threads.

HTH.