Taking off pedals

[pinkbikes]

Ummm... doesn't matter which way up the bike is. Anti-clockwise is still anti-clockwise!

[sarahspins]

Was it blue? That sounds like my Park pedal wrench. They don't cost much.. $12 I think? Definitely worth it

[mariacycle]

yellow i think... but also looked like it weighed 25lbs haha

[lph]

Ummm... doesn't matter which way up the bike is. Anti-clockwise is still anti-clockwise!

Dang, I feel stupid now.

[pinkbikes]

Dang, I feel stupid now.

Nah - don't! It is my experience that you give good advice. It's just that sometimes the way a question is asked just leads you to giving an answer that is right but only half right!

Just look at all those apprentices that go out to buy a lefthanded screwdriver!!

[DebW]

Dang, I feel stupid now.

Well, if you stand on the right side of the bike and look at which way the left pedal turns, then clockwise is anti-clockwise. Another way to remember is that both pedals thread on by turning the wrench towards the front of the bike (if the bike is upright and you're talking about the upper half of the circular wrench stroke). Or you can thread either pedal on by holding the wrench in one position and backpedaling the bike.

[Desert Tortoise]

Ok, upright/upside down, no matter which way it's all very taxing to my brain. How's that for stupid?

[Thorn]

I have a terrible right/left dyslexia that turns me into bambi-in-the-headlights when someone mentions clockwise/anticlockwise. With the pedals, I use the mnemonic: they come off in the direction that will bash your knuckles into the chainring.

With the bike upright and the pedal at 6:00, put the wrench in, stop and look to see which direction will hurt more when the pedal comes loose and the wrench does that quick slip. If it will result in a chainring tattoo (or worse), that's the direction to push.

My bottom S&S coupler works the same way, so the saying has extended nicely in my packing/unpacking of my coupled bike.

The sad thing is, while I've mastered the "bash the knuckles" mnemonic, I now I have to work on not actually bashing the knuckles.

[mariacycle]

Hey everyone! Didn't want to start a whole new thread for this question but... is there any real difference between the rear skewers that come with trainers and the rear skewers that come with your bike in terms of keeping the wheel on? I've been switching back to the original one when I hit the road but it occurred to me today that they are basically the same... thoughts? TIA!

[VeloVT]

People think way too hard about this. All you need to remember is that you tighten the pedal by turning the wrench in the direction you pedal (i.e., towards the front of the bike) and you loosen the pedal in the direction opposite the direction you pedal (i.e., towards the back of the bike). This is true for both sides of the bike, upside down or rightside up.

[OakLeaf]

Hey everyone! Didn't want to start a whole new thread for this question but... is there any real difference between the rear skewers that come with trainers and the rear skewers that come with your bike in terms of keeping the wheel on? I've been switching back to the original one when I hit the road but it occurred to me today that they are basically the same... thoughts? TIA!

The skewer for the trainer is extra chuffy to deal with the extra load. You don't want to put the OEM skewer onto the trainer. I think it's okay the other way around? - not sure about that though.

[mariacycle]

Oem?

[OakLeaf]

Original Equipment Manufacturer, the one that came with the wheel.