pureland

Have had my road bike about a year now and am thinking about upgrading my pedals. The bike has Shimano pd-r540 pedals. I am trying to remove them but they won't budge. Should I be using the hex wrench which fits in the hole on the axle, or just a bike wrench, or both? They have never been removed since I bought the bike, so I know they might be tight, but I don't want to force it too much. Thanks!

fietsbob

You realize the Left pedal is left hand threaded correct?

Open end pedal wrenches are about 4mm thick with a 15mm opening and a foot long
if there is an allen hex socket you may need a rather long Allen wrench, or an allen bit in a socket wrench.

Andrew R Stewart 

Place your chain on the large ring before you put max force on any pedal wrench, far better to punch the chain links then the ring's teeth. Andy.

Inertiaman

We've all been there. Pedals can be difficult sometimes.

The R540 pedals have wrench flats on them, so I suggest that you use them, instead of the hex fitting inside the axle. Either approach is OK, but I find it easier to get leverage on an open-ended wrench than a hex tool (even if on a ratchet), mostly because you aren't working "behind" the crank arm where it can be tough to get positioned (and you don't have to think "opposite" for the direction to pull the wrench).

Ideally use a genuine pedal wrench, which is really just a 15mm open end wrench with two distinguishing features: a somewhat thinner profile (to fit into the narrow faces on the pedal), and a longer arm (for leverage). Lacking that, if you have a 15mm wrench thin enough to get onto the pedal faces, you can always add leverage with a pipe slid over the wrench.

Andrew's advice to put the chain on the large ring is good advice -- I know I've drawn blood when I've skipped that step and the wrench finally responds to force on the drive side!

Left side is left threaded as noted by fietsbob, so any effort may have made there assuming conventional threads only tightened it further.

Lastly, it can help to get the opposite side crank is a good position for opposing the wrench. Hence, the first pedal tends to come off easiest, since you can step on the opposite side pedal to counter your wrench. But once the first pedal is off, no more pedal to step on for opposing your second effort.

byrd48

The easy rule of thumb is that if the handle of the wrench is pointing up, you turn it towards the rear of the bike, both sides work that way. It's usually easier to position the handle of the wrench close to the crank arm, then wrap your hands around the wrench and crank arm to break it loose. If that does not work, hold the opposite pedal for leverage.

Jed19

Everything Inertiaman said, then grease the threads well on re-installation. I always take my pedals off, regrease and re-install every six months or so. Same with my seatposts. Just as a matter of habit.

cooker

Assumimg you succeed, be carefull when you reattach the pedals. It's easy to get them started a bit crooked, and damage the threads.

fietsbob

yea watch those greasy puncture wounds , chain on the big ring..

Turtle Speed

Sometimes you can step on the wrench too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2HvLpCzpAo&t=4m40s
Just be careful, hold on tightly to the brake lever and to the wall (or better yet, a pole) so you don't go flying.

Myosmith

Great tip

Myosmith

I've had good luck sometime by using a Park pedal wrench (the one with two slots at different angles) and picking the point where it creates a narrow angle between the wrench and the crank. Hold the opposite pedal and apply force to the wrench. This way you are pulling back toward the crank axis rather than extending the effective length of the crank making hit harder to keep the crank from rotating, thus wasting energy. Reduced chance of busting knuckles this way as well.

Clarabelle

Turtle Speed's video is an interesting approach.

cny-bikeman

If you don't have the wrong tool it's fine to improvise, but one should only use an adjustable wrench for that kind of very tight fastener if no other option exists, as it is likely to slip, which will could damage the flats or cause an injury in addition to being hard on the tool.

RaleighSport

I could have used that advice many years ago

pureland

thanks guys, great advice from all. I have got my bike wrench now and am ready to start with all those upgrades I don't really need but I think will be cool!