dddd

For years it seems, I have had my wrenching slowed by the ever-present choice of a 15mm opening or the identical-looking, useless 9/16" (~14mm) opening on my Park pedal wrenches.
This really gets annoying whenever I load a truck with bikes, having to remove so many pedals to get 'em all in there and out for donation or to a swap-meet or wholesaler.

So last week I said enough is enough, and instead of buying new wrenches I simply put these wrenches in the vise and went at them with a file.

So now there is no "wrong" choice, and a new, second 15mm opening can endure half of the abuse that these wrench openings inevitably suffer.
And no more painting the wrong opening white like on my other one.

I still wonder how such a seemingly bad choice was made in the design of this modern tool.

jiangshi

One piece cranks use 9/16"

noglider 

My 1962 Rudge's pedals' wrench flats are bigger than 15mm. A 16mm wrench fits. Pretty annoying.

dddd

Ahh, yes, I recall that on some French bikes I had to double up on long-handled 16mm cone wrenches to get the pedals off, the flats also being quite narrow!
So I have a thinned 5/8" spanner here somewhere that I created just for that dilemma.

Getting pedals off of old bikes has to be one of my least-favorite things!

And I guess that I should have noticed by now that I was needing the 9/16" side of the wrench on american bikes, maybe the 15mm side worked and I didn't notice (since the spindle's two flats have such good length for the bigger wrench to work against).

I did have to use a long 15mm socket on a 2003 5.4l Ford truck spark plug yesterday, it's apparently a weird 9/16" hex and a 14mm deep socket wouldn't quite fit on it far enough for decent torque.

juvela

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Have four or five pedal spanners but am most pleased with the ELDI due to its length.

Reckon we've all had the experience of attempting to remove a pedal fitted by some angry Charles Atlas...

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dddd

Yeah, my very well-used ELDI pedal wrench offers a right angle head on one end, straight-on no the other end. It is really beat, but never fails in it's usefulness.
It is shorter than my Park wrenches, but still better much of the time.

J.Higgins 

Its amazing how different hobbies, occupations, and interests grow roots that cross barriers and weave into each other. When I made knives for a living, if I needed a tool or a jig, I would build it. I would design it and machine it, then temper it in my heat-treating furnace. When I retired, and decided to play around with bikes for the rest of my life, I didn't realize that selling off my machine shop would cause so many regrets. So many times have I been working on an old bike and realized how poor quality and less-than-functional some Park tools actually are, and how I would say to my self, "Gosh if only I still had my <insert machinery here>, I could make a better one. Live and learn I guess.

Vintage_Cyclist

Couldn't the issue have been solved years ago by just putting a piece of tape over the offending wrench opening?

Velo Mule

I think that when Park made that tool, 9/16" pedals were more common. I like your solution. 15mm on both sides. My Leyotard pedals are 16mm, but everything else that I encounter is 15mm.

Does Park still make this wrench?

I had trouble with one cheaper bike trying to remove the pedal. I ended up breaking a cheaper wrench. The picture below is what is left of it afterward.

dddd

Duct tape would have been perfect for that! I did paint one side of one of my wrenches, but it's a luxury now just having both sides available for 99% of the pedals.

I modded two of these wrenches, but a third one (with the paint) is still there for the occasional old Schwinn's pedals. The ELDI always was 15x15.

Cyclist0108

A related conundrum: How is it that there is a 50/50 chance of getting the correct opening, yet the odds are more than 90% against you?

dddd

Pedal threads into aluminum crankarms can get stuck pretty fiercely, in the same way that stems and seatposts so often do.
Good tools made for the job are the best starting point, followed by penetrants working over a couple of days if needed.
I imagine that heat would also help greatly.

J.Higgins 

Which begs the question: Has anyone found a worthy method of repairing said threads? I've got a stack of crank arms with buggered threads, waiting for a durable and reliable repair. Oh sure, you can drill and tap it for a threaded insert, but is it a GOOD repair? Will it last? Pedaling forces are very strong. I would err to the side of caution on a repair like that.

JohnDThompson 

They were more common in the past. FWIW, my Zeus pedal wrench also has both a 15mm and a 14mm (9/16") opening:

dddd

EXACTLY what I was noticing!

nomadmax 

That's too easy and leaves you with a wrench capable of two different pedal sizes Better to ruin a good wrench

J.Higgins 

Does Murphy come into play on this one?

thumpism 

I knew an old guy in NC who built his own truing stands. He'd build one and use it for a while and use that as a basis for improvements to be incorporated into the next one. Had about a half-dozen sprinkled around his shop.

sovende

I'm hoping you meant "better THAN to ruin a good wrench" 😳

nomadmax 

No I said what I meant; it was sarcasm. Some people look for difficult solutions to simple problems.

tkamd73 

I have that same wrench, works well. I just use the side that fits. 50/50 shot of getting it right on the first try.
Tim

oneclick 

When I have reluctant pedals to take off this works:

Dissassemble the pedal, leaving the axle in the crank (like you have a choice here?)

Clamp the axle flats in a vice, axle pointing down so the crank is above the vice jaws. If the flats are lipped you'll need a pair of small blocks to go between the vice jaws and the flats.

Attach a long bit of something to the crank arm with hose-clamps. I use three, two at the axle end and one at the pedal end. If you don't want the crank marred by the hose-clamps put a thin bit of wood under the clamp. Longer is better, and a 4-foot bit of 2x4 timber will do nicely. Tighten those clamps as much as you dare.

Remind your self which way the crank has to turn, and if the vice is tight and your bit is long enough it *will* come off.

(I've done this with a pedal seized so badly half of the crank threads came out as slivers still galled to the pedal threads. That was ok, the crank was rubbish anyway, wanted the pedal.)

52telecaster

In the early 80s I built bikes in department stores for a company called y.l.c.e. we were given park tools, one of which was a 9/16 15mm pedal wrench. We had to build quickly to make a living and I found the pedal wrench invaluable. It worked on huffy one piece cranks and the many chinese bikes with low end square taper cranks. The secret weapon in its body was knocking out the plug in the handle so that you could use it as a cheater bar. In a pinch it was also a small hammer.
I wish i still had that wrench!

Narhay

Duct tape or paint/mark one side.

The Golden Boy