My Raleigh Bike. The Start.

[Boon 51]

Did you and your friend manage to remove the left pedal? I'm not one to tell others how to suck eggs and I hate to even ask but you did exert force in a clockwise direction?

No the pedal is still on the bike so I'm taking it to the bike shop me being a novice. But what I don't understand is this.
The pedal is 9/16th but the pedal spanner is 15mm so its not the right fit to put loads of weight behind it as I found out because the spanner slipped the few times. They bikeshop will have a proper pedal spanner and of course some way of heating the crank arm to help matters. I don't want to ruin the crank in anyway and end up buying a new one. Its not the result I wanted but will be cheaper than a new chainset.

 

[randynewmanscat]

No the pedal is still on the bike so I'm taking it to the bike shop me being a novice. But what I don't understand is this.
The pedal is 9/16th but the pedal spanner is 15mm so its not the right fit to put loads of weight behind it as I found out because the spanner slipped the few times. They bikeshop will have a proper pedal spanner and of course some way of heating the crank arm to help matters. I don't want to ruin the crank in anyway and end up buying a new one. Its not the result I wanted but will be cheaper than a new chainset.

They will also have a big vice with soft jaws to clamp the crank in and avoid the wrangle you no doubt had when you tried. Doubt it will cost an arm and leg for that job. If the right pedal came out easily enough the left will not be so bad as to require brute force.

 

[randynewmanscat]

Move newly joined chain to the prongs behind the one you have just used and tweak the pin in tbe tiniest amount before you waggle the chain..... Force of habit lol

Well spotted midlife, I should have said that.

 

[midlife]

No the pedal is still on the bike so I'm taking it to the bike shop me being a novice. But what I don't understand is this.
The pedal is 9/16th but the pedal spanner is 15mm so its not the right fit to put loads of weight behind it as I found out because the spanner slipped the few times. They bikeshop will have a proper pedal spanner and of course some way of heating the crank arm to help matters. I don't want to ruin the crank in anyway and end up buying a new one. Its not the result I wanted but will be cheaper than a new chainset.

9/16" x 20 tpi is the thread of the spindle. Spanners have been 15mm for as long as I can remember

 

[Boon 51]

9/16" x 20 tpi is the thread of the spindle. Spanners have been 15mm for as long as I can remember

All three of my 15mm pedal spanners are not a tight fit that's for sure.. bummer. But would a bike of this age be AF and not metric.

 

[Boon 51]

@carpenter Bought the levers with the clip missing for a tenner..

 

[Boon 51]

Yippppeeee.. The pedal is off, so the story was I took the bike to one shop and left it for an hour and on my return they said they couldn't do so I took to another bike shop and saw a guy called Chris and he said let me have a look? He went and fetched his pedal spanner which had a far size handle for plenty of leverage. He put the crank facing the back of the back told me to hold the seat and handle bars to stop the bike moving about and he then pressed on the spanner and undone the pedal.. Total time about 15 sec total cost a sticky bun from the cake shop opposite..

 

[randynewmanscat]

Yippppeeee.. The pedal is off, so the story was I took the bike to one shop and left it for an hour and on my return they said they couldn't do so I took to another bike shop and saw a guy called Chris and he said let me have a look? He went and fetched his pedal spanner which had a far size handle for plenty of leverage. He put the crank facing the back of the back told me to hold the seat and handle bars to stop the bike moving about and he then pressed on the spanner and undone the pedal.. Total time about 15 sec total cost a sticky bun from the cake shop opposite..

Small steps boon, small steps and one nearer to finishing your renovation, you now have an honest bike mechanic to rely on when you don't have the tools and are still learning the knowledge.

 

[Boon 51]

Small steps boon, small steps and one nearer to finishing your renovation, you now have an honest bike mechanic to rely on when you don't have the tools and are still learning the knowledge.

They are a bit of a marmite bike shop they charged me £6.20 for an inner tube a few weeks back which wiggle sell for £2.95 then undone my pedal for free.
That's life I suppose lol.
Today a freed pedal and tomorrow I shall have a look at the head race.
Its all go innit.

 

[Boon 51]

Do I need any special tools for this head race job ?

 

[midlife]

Big spanners mostly or big mole grips with protection.

Removing the stem might be the tricky part. Undo the Allen bolt by about a centimetre then smack it hard with something like a hammer against a piece of wood on the Allen key. This should release the wedge and allow the stem to come up. Have a go now to check

 

[randynewmanscat]

They are a bit of a marmite bike shop they charged me £6.20 for an inner tube a few weeks back which wiggle sell for £2.95 then undone my pedal for free.
That's life I suppose lol.
Today a freed pedal and tomorrow I shall have a look at the head race.
Its all go innit.

This is current on here, there's another thread concerning the demise of bike shops big and small. The reasons for the high prices on consumables and many other parts at independent bike shops are complex hence a lengthy thread. If the local councils and the property landlords where not such gougers the high street might not look so post apocalyptic. There's other reasons and if you take a peek at that thread you will see many views.

 

[randynewmanscat]

Do I need any special tools for this head race job ?

Same as midlife says when you don't have special tools. Pump pliers are pretty useful for this job. If you cut an aluminium drinks can up you can make a good protection strip to place around the locknut for the race assembly. Getting the thing off is normally straightforward, it is when you come to rebuild that you could do with the thin spanner just for this job. When you don't have the thin spanner you will need to do some guess work on how far to back off the actual race housing, or may not, read on.
If you are lucky and I think the era of that bike may be a blessing the steerer tube will have a groove down it and between the race housing and the locknut will be a washer with a tooth that locates in the groove on the steerer tube. The washer is locked from turning due to the tooth and groove so that when you tighten the locknut the race housing stays almost perfectly adjusted. Even then you may need to back off the race adjustment a tiny, tiny bit. The lock washer will try to turn but only by a fraction, it will attempt to spin the race a little tighter though only by a tiny amount.
I don't have any frames with the forks off to do an explanatory.
I'll keep an eye on the thread as others are doing and we can see you through this bit between us.

 

[Boon 51]

I won't be doing the forks till tomorrow as I have to go out first thing.

Thanks for the help you guys are giving me its been first class.. Your all stars.

 

[Boon 51]

Took handle bars off and this is what I have left.