Pedal issues with crankset

[si_c]

I was commuting in this morning when after accelerating away from a set of lights I suddenly felt the right hand pedal felt a little odd, so I pulled over.

The right hand SPD was half out of the crank and pointing down at around a 30 degree angle, so clearly the pedal had been pulled out of the crank. I removed the pedal and looked at the threads, and on the outside of the crank they were worn and the pedal had the tell tale slivers of alloy embedded in the threads indicating they've been stripped. Given that I was about 4 or so miles from either work or a station, and 8 miles from home I made the decision to quickly get the pedal back in and get going as otherwise I was going to be significantly late and with a meeting this morning I couldn't really miss.

I am certain that when I fitted the pedal it was secured and absolutely certain that it was threaded correctly, the threads on the crankarm were already greased so I didn't add anymore, and I didn't over-tighten the threads, there was no play.

I now have a twofold issue, firstly, should I continue to cycle on the cranks? I did 4 subsequent miles after tightening, and the pedal hasn't moved, but I'm not sure what the state of the threads are, and am not inclined to undo the pedal.

Secondly, what likely recourse do I have with Tredz (retailer) or Felt regarding the cranks? Is this a warranty-able fix or am I likely to have to stump up for replacement cranks?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I was commuting in this morning when after accelerating away from a set of lights I suddenly felt the right hand pedal felt a little odd, so I pulled over.

The right hand SPD was half out of the crank and pointing down at around a 30 degree angle, so clearly the pedal had been pulled out of the crank. I removed the pedal and looked at the threads, and on the outside of the crank they were worn and the pedal had the tell tale slivers of alloy embedded in the threads indicating they've been stripped. Given that I was about 4 or so miles from either work or a station, and 8 miles from home I made the decision to quickly get the pedal back in and get going as otherwise I was going to be significantly late and with a meeting this morning I couldn't really miss.

I am certain that when I fitted the pedal it was secured and absolutely certain that it was threaded correctly, the threads on the crankarm were already greased so I didn't add anymore, and I didn't over-tighten the threads, there was no play.

I now have a twofold issue, firstly, should I continue to cycle on the cranks? I did 4 subsequent miles after tightening, and the pedal hasn't moved, but I'm not sure what the state of the threads are, and am not inclined to undo the pedal.

Secondly, what likely recourse do I have with Tredz (retailer) or Felt regarding the cranks? Is this a warranty-able fix or am I likely to have to stump up for replacement cranks?

Are you even thinking to claim for a new crank because a pedal that you installed came loose and graunched the threads?

 

[si_c]

Are you even thinking to claim for a new crank because a pedal that you installed came loose and graunched the threads?

I'm willing (not happy though admittedly) to replace the cranks should it prove necessary if I've installed the pedals incorrectly, which is a possibility.

However my concern is two fold, firstly, given that I am sure I sufficiently tightened the pedals, it appears that the pedal has been pulled out rather than unthreading, as it shifted suddenly downwards when I was pedaling (at which point I coasted to the side), is this something that could have been caused by incorrect pedal installation, or something else?

Secondly, separate from the above, I've reinstalled the pedal, and tightened it up as much as I can, but in the process I'm reasonably sure I've cross threaded it. Is this something I can ride safely with, or should I immediately replace the cranks? My thinking is that if it is safe enough to ride, then I may as well simply leave the pedal attached permanently and negate the need for a crank replacement entirely.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I'm willing (not happy though admittedly) to replace the cranks should it prove necessary if I've installed the pedals incorrectly, which is a possibility.

However my concern is two fold, firstly, given that I am sure I sufficiently tightened the pedals, it appears that the pedal has been pulled out rather than unthreading, as it shifted suddenly downwards when I was pedaling (at which point I coasted to the side), is this something that could have been caused by incorrect pedal installation, or something else?

Secondly, separate from the above, I've reinstalled the pedal, and tightened it up as much as I can, but in the process I'm reasonably sure I've cross threaded it. Is this something I can ride safely with, or should I immediately replace the cranks? My thinking is that if it is safe enough to ride, then I may as well simply leave the pedal attached permanently and negate the need for a crank replacement entirely.

Well, what did you torque them up to when installing them?

You say "tightened up as much as you can". That scares me. Did you tighten them with all your might or until you think they were tight enough or until it stripped and then one turn back? You are sure you cross-threaded it? How do you know? I think this loops back to my first sentence - how do you know?

You seem surprised that the pedal moved wrt to it's 90 degree cantilever position in the crank. Why are you surprised by that? How else can can it moves when it detaches and you apply force?

Good news is that good bike shops should have a Cyclus pedal ream/rethread and steel insert tool and cranks can be fixed economically and permanently.

There are two solutions to your question:

1) You installed the pedal badly/incorrectly and it did what such pedals do after some miles or;
2) That one crank was somehow weakened after being forged in the area just around the pedal threads but nowhere else on the crank.

Occam's razor comes to mind.