Rule #94 and The Evolution of the Pedal Wrench
Given the fact that everyone over-tightens their pedals to the crank arms, one needs a long lever to get too much torque. Rule #94 decrees using the correct tool and using it correctly. While the proper tool has always been available, it is up to us to evolve, to understand the difference between right and wrong, between vice-grip and open-ended wrench. And to understand that there is a large gulf between the right tool for the job and the best tool for the job.
Early in the Velominatus life cycle, the bicycle and its pedals arrived as one, fully formed. We were not removing and rebuilding our tricycle pedals. Our first “starter bike” ten-speed also came with “starter” pedals but the pedal, as an obvious point of contact with the pavement, might have demanded replacement. Replacing a pedal would happen long before rebuilding one. Removing the ruined one would only require a wrench and assuming the V-father was not a mechanic, the adjustable wrench was the only tool in the box. Here the Pedalwan uttered his or her first curse words. The jaws of the adjustable wrench may have been a bit too fat and a bit too loose to do the job. Turning the left pedal ever tighter (the wrong direction?), instead of looser, a wrench might slip, a pedal surface damaged and perhaps blood was spilled. What better reason to curse your god? What better reason to wonder about a better tool while holding your bloody hand under the faucet?
If you had a savvy father who owned a set of open-ended wrenches and entertained the possibility that a pedal could be reverse-threaded, you were of the chosen few.
The correctly sized open-ended wrench is the right tool for the job.
Campagnolo made a bottom bracket fixed cup/pedal tool. Though not their most beautiful one, it was the right tool. When over-torquing a pedal, one gripped the fixed cup end of the tool. Biomechanically, it was imperfect. Park Tool improved on it by including a comfortable and longer hand grip for efficient over-torquing. Not unlike General Motors, at some point Park Tool quietly modified their pedal wrench. I don’t think they came right out and said “For the unfortunate many who now have permanent scarring on their right hand from driving the big ring teeth deep into your flesh, we are sorry.” If the Velominati were still “saving themselves” from using the worst kind of anglo-saxon curses uttered in their lives, misusing the Park pedal wrench would guarantee a trip to Father Flavin’s Confessional Booth. “For fuck’s sake Father, pardon me Father, but I’ll have a greasy tattoo scar across my knuckles forever because of this shiet, pardon me Father, wrench”.
Incorporating a beer bottle opener into various tools did not occur to the engineers at Park Tool. And this is why we love Lezyne so much. Yes, it is more expensive and yes, it is a better pedal wrench and yes, they mill a beautiful bottle opener into it. To hold it is to love it. It is Rule #94. It is not just the right tool for the job, for there are many functional pedal wrenches available but it is the best one for the job. Even without the bottle opener it would still be the best pedal wrench. Its handle and heft make it an item one would happily wield to slaughter the advancing hoards of the undead. If, in the slaughtering, either the handle or the business end gets worn down, it comes apart and one end or the other could be replaced. When the slaughtering is done, at least for now, (because that job is seemingly never really done), one can open a fine cold beer with it and debate if this tool is the correct one for this job.
That’s fine and dandy but it’s useless on a Dura-Ace pedal.
No 8mm. [ Stork voice Animal House] “What the hell are we supposed to do, ya moron?” Got a tarnished Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle opener hanging on the workbench — the right tool.
@Nate
Do the Dura-Ace not come with regular pedal-removal flats? If so, they’re the wrong tool for that job. My Lezyne works flawlessly on 105 and Ultegra…
@tessar
105 and Ultegra have the 15mm flats and the 6mm hex in the axle. DA has only an 8mm hex in the axle. I think this is to make the Q factor slightly narrower.
@Gianni-
Have you ever wielded a Hozan pedal wrench? Although there is no bottle opener, it is and has been the go to pedal wrench for me for more than 2 decades!
@Nate
Yes, but opening a beer with a hex wrench is messy.
The pedal wrench is awesome save for being a bit of a uni-tasker. Unless of course it becomes the go to weapon should any “Shawn of the Dead” opportunities present themselves.
@Haldy
I’ve never heard of them. But they look excellent and the offset might spare the knuckles. Again, it lacks a bottle opener.
@unversio
It’s the right tool as long as you are not opening Pabst Blue Ribbon.
This could work too. Bike as opener.
Whoops, didn’t read the tailend of the last paragraph, before my post. Not that it’s stopped me before.
@Gianni
Agreed, but if I’m in my shop, there is always some handy edge around to open with. I can express my creative impulses Fabian style:
Or New Zealand style:
@Nate
I assume so, but no matter the reason, a pedal with a hex-keyed axle is wrong. I’m willing to give up a few grams of weight or two millimetres of width for the peace of mind that my pedal will remain easily removable.
I once borrowed a friend’s bike when I flew to visit him and brought my own shoes – which gave me the questionable pleasure of attempting to remove a pair of pesky Look pedals off his grimy rain/commuter bike. After many bloody knuckles, we went to the shop, where they resorted to taking their best key and strapping it to a 1.5m long metal tube to get enough leverage. The key got bent in the process.
@Ccos
No, you are beyond comment #5 and now not obliged to read the post at all.
@tessar
How can the hex axle be wrong? It allows the mechanic to tighten the pedal to proper torque. It also gets the knuckles away from the chainrings.
@Gianni is it a good thing or a bad thing that I think “yep, this’ll come in handy during a zombie apocalypse”?
@tessar Of course, I should also acknowledge that I need a wide enough Q that I have to go with long axle DA pedals, which is sort of silly.
@Gianni –
Well that’s why I have one of these at the bench at all times. Right tool, right job. :-)
@Gianni
I do have the other half of the Pinarello Montello fork — Cyclops made two bottle openers.
Conversation has reduced the Lezyne tool to competing with bottle openers.
@Nate
Highlighted the two problematic parts. I’m less concerned about torque at installation, since pedals are one of the only interfaces on the bike where you can safely torque (quite a bit) higher than strictly necessary (especially since over time the pedal self-tightens). I’m more concerned about removal, since there’s no compelling reason to do so regularly – I haven’t removed pedals on one of my bikes for two years now – which can get hard without the leverage of a proper wrench once the threading seizes.
Also, it’s far more difficult to reach the inside of the cranks than the outside, and I still managed to bash myself on the chainrings.
Interesting post, but pedal wrenches are about as useful as a chocolate teapot to those millions of SPD users who can only tighten their pedals with Allen keys.
so it may be the best and the right tool for one job, but that job is not fitting pedals.
If you’ve ever used a torque wrench on a hex Pedals do require quite a few Nm, wouldn’t be surprised if there’s plenty of people who under-tighten their’s probably as a result of using a shiny undersized bottle opener ;)
Nah really I imagine most pedal wrenches are so long for getting the damn things off. Putting the chain on the big ring helps the knuckles.
@tessar
Back at you with the highlighting.
@Ccos
To quote Martha Stewart, it’s a good thing.
@Haldy
Absolutely it is. I don’t know why I’m so fixated on lezyne combining the two operations. It’s like combining a Glock handgun and a bottle opener. It makes no sense, yet it works.
@Tim Shears
Yes, but if you use Speedplay pedals, on all your road bikes, you are going to need a pedal wrench. Personally I believe pedals just need to be snugged down anyway. No need to tighten them way down because then getting them off is a chore. I travel with my bike so I do have to remove pedals more than once a year.
@Gianni as recent Speedplay convert, I have to agree, though I have opened beers competently with the park tool knuckle-wrecker too.
@Rhodri
Absolutely. You are right about the long lever for removal. I wish the idea of putting the chain in the big ring had dawned on me, even once. But I guess that is saying “yep, I’m probably going to put my fist right over this crank when I do this.” I’m never that clever.
@Gianni
It’s when we start combining tools that we run into problems! Right tool, right job, keep it simple. I even shy away from the tri-allen wrench in most cases and just use the single size I need at the time. But of course, I do have the luxury of an array of tools at my disposal.
And with the Pedros…I have one in the utensil drawer at home as well, as it’s kinda hard to justify the Lezyne pedal wrench in the utensil drawer, the VMH just wouldn’t have gone for it.
I used to use Pedro’s pedal wrenches when I worked in my LBS, or a Cyclo which was offset, and had a 90 and 45 degree jaw. The offset wrench was great for not ripping hands apart on chainrings.
This may be even more useful. For those times when you are stuck on the side of the road, no more CO2 carts, no more inner tubes. But praise the baby jesus, you can open beers with each hand, simultaneously, at local roadside beer store. I’m sorry but Lezyne is doing this correctly.
@tessar
After scaring my hand this past week my mechanic politely informed me “Oh yes forgot to tell you to put the chain on the big ring.” Why did I not see? I was blind.
@RossArmstrong2014
An offset wrench! Like the Hozan! Someone in this world is thinking. Genius award.
What Rule #94? News to me, and “The Rules” page…
@Gianni
I cannot fault your logic on this one! Well played.
@Gianni
Build an interchangeable (6mm, 8mm) insert to use with the derailleur alignment tool.
@Puffy
I don’t know…maybe this.
I couldn’t find a bottle opener the other day and was shocked that none of my tools had an integrated one! I clearly need more lezyne, wlmist got one of their multitools with an opener, but opted for the smaller tool without. A terrible mistake indeed. Opening on an edge is a good way to find out how shitty the furniture is.
Actually Cyclo make the best pedal wrench… it is forged vanadium steel rather than the stamped end of the Lezyene, so much more durable, is shaped so it moves your hand away from the chain rings, is longer for more leverage and even has a plastic insert so you cant scratch your crank arms. Admittedly it wont open a beer though.
Want a pump/beer opener? Buy Lezyene. Want a decent tool? Buy Cyclo/Pedros/Park -depending on the tool.
Actually Cyclo make the best pedal wrench… it is forged vanadium steel rather than the stamped end of the Lezyene, so much more durable, is shaped so it moves your hand away from the chain rings, is longer for more leverage and even has a plastic insert so you cant scratch your crank arms. Admittedly it wont open a beer though.
Want a pump/beer opener? Buy Lezyene. Want a decent tool? Buy Cyclo/Pedros/Park -depending on the tool.
@Gianni
Pffft. Like I could be bothered to read an article about the US release of a book I already own.
@DerHoggz
..or twist tops. Maybe it’s an indicator of the quality of what I drink but I have not needed a bottle opener for probably more than a decade.
I love my Park Tool bottle opener.
@Paul Thanx Paul. Cyclo sounds and looks good.
@Marcus peroni? Might as well be a Fosters.
@Gianni After a while, it was the only pedal wrench I used, bought one from my boss for home use. Here’s a pic of the tool in question
:)
@unversio
Nice looking contraption mate
@RossArmstrong2014 This is a genuine Campy tool used to straighten the derailleur hanger on older framesets.
@Gianni
Exactly that: snugged down, and just barely. Never, EVER had one come loose.
How tight to tighten?
Two turns passed stripped, then back off half a turn.
Gotta love aluminium threaded holes! As @Gianni @starclimber snuggle down.