Hi guys, I bought a State Co bike 4130 to be exact. I love the bike, however after only 3 decent rides (20-30 miles, with a lot of uphill) BOTH pedal seems to get loose and strip the cranks. Is this something I can rethread… if so, will I need to buy pedals with a larger diameter threading.
Thanks guy
by Dadof2Husbandofnone
10 Comments
No, you need professional help. This kind of thing is quite involved so you’re probably just better off buying replacement cranks used instead.
This is what the process looks like. As you can see, it is a fiddle and the likelihood is your bike runs cheapo cranks that it’s more economical to recycle than try to repair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZIc-pOOzdI
Be more careful with installing your pedals in future.
Hmmm, did you put the pedals on yourself? I think you might have forced them on the wrong sides. If BOTH sides did this, it’s pretty unlikely that it “just happened” in 20-30 miles.
That being said, there are threaded inserts that can be installed on the pedals. Best bet is to call around and see if a bike shop near you will do it. What they’ll do is drill out the old hole, tap it, and install the insert which has threads on the OD and the ID. A little epoxy on the OD of the insert to lock it into the pedal, and you’ll be back in business. JUST BE CAREFUL when putting the pedals on again.
Not all shops will do this. It’s not a repair they can warranty and some claim it won’t last. I did it on a used bike I bought years ago and it was fine. So, call around until someone says they will do it.
The tap and inserts aren’t really cost effective to purchase and DIY.
You won’t find pedals with a larger diameter threading.
You could use an helicoil to do the repair ([https://www.visseriefixations.fr/media/pdfs/HELCOFVTT.pdf](https://www.visseriefixations.fr/media/pdfs/HELCOFVTT.pdf) – Sorry about the link in french, but the pictures are self explanatory).
However, it might be easier to replace the cransket.
Do you have a real nice drill press and vice or an actual milling machine to drill and tap a larger hole for a helicoil? You do have to be parallel to the existing hole most of all.
You can do this yourself, but you need the tools to get it all aligned properly to tap it. Which is more expensive than buying a new crank probably. First thing to do? Go to a bike shop and ask them if they can tap it for you, it might or might not work. While they are at it, take the pedals with you and let them install it properly. It’s most likely that you did not tighten them enough which gave you this result.
If that’s only after a hundred miles or so, I would double check the pedal threads for damage even though they should be okay. If the pedal threads are okay, then technically you could drill the holes larger and use a heli-coil, but by the time you spend all the money and time to do that, you probably have bought new cranks instead.
Get a new crankset, might be cheaper
New crank day. Don’t play around with some “fix” that may or may not work when you mash your pedals in an intersection to get through traffic. Pedals aren’t something you hope you can fix “gud enuff”.
You need a helicoil kit for cranks ,the left crank has a left hand thread .
I got one on Allie express years ago ,it wasn’t cheap ,in fact a new set of cranks is cheaper most of the time .
Have fun .
No you can’t fill a hole by rethreading. If the pedal fell, the thread got deeper