Left-hand/right-hand threads

chadders81
chadders81 Posts: 744
edited July 2011 in Commuting chat
Finally got some pedals which I'm about to put on.

Is is the left hand thread (presumably the left side/non-drive side) which is the reverse thread?

Comments

  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,851
    I can never remember. I work it out by looking at the pedal that's going to be fitted.
    Kinesis Pro6
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  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    Yeah, you're right.

    If you get confused with which way to thread a nut/bolt, do a 'thumbs up' sign with your hand. The way your fingers go is the way to turn the nut/bolt to make it move in the direction your thumb is pointing.

    Handy to know when you have the bike upside down or are under the bonnet of the car etc.
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
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  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    Most pedals are marked with an "L" and an "R" - However, from memory, the reverse thread is on the non drive side - Left side.

    Remember to cover the threads in coppaslip to avoid them seizing to the crank.
  • chadders81
    chadders81 Posts: 744
    gtvlusso wrote:
    Most pedals are marked with an "L" and an "R" - However, from memory, the reverse thread is on the non drive side - Left side.

    Remember to cover the threads in coppaslip to avoid them seizing to the crank.

    Ahhh bollocks. Forgot to get some despite being told. Can't leave the house either as I've painted the front door and waiting for it to dry.
  • SimonAH
    SimonAH Posts: 3,730
    GTV is correct. The easy way to remember with bikes (especially when removing pedals and you can't see the threads) is thet Right (side) is Right (normal thread), Left side is not.
    FCN 5 belt driven fixie for city bits
    CAADX 105 beastie for bumpy bits
    Litespeed L3 for Strava bits

    Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    Rotate your allen key/spanner towards the handlebars to screw the pedals in. Away to unscrew ("back it out").

    Works if the bike's upside down, you're upside down, you're doing if from the "other" side of the crank, whatever.
    Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    The easy way to remember is that the pedal loosens in the direction that it wil turn when you're riding...
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • kelsen
    kelsen Posts: 2,003
    righty righty
    lefty goosey

    :D
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    davis wrote:
    Rotate your allen key/spanner towards the handlebars to screw the pedals in. Away to unscrew ("back it out").

    Works if the bike's upside down, you're upside down, you're doing if from the "other" side of the crank, whatever.

    That won't always work as you are missing i bit of information. If the long bit of key is pointing towards the top tube and you move it towards the handlebars it goes one way but if the long bit is pointing to away from the top tube then moving it towards the handlebars is the other way. Or am I missing something?
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    edited July 2011
    If your standing on the left of the bike with the spanner on the pedal it goes clockwise to undo.
    If your standing on the right of the bike with the spanner on the pedal it goes anti-clockwise to undo.

    The spanner always goes 'over the top' and towards the back of the bike to undo.
  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    Sketchley wrote:
    davis wrote:
    Rotate your allen key/spanner towards the handlebars to screw the pedals in. Away to unscrew ("back it out").

    Works if the bike's upside down, you're upside down, you're doing if from the "other" side of the crank, whatever.

    That won't always work as you are missing i bit of information. If the long bit of key is pointing towards the top tube and you move it towards the handlebars it goes one way but if the long bit is pointing to away from the top tube then moving it towards the handlebars is the other way. Or am I missing something?

    I see what you mean; it depends on the position of the tool - I guess I just imagine that I'm trying to rotate the pedal "towards" the handlebars when putting pedals in. It works for me.
    Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.
  • Confusedboy
    Confusedboy Posts: 287
    I just fall to peices over this. Is the thread left or right handed according to whether you are screwing it up or unscrewing it? Isn't there something on Sheldon's site about the reverse thread being on the pedal you don't expect it to be? AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

    I, too, recently bought new SPD's for the road bike. Had to get them fitted by the LBS in the end as my head was about to explode thinking about it all. It's one of those things where, as soon as you question it and start to try to be rational about it, your capacity for logical thought is destroyed and you are reduced to a gibbering heap (although I accept that it is not always easy to tell the difference in my case). If this is happening to you, Chadders, and it sounds like it is, go to the LBS or you will end up cross-threaded.
  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    Confusedboy? Eh?

    It's not rocket science. LH pedals are LH-threaded. If that's too confusing, just look at the thread.
    Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    A confusing thread it seems. See what I done there? :D
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    Don't forget you need left handed spanner for left handed thread and right handed one for the right handed thread. Just go and ask in B&Q.
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    Sketchley wrote:
    Don't forget you need left handed spanner for left handed thread and right handed one for the right handed thread. Just go and ask in B&Q.

    Yeah and get me a spare bubble for me spirit level while ya there!
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    ...and I need a long weight, please ask for one at the customer service desk.
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    If you go to a DIY shop with a section where they mix paint, ask for a gallon of tartan for me please.
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
    FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • chadders81
    chadders81 Posts: 744
    Done it. Piece of piss it turns out.

    Essex commuter's advice makes the most sense - spanner goes over the top towards the back to undo on both sides.

    Thanks a lot.

    If anybody fancies a laugh tomorrow, I'll be trying out my new SPDs in Clapham mid-late morning.
  • hells
    hells Posts: 175
    I remember it as back off, turn the spanner so that it goes to the rear wheel and you will be able to put both pedals on (unless thats the direction to take the pedals off, its been a long time since I did any pedal changing).
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  • walkingbootweather
    walkingbootweather Posts: 2,443
    I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. :?
    Nobody told me we had a communication problem
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    hells wrote:
    I remember it as back off, turn the spanner so that it goes to the rear wheel and you will be able to put both pedals on (unless thats the direction to take the pedals off, its been a long time since I did any pedal changing).

    Yep, I just turn the pedal spanner to the rear of the wheel on both sides.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • dcurzon
    dcurzon Posts: 290
    just look at the threads on the pedal your are going to fit. That should indicate which way you need to turn to undo/tighten
    B'Twin Sport 1
    FCN 7 =4, +2(non cycling clothes) +1(beard)
  • Confusedboy
    Confusedboy Posts: 287
    davis wrote:
    Confusedboy? Eh?

    It's not rocket science. LH pedals are LH-threaded. If that's too confusing, just look at the thread.



    Essex's advice about 'over the top and towards the rear of the bike' sounds like something I could deal with, but does that still work with the bike upside down? It doesn't have to be rocket science to confuse me! What does LH-theaded mean; does it mean that you unscrew it anti-clockwise or that you screw it up anti-clockwise*....

    You may be beginning to see why I let the LBS do it. They were sorting out a headset (another thing that explodes my brain) for me anyway and the extra cost was minimal.

    I like my LBS.


    *Please, don't try to explain. My head is still hurting a bit from trying to work it out before.
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    with pedals turn up and around towards the front wheel to tighten
    to loosen up and around to the rear wheel

    easy way to remember it, works for both sides
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
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  • Underscore
    Underscore Posts: 730
    Confusedboy wrote:
    I just fall to peices over this. Is the thread left or right handed according to whether you are screwing it up or unscrewing it? Isn't there something on Sheldon's site about the reverse thread being on the pedal you don't expect it to be?

    Yes. That's because it is not the bearing friction that causes pedals to come undone but a phenomenon called precession, which works in the opposite direction to the way in which the pedal is turning. That was why...
    DesWeller wrote:
    The easy way to remember is that the pedal loosens in the direction that it will turn when you're riding...

    Once you've got that into your head, you then need to remember that the BB thread on each side is the opposite handedness to the pedal thread...

    _
  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    Confusedboy wrote:
    Essex's advice about 'over the top and towards the rear of the bike' sounds like something I could deal with, but does that still work with the bike upside down?

    Yes.
    Confusedboy wrote:
    What does LH-theaded mean; does it mean that you unscrew it anti-clockwise or that you screw it up anti-clockwise*....

    I'm going to try explaining it anyway. Left-hand threads are unusual, and the exact reverse of right-hand "standard" threads. RH-threads are clockwise-tightening (sometimes called "righty-tighty, lefty loosey") threads.
    With LH-threads you spin the other way. Simple.

    Right-hand pedals are Right-hand threaded, LH are LH. You can work out which way to spin the thing using your RH or LH thumb+fingers, but Essex's advice is probably simpler.
    Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

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